In 1944 Floyd Goodwin and a partner founded Highland Manufacturing located on Highland Avenue in Cheshire, Connecticut. Highland started with only a few transfer presses in its original location. Then in 1946, Mr. Goodwin moved his company to Meriden, Connecticut. The company was struggling to attract qualified toolmakers to meet customer orders, so Mr. Goodwin decided to sell the company to Ellsworth Candee, Al Freeman, and Frank Bergin in 1962. Under new ownership Highland did a record $1 million in gross sales in its first year!

In 1966 Highland’s new owners made a strategic decision to relocate the company to Waterbury, Connecticut also known as “The Brass Capital of the World”. They secured a 5-acre parcel that had an existing 25,000 square foot building. Highland now had 30 machines and was growing at a very rapid pace. The relocation proved to be a huge success now that it became easier to select qualified toolmakers from the vast pool of tradesmen in the Brass City. The new location also allowed Highland to continue to expand the facility to its current size of 150,000 square feet.

In 1971, Buell Industries purchased Highland and Apex Manufacturing. Buell appointed Bergin, Freeman, and Ray Alvey to run Highland along with the help of Ellsworth Candee.

Buell Industries, who also owned Anchor Stampings at the time, was the longest owner of Highland for a total of 19 years. Then in 1990, Buell Industries sold both companies to Illinois Tool Works, one of the largest diversified manufacturing companies in the world.

Illinois Tool Works Incorporated (ITW) is a multinational Fortune 200 company based in Glenview, Illinois. ITW is made up of more than 700 decentralized companies in 48 different countries that gross more than $13 billion in sales every year. This superpower manufacturer makes just about anything from construction equipment to supplying the automotive industry, to food equipment, to paper products and everything in between.

History at a Glance

1944 Established in Cheshire, CT

1946 Relocated to Meriden, CT

1966 Relocated to present location in Waterbury, CT

1971 Acquired by Buell Industries—Added 50,000 sq. ft.

1979 Added 30,000-sq. ft.

1985 Added 30,000-sq. ft.

1989 Added 15,000-sq. ft.

1990 Acquired by Illinois Tool Works (ITW)

Today 150,000-sq. ft. & over $40MM in sales