Our History

      Shortly after the end of World War II, Donald Ayers Howard decided to start his own business. Having worked as an employee at a number of metal shops in the Worcester area, he took the opportunity to open a sheet metal operation -- and Howard Products, Inc. was born.

     The company began fabrication of sheet metal products in a small shop at 42 LaGrange Street in 1948. To save start-up capital, Howard designed and built some of the early equipment which included a brake press and nibbler which were used until the mid-1980's. With a pot-bellied stove providing the sole source of heat, Howard Products signed on its first customer --Brockton Baby Carriage Co. -- and started manufacturing parts for baby carriages. Other products made during the early years included roof brackets for television antennas and parts for electrical cabinets and chassis. As the company grew, it became obvious that more room was needed to expand manufacturing capabilities. Howard took on a partner, C. Bradford Newell in 1950 and in 1951 Howard Products purchased a plot on Brookfield Street at a city auction and began erecting a 3,300 square foot facility on the site in the fall of 1952- Overlooking Marshall Pond (which has since been filled in to make way for an Industrial Park), the new location offered summer cooling from breezes off the waters of the pond into the plant.

     Soon after construction was completed on the new building, Donald Howard fell victim to polio and died in July of 1953. His brother-in-law, Bradford F. Hawley, acquired Howard's interest in the company and worked alongside Newell, his uncle, who retired in 1976. Over the next several decades, Howard Products continued to grow and produce sheet metal parts for a variety of customers throughout New England. In the 1978 Hawley attended a trade show in Boston and was intrigued by a numerically-controlled punch press with an integrated plasma cutting torch that he saw displayed there. Convinced that such a machine could be profitable in a small shop if it was managed by someone with a technical background, Hawley persuaded his son David -- a 4th generation graduate of WPI's mechanical engineering program -- to join the company in 1978.

     Together the Hawleys further broadened the manufacturing capabilities of Howard Products through the acquisition of additional machinery. A high-speed computer controlled turret punch press was purchased in 1984, and another smaller version was added in 1989 along with computer controlled bending presses. In 1992 the first turret press was replaced with a more sophisticated model and in 1998 computer controlled laser-cutting machine was added (replacing the oldest turret press). The laser-cutting offered the technology to produce shapes and contours on prototypes and production with more precision and eliminates many secondary operations. With each new equipment purchase, Howard Products has increased the quality, precision and overall capabilities of its operation. Now under the management of David Hawley, the company is committed to ensuring that each piece of equipment acquired is of the highest quality-thus enabling the dedicated employees at Howard Products to offer unparalleled precision sheet metal services to its client base.

-the end for now-