Three generations of General Wire Spring employees will celebrate the company's 75th anniversary this year. The company, founded by Abe Silverman, has grown into a multigenerational family business that serves the plumbing, rental and hardware industries.
Silverman, who had worked for a number of years for his uncle, an inventor who owned his own spring manufacturing company, decided to strike out on his own and opened General Wire Spring in 1930 on the first floor of a downtown Pittsburgh building. What began as a spring manufacturer during the Great Depression for applications including oven doors, elevators and highway construction signs, soon grew to include snakes for drain-cleaning applications. The purchase of a new spring coiler in 1936 turned out to be too large for the company's existing location, forcing Abe to move the business to a more spacious location in uptown Pittsburgh. The move came just a month prior to a devastating flood that hit the company's original site.
Sustained growth led Abe to relocate again in 1944 to a larger building on the south side of Pittsburgh. Then, again, in 1968, the company moved to its current facility in nearby McKees Rocks, Pa., which has since added two additions.
“We were making springs and a plumber walked in the door and asked my grandfather if he could make a snake,” says Marty Silverman, vice president of marketing. “It was a natural progression from producing springs for other applications.”
Popularity of the company really took off in the rental industry in 1966 when a reader of Product News & Views, a Region 5 American Rental Association publication wrote, “Perhaps we should have a special rental-only grade of sewer cable.”
In response, the editor, George Olinger of Dayton, Ohio-based United Rent-All, commented, “Your editor has just about eliminated his problems and reduced replacement of cables in power sewer cleaners to practically nothing by using Flexicore wire rope center cables, manufactured by General Wire Spring Company.”
“As a result of the unsolicited testimonial, we received dozens of inquiries,” Marty says. “Further, the timing was perfect to stimulate interest in our products when we exhibited at the ARA show in Washington that year. People walked into our booth to ask specifically about our cable. It was one of the hits of the show.”
General's Flexicore cable, which was patented by Abe Silverman in the 1940s, is made by winding the outer spring tightly around the wire rope inner core, a design that makes it resistant to abuse and highly regarded by the rental industry. In the 1960s, General began using this technology to manufacture open cage machines at the request of the rental industry. Rental operators wanted to be able to see inside the cage to make sure that the snake came back out of the drain in one piece. The Easy Rooter was the first open cage machine manufactured by General specifically for the rental industry.
In the five decades that General Pipe Cleaners has been serving the rental industry, it has evolved from mostly mom and pop type rental businesses to a much greater number of chain rental stores, Marty says. Today, there are fewer husband and wife teams that come to the rental show together to buy equipment for the upcoming year. As a result of this demographic shift in the industry, Marty says, a lot of stores don't have counter people who know the products like they used to. The industry experience and broad equipment knowledge isn't as common as it once was.
Experience and knowledge about the equipment they offer, however, are two qualities that employees of General Wire Spring continue to pride themselves on, Marty says. The company credits much of its success to the small business attitude it established early on and the relationships and rapport it builds with its customers.
Today, nine descendents of General Wire Spring founder Abe Silverman manage the company. And more than 40 percent of its work force is multigenerational — with sons often working shoulder to shoulder with their fathers. Even the company's independent sales force reflects second- or third-generation personnel representing General's equipment.
Marty's father and uncle, Lee and Art Silverman, both around 70, are also still involved in the business. The second-generation Silvermans offer advice and guidance, though they let the third generation handle most of the day-to-day operations. The company is still planning how it will mark this 75-year milestone, but Marty says, “We want to thank our customers for many years of loyalty.”
