A
company born of the oil industry, Betts has grown from its beginnings
as an iron foundry producing oil field equipment to its role
today as a leading producer of components for highway cargo
tanks and various other industrial applications.
Today's
Betts Industries was originally organized in 1901 by Charles
Fairchild and Louis J. Betts. We started business in Warren,
Pennsylvania under the name of Fairchild and Betts operating
a job shop and gray iron foundry. Some of our early products
were street signs, gas engines, street manholes, sled shoes,
and "pot-bellied" stoves.
About ten years after starting the business, Mr. Fairchild retired
and sold his interest to Mr. Louis J. Betts and the Company's
name was changed to Betts Foundry and Machine Company. It operated
under this name until 1944, when the foundry equipment was sold
and the name was changed to Betts Machine Co.
In
1946 then president Clifford R. Betts was approached by the
head engineer at Penn Furnace and Iron, who had conceived a
design for a new manifold valve to be used on petroleum tank
trucks. Ultimately this manifold valve design became Betts'
very first proprietary product offered successfully for use
on petroleum tank trucks. The transition from job shop to solely
producing proprietary products for the highway cargo tank industry
occurred over the next two decades.
In
1981 under the leadership of president Richard T. Betts, the
name was changed again to Betts Industries, Inc. to better reflect
the diversification of our product line. Our principal products
today are valves, safety lamps, manlids and pressure/vacuum
relief valves for highway cargo tanks transporting petroleum,
chemicals and other materials.
Since 1901 we have developed a reputation for
high quality, competitively priced products and prompt, efficient
customer service. The pioneering spirit of our little known
machine shop and foundry lives on today.
