Peterson Companies history

The story of Peterson American Corporation begins with August Christian Peterson, who was born in Norway in 1864.

In 1875 it bought Moss Jernverk which had had a good location.

While working for Gibson, Peterson became an experienced spring maker, and in 1904 he was persuaded to move to Monessen, Pennsylvania to run the spring manufacturing operations of a new steel plant that was being built there.

There, in 1912, August Peterson started his own spring manufacturing company, which was funded by the sale of stock to citizens of the town.

In 1914 Peterson founded his second company, General Spring and Wire.

Established in 1920 as a family owned inspection company for grain that was traded and transported on the rivers and canals of the Netherlands, Peterson has since grown to become the local, global expert for risk management and logistic solutions.

Read about Peterson's first 60 years (1936-96) in this interactive history book.

One example was Alfred's daughter Thelma, who in 1937 became the first woman to graduate from the University of Michigan's Mechanical Engineering program.

The CPT was a program sponsored by then US President Franklin Roosevelt to build up a pool of potential military pilots should the US enter World War II, which had been raging in Europe since 1939.

He later became the Operations Officer for the 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron in July 1942.

Hal “Boss” Peterson made the initial contribution establishing the Foundation in 1944.

1950 - The Peterson family and employees during the company's 30th anniversary celebration

Opening a Second Plant in 1951

Within a few years the new unit began to be seen as a competitor of the Detroit operation, and in 1957 it was spun off to become a separate corporation known as Peterson Spring.

Peterson Tool Company was founded in 1958 by John L. Peterson, Sr.

During the escalation of the Vietnam War in 1964, the inserted form tool (later branded Thriftedge®) was born.

Further growth took place after the change of leadership, with Kalamazoo Spring offshoot Greenville Spring and Schoolcraft, Michigan-based Spring Tools opening in 1965.

In 1967 Southern Tool was sold to a group of investors and the company was renamed Dolphin Tool Company.

Also in 1968 Precision Spring of Canada, Ltd. was formed in Kingsville, Ontario.

In 1969 the firm purchased a 40 percent stake in a Spanish firm, Industrias Berry.

In 1970 Precision Spring helped form a Japanese joint venture, K.P. Products, with Kato Hatsujo Kaisha.

Four years later, in 1971, the parent company of Dolphin Tool (Whale Inc.) declared bankruptcy.

In 1976, Peterson Field was renamed Peterson Air Force Base.

In 1978 as well the company purchased office space in Southfield, Michigan for use as PAC's headquarters, and formed an English subsidiary, Heath Spring.

More growth followed in 1979 when PAC bought California Spring from Ametek and formed joint ventures with Japanese companies to create Muskegon Wire and K.P. American, which would sell Itaya spring machinery in the United States.

In 1980, Peterson displayed their products at the IMTS (International Manufacturing Tool Show) and Thriftedge® began to catch on.

In 1981 PAC acquired Greenville Spring from Precision Spring.

In 1982 PAC opened Dreison Technic Spring in Detroit and Larmex in Mexico, which was 40 percent owned by the firm.

In 1986 Peterson Spring Corporation was merged into PAC, Muskegon Wire was sold, and United Spring was closed.

The Foundation owned and operated the hospital until 1990, when it was established as a separate non-profit organization.

The rival Precision Spring was suffering even more, and its last assets were sold to PAC in 1991.

The firm's sales rebounded in 1992, growing by 13 percent to $78.8 million.

In 1994 the company's PAC-Nut business also was sold to California Industrial Products.

1996: Sales top $100 million for the first time.

In 1999 the firm's English operations were expanded with the acquisition of A-P Springs of Birmingham.

A book, Hal and Charlie, The Texas Peterson Brothers Who Risked a Fortune for a Hill County Foundation, was published in 2000.

2002: The Three Rivers plant is closed.

M. Peterson & Søn still owned Nordic Paper, albeit jointly with Norske Skogindustrier, but sold it in 2006.

Peterson celebrated its 75th anniversary 2011 – Peterson launched new company strategy focused on core values

Since assuming the role of President and CEO of Peterson Tool Company, Diane has displayed great leadership in organizing the members of the management team using “The Rockefeller Habits”. She was chosen to be a part of the prestigious Committee 200 protégé program in 2014.

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Duane Doyle Jr. officially signed on to Caterpillar’s Sales & Service Agreement as Peterson’s next dealer principal in 2020, starting the fourth generation of leadership.