The Importance Of American Manufacturing - Ryan DeArment

This Week on The Importance of American Manufacturing:
Meet Ryan DeArment. Ryan is the VP of Sales and Marketing for Channellock Inc, a family owned manufacturer of USA Made tools since 1886. That`s 125 years plus of manufacturing in the United States!

Q. Please tell us a little about yourself/your company?
A. My name is Ryan DeArment, and I am the vice president of sales and marketing for Meadville, Pa.-based plier manufacturer Channellock Inc., a fifth-generation, family-owned-and-operated company. If you don’t know the CHANNELLOCK^® name, you know the tool. Open nearly any tool box in the country or around the world and you’ll find a pair of blue-gripped, multi-position, tongue-and-groove pliers with the name CHANNELLOCK^® stamped on it. It’s an iconic product and brand, especially among those who seek out American-made tools.


Q. When were you/your company first inspired to support manufacturing in America?
A. CHANNELLOCK^® started out as a small operation making hand-forged farrier’s tools (horseshoe and blacksmith tools). My great-great grandfather, George B. DeArment, founded it back in 1886 and literally sold his first inventory out of the back of a horse-drawn wagon. He would forge the tools in the winter and then travel across Pennsylvania and the Eastern U.S.until he was out of stock. He would sell the horse and wagon and then take the train home. We like to say that when we started making pliers, the Wright Brothers hadn’t even made the first airplane. So, from the beginning, we’ve always supported American manufacturing.

Q. Why is American Manufacturing important to you/your company?
A. We believe that American manufacturing is the backbone of the U.S. economy. The best designed and crafted products in the world, like CHANNELLOCK^® pliers, come from the United States. American manufacturing employs workers and supports families. Channellock Inc. employs about 400 people and is one of our region’s largest employers. That’s something we are very proud of.

Q. How have you/your company supported American manufacturing throughout your life?
A. CHANNELLOCK^® has always manufactured its core product line, pliers, in the United States, and that is something we haven’t compromised. At the same time, we’re a business, so we do make decisions based on financial realities. When possible though, we manufacture everything we can, or contract out everything we can, domestically. For example, last year we moved grip production for our CODE BLUE^® line from overseas to a fellow Meadville-based company. Not only did it make financial sense because we weren’t shipping product halfway around the world, but every CODE BLUE^® plier is now entirely made – from grips to steel to packaging – in the U.S.A. by American workers, which is always a good thing.

Q. Favorite quote?
A. I guess my favorite quote would be one of the guiding principles of my great-great grandfather, which is posted around the office and plant: “Dedication to excellence is the surest way to surmount adversity and to prosper.”
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It was a great pleasure to have interviewed Ryan DeArment this week. I must say thank you to the DeArment family. Keeping it Made in USA for 125 years plus is quite a feat! People like the DeArment family do not only share 'the importance of manufacturing' with us, they live it. The DeArment family has been supplying American citizens with high quality tools and jobs for decades. You can find them and their USA Made tools at http://www.channellock.com/. Thank you all for reading another week of ‘The Importance of American Manufacturing.’

Join us next week on Monday for another segment of "The Importance of American Manufacturing"

If you, or someone you know, would be interested in being interviewed on the Importance of American Manufacturing, please send inquiries to Logan Beam at logan@dekkerdevelopment.com
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As Seen InThe Made In America Movement & Darke Journal