In The Cradle of Industry and Liberty

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@ JOWITT & RODGERS CO. Above: Jowitt & Rodgers Co. was originally located at 1017 North Front Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known today as northern Liberties. Below: From left, the Rodgers brothers— Arnold, Ernest, Fred V., and Fred, Sr. Jowitt & Rodgers Co., a manufacturer of industrial abrasives, is a privately held business that has a storied history steeped in family pride and dedication. Although the firm has grown from a seed planted in Philadelphia in 1951, its roots extend to an earlier time in England. George Jowitt worked as a knife grinder for the Joseph Rodgers Cutlery Co. in Sheffield, England, at the turn of the last century. He became fascinated by the introduction of artificial abrasive wheels that were beginning to replace those made from natural sandstone. Grinding with sandstone abrasives was a dangerous occupation as the wheels often broke apart, causing severe injuries, and the dust produced while grinding often led to silicosis. The new artificial abrasive wheels greatly reduced these dangers. In 1907, George, along with his two sons, formed a company to manufacture artificial grinding wheels and developed their own, proprietary resin bond to produce them. The company grew through the next several decades and during World War II an old family acquaintance, Fred Rodgers, whose family had immigrated to the United States, reconnected with the Jowitts while he was stationed in England. After the war, it was decided that they would pool their resources and start a company in the United States. Jowitt & Rodgers Co. was opened in Philadelphia in 1951. It started in a small, rented shop on Front Street manned by Fred, who was soon joined by his two brothers, Arnold and Ernie. Not long after, their father, Fred, Sr., joined them. In 1961 the growing firm moved to its present location on State Road. Since then, the company has prospered and the building has been expanded several times to keep up with the company’s growth. It has grown from four individuals in 1951 to roughly sixty dedicated employees today. In 1991, Jowitt & Rodgers Co., recognizing the need to expand its product line into the growing field of super-abrasives, purchased Syntech Abrasives of Charlotte, North Carolina. Super-abrasives use natural and synthetic diamond and CBN (cubic boron nitride) as the cutting agents. These materials, although far more expensive, have superior cutting ability and expanded the market for Jowitt & Rodgers into new industries and applications that require grinding to much higher precision and speed. The next major transition for Jowitt & Rodgers Co. occurred in 2002 when the interest held by the Jowitt family was purchased by a small group led by the Rodgers family as its major stockholder. The Rodgers family, now into its third generation, has steered the firm since then and the company has continued to expand and prosper. Jowitt & Rodgers is a dominant player in its specialized field of abrasive products. It has focused on supplying IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBERTY 148
products that are custom designed to meet each customer’s unique requirements. Its products are not mass produced, but made in small batches to a unique, customer specific formulation and design. The focus is on quality, not quantity. Jowitt & Rodgers has earned ISO 9001:2008 quality certification and also has been awarded customer quality awards such as Ford’s Q1 and Q101 accreditations. Jowitt & Rodgers products are used in a diverse array of industries. Among them are manufacturers of automotive and automotive parts, aerospace, bearings, cutlery and hand tools, industrial knives and blades, steel, ceramic, and concrete building blocks just to name a few. As Jowitt & Rodgers looks to the future, it continues to focus on growth, expansion, and innovation. It will strive to provide its customers with the products that they need to improve their manufacturing processes to stay competitive. It will continue to maintain close association with designers of grinding equipment to provide them with new tools to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their equipment. Jowitt & Rodgers is determined to remain a viable force in the expanding, global marketplace. @ Above: In 1961, Jowitt & Rodgers Co. moved to its current location at 9400 State Road in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Below: Syntech’s super-abrasive products have superior cutting ability and expanded the market for Jowitt & Rodgers Co. PARTNERS IN BUILDING PHILADELPHIA 149
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IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBER
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IN THE CRADLE OF INDUSTRY AND LIBER
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CONTENTS 4 FOREWORD 6 ACKNOWLEDGEME
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@ Michael A. Nutter, Former Mayor,
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For the historical images that enli
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This is a history of manufacturing
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While other manufacturing centers w
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@ Above: Workers at Midvale Steel p
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aircraft that dates to the earliest
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would hold into the early nineteent
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technology, transportation, and com
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age had joined the Religious Societ
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Philadelphians lived in the city’
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“and many boats, which are useful
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Quaker merchant Thomas Masters purc
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INDUSTRY INVENTORS Manufacturers in
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Quaker upbringing. Known as the “
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MAKING A CASE FOR AMERICAN MANUFACT
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up cotton manufacturing operations
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After receiving a patent for the en
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The Globe Mill on the Cohocksink Cr
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@ Opposite: Detail from 1849 map sh
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of the town’s total population. S
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On a positive note, a group of Fran
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factories with a powerful energy so
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and flagship for Commodore Matthew
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@ Left: Penn Steam Engine & Boiler
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Garrett & Eastwick Locomotive Works
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seen. The episode brought Hagner co
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United States, the nation’s de-fa
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The turn of the twentieth century p
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in various categories at the Centen
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makers, 20 stove manufacturers, 12
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and lace, in which Kensington manuf
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through exploitation of their worke
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@ Left: Yard locomotives at Midvale
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among the largest in the world at t
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factory nearby. This became the lar
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she writes of the sad circumstances
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@ Clockwise, starting from the top:
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BEER AND TOBACCO Beer making contin
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MILK AND ICE CREAM Like any major c
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the Philadelphia Phillies. Located
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and a half later from a city of man
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After major cutbacks in the auto in
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into countless lunchboxes throughou
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hangar space in 1980 at Northeast P
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is the nation’s largest manufactu
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fuel for local industries, current
Page 99 and 100: centralize operations in the buildi
Page 101 and 102: BOOKS AND ARTICLES Bridenbaugh, Car
Page 103 and 104: Sutcliffe, Andrea J. Steam: The Unt
Page 105 and 106: Penrose, Bartholomew & Thomas shipy
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Page 109 and 110: @ Left: An early Kingsbury advertis
Page 111 and 112: PARTNERS IN BUILDING PHILADELPHIA 1
Page 113 and 114: Aerodynamics. The name DeVal was a
Page 115 and 116: packaging and shipping; and nondest
Page 117 and 118: Another step in product advancement
Page 119 and 120: PHILLY CASE From the basement of a
Page 121 and 122: Under Yost’s direction, The Rowla
Page 123 and 124: The story of Tioga Pipe is a classi
Page 125 and 126: neighborhood. The increased product
Page 127 and 128: Humphrys is one of the oldest manuf
Page 129 and 130: The Doherty brothers realized, to s
Page 131 and 132: Centrally located off the Pennsylva
Page 133 and 134: Jersey and Delaware. Outgrowing the
Page 135 and 136: Philadelphia is famous for its appr
Page 137 and 138: injection molded plastic to enter t
Page 139 and 140: had expanded from smaller pieces fo
Page 141 and 142: for many years and they know the fi
Page 143 and 144: furnace as well as a custom flame h
Page 145 and 146: and Salmon Streets. The company wou
Page 147 and 148: The company capitalized on the stra
Page 149: discharges. The supercapacitors are
Page 153 and 154: Today manufacturing matters, now mo
Page 155: LEADERSHIP SPONSORS Historical Publ
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