Four fraternity brothers from Case Western Reserve in Cleveland created Solon Manufacturing Company in 1949. These four men were engineers, inventors, risk takers and forward thinkers. It was a time of post-war industrialism in northeast Ohio. They built a 3,000sqft building and began manufacturing.
Solon Manufacturing was a place to nurture ideas and bring products to market. The first products marketed were a turbulator, developed for auto parts cleaning, and a conduit bender marketed to Republic Steel. In the early 1950’s, Solon began manufacturing Belleville springs.
In 1960, Solon Manufacturing moved to Chardon, Ohio. John Glenn’s relief valves were developed in Chardon for his high-altitude flight suit worn on his first Earth orbit on 20 February 1962. The Industrial Controls product line was added in the early 1960’s which included pressure switches specified into the Alaskan Pipeline Project during the 1970’s.
The Solon Belleville Spring and Solon Industrial Controls Divisions are still going strong today. Both have expanded product lines for various industries and applications.