Clippard Instrument Laboratory history

Longing to strike out on his own, Leonard relocated his family back to Cincinnati in 1943, after spending only 18 months in Indiana.

With a workforce quickly outgrowing the storeroom, Leonard moved the business to a larger store facility on Chase Street in 1944, and subsequently rented a furnished apartment in which to live.

In 1946, with a staff of over 40 employees, the Cincinnati operation outgrew their facility on Chase Street and moved to a larger, old meat packing factory on Bank Street, which provided for current and future growth needs.

While radio frequency coils were still a necessity to electronic companies in 1949, TV started making its way on the scene at this time as well.

Though he wished he was able to buy more in 1950, the few acres Leonard bought allotted the company enough space to expand the facility three times.

Once the designs were in place, they broke ground and in 1952, Clippard Instrument Laboratory became a permanent landmark along Colerain Avenue.

They were simply a resolution to issues within the production process—it wasn't until around 1953 that the idea of the selling the cylinders surfaced.

In 1955 Leonard moved the facility from Sturgis, Kentucky to Paris, Tennessee.

Years later, on September 6, 1956, Leonard was involved in a serious plane accident with his son, Bill, and his son's friend, Richard, as his passengers.

A 1958 list of distributors for air cylinders tallies a total of 33 companies that represented Clippard products, and confirms the company's understanding, even in the early stages, of the importance of these relationships.

Jim Crain, who joined the Clippard sales team in 1963, served as Sales Manager and teamed with Clippard engineers and advertising consultants to target key distributors for the company.

The first of these expansions was in 1966 when Clippard needed to add factory space to the back of the building to accommodate new machining equipment.

His brother, Leonard's youngest son, Bob Clippard, began working full-time for Clippard in 1968, focusing on advertising.

A new plant was built as part of the Maquiladora Border Industrialization Program, which was sold to Ralph Smith in 1971 when Clippard got completely out of coil production.

The first of these products, debuting in 1973, was the electronic valve, otherwise known as the "EV." The idea behind the creation of the EV was that Leonard wanted to build a valve that would turn on with a very small amount of power.

In 1974 Jim Crain, Len Barrett, and other members of Clippard's sales department worked together to conduct the first national sales presentation for Clippard.

To show their commitment to the project and discuss details with the Clippard staff in person, Max and his wife Doris travelled to the United States in September, 1975, warmly welcomed in Ohio.

On April 1, 1976, the first European office for Clippard opened in Wavre near Brussels.

Northeast Fluidics was located in New England and was merged into the Colerain facility in 1977.

Leonard passed away in 1983 at the age of 73.

In 1984 Clippard acquired the company as it was a great fit for Clippard's modular valve line.

Within the next two years, construction for the facility was complete and Clippard's brand new European office opened in the Scientific Park of the University of Louvain-la-Neuve July, 1987.

In 1989, another office wing, meeting room, lunch room, and shipping area were added as part of the location's final expansion.

Kathy Ayers, daughter of the founder, stayed on with Clippard and ran the facility until her retirement in 2006 when the company was merged into the Colerain Facility.

In 2014, Clippard hosted "Sales Wars," another themed sales meeting.