Family-owned Channellock thrives through 6 generations

MEADVILLE — An early economic development incentive brought a young company to Meadville.

It's still there and prospering, 120 years later.

Channellock Inc. has grown from a one-man operation to more than 350 full-time workers at sprawling plants on South Main Street and Mercer Pike.

The company is an industry leader in hand tool manufacturing. Tools once sold town-to-town from the back of a wagon now are sold worldwide.

"We've always tried to focus on doing one thing and doing it well, doing it better than anyone else," said Jon DeArment, fifth-generation president and chief operating officer of the family-owned business. "That's why Channellock has focused mainly on pliers as a core product and not tried to get into a lot of others.

"Our success over the years is largely attributable to that."

George B. DeArment learned blacksmithing in a wagon shop near Conneaut Lake, where he made tools for the care of horses' hooves.

Word began to spread about their quality, and in 1886 he founded the Champion Bolt & Clipper Company.

"He spent his winter forging an inventory of products and in the spring sold them from a horse-drawn wagon. When inventory was gone, he'd sell the horse, sell the wagon, jump on a train, come home and repeat it all," Jon DeArment said.

George DeArment moved his business to Meadville in 1904.

"I think it was a low-interest loan that they offered him to move his business. My understanding is that it was one of the first economic development programs," Jon DeArment said.

By then, the company had expanded its product line to include nippers, pinchers and open-end wrenches and by 1911 made hammers. In 1933, Howard Manning, chief engineer for the business then known as Champion-DeArment Tool Company, developed multi-position, tongue-and-groove, slip-joint pliers.

The patented pliers, called Channelock, became the company's signature product and ultimately its namesake.

Channellock manufacturing, sales and distribution have changed dramatically since George DeArment forged and peddled his tools.

Machinery, now including hydraulic forging hammers, CNC machines and a laser heat-treating system, has increased production. Processes also evolved.

"We're continuously looking at ways to improve our manufacturing operations to be more productive, improve efficiencies and do what we can to maintain and improve quality, at the same time reducing the highly labor-intensive, competitive operations that people don't want to do," DeArment said.

Sales early on were to national wholesalers that in turn sold to retail outlets like Montgomery Ward in the 1930s and 1940s and Kmart in the 1980s. Direct sales to Home Depot, Walmart, Lowes and other retailers followed.

"We've been able to recognize and adapt to the paradigm shifts in the market and in how sales and distribution models changed over time," said Ryan DeArment, vice president of sales and marketing. "It's how you stay on top of the food chain."

Channellock also sells business-to-business and directly to consumers on ever-evolving online sites.

"It used to be that you had one picture and a couple bullet points and you were good to go," Ryan DeArment said. "Now you've got to have seven sentinel bullet points on Amazon and 14 images and videos. And every retailer has its own requirements."

Challenges in recent years also included cybersecurity threats, COVID-19 and supply chain issues. When the company was shut down in the early days of the pandemic, retired Channellock president and current CEO and board Chairman William DeArment provided perspective.

"He said, 'Don't worry about it. We've been around a long time. We've been through a lot. We made it through Spanish flu, and we'll make it through this,'" Jon DeArment said.

"Through all of the challlenges, I think as long as we stick to our core beliefs and values and keep doing what we’re doing we will be okay," he said.

Channellock's core beliefs and values include a commitment to quality American-made materials and workmanship.

"Our suppliers say they can get better-cost steel for us, and we say no. That's definitely the secret sauce — the materials and also the heat-treating part of it — in making a high-quality tool," Jon DeArment said.

"We could change our steel and make it easier to manufacture due to hardness, machinability and other factors, but you wouldn't get the dependability, strength and durability that people buying our products depend on," Ryan DeArment said.

Channellock also is committed to Meadville and its skilled workers.

"Moving the factory somewhere is not a consideration," Jon DeArment said. "It would be such a herculean lift, and we'd lose so much in terms of knowledge and workforce. And Meadville is a good place to live. It's a good hometown with good schools and a good health system."

"Generations of families here have contributed to our success, and we want to continue that," Ryan DeArment said.

The DeArment family has owned and operated Channellock through all of its 138 years.

Brothers Jon and Ryan DeArment worked on the shop floor during breaks from school, learning the machines and processes and getting to know the workers.

"It was always an option; you didn't have to work at the company," Jon DeArment said. "For me, the more I did here, the more interest I had in the business. I thought, why wouldn't I want to work at the company."

"From sweeping the floors to putting the grips on, assembling tongue and groove, and (finishing) box joints, it really instills the work ethic," Ryan DeArment said. "Somewhere through my college career I realized this is a good company, and why would I want to go somewhere else."

Their sister, Joanie DeArment Sweeney, recently retired after 22 years in international sales and human resources at Channellock.

Jon DeArment's son, Will, product development manager, and daughter Katelyn, in sales support, are the sixth generation to work full-time in the family business.

"A factor of being family-owned is we can make decisions on what's best for the business long term rather than for a quarterly report on Wall Street for a big publicly traded company," Ryan DeArment said.

Generations of Channellock employees include marketing manager Lynn Reynolds, who began work in its summer program and stayed on for 30 years. Her father was a machine shop setup foreman and supervisor.

"He was very proud to work here," Reynolds said. "He had a lot of respect for the (DeArment) family, and it went both ways. There is a connection, a mutual respect."

Channellock tools are generational too.

"We hear a lot of that, especially on social media these days," Jon DeArment said. "People post that they got pliers from their grandfather 40 years ago and still have them."

Channellock completed a 35,000-square-foot expansion in 2020 and last year added new professional screwdrivers, pry bars and tool tote bags to its product line.

"We like to say bigger isn't always better, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be growing," Jon DeArment said. "If you're not growing, you're dying."

The biggest challenge ahead is the lack of skilled workers, mainly due to the long-held belief that college is the best path to a family-sustaining career, Ryan DeArment said.

Channellock is committed to growing the skilled workforce through support of SkillsUSA competitions for trade and technical school students and through its national Trade School Trade-Up program, which annually provides a school with a complete shop makeover, tools and $10,000 for program needs.

The company also provides tools to incoming Crawford County Career and Technical School students.

"We fit them up so they can save their money to buy a current tester or level or layout tool, whatever else they need so they're not scrambling," Ryan DeArment said.

Channellock's main focus for the future will be continued improvement — good products and good people making them, the DeArments said.

"If we do that, we'll do fine," Jon DeArment said.

Contact Valerie Myers at [email protected].