Ken Forging has grown into a major metalworking force

Ken Forging's facility in Jefferson, OH.

Today, Ken Forging is known as a top manufacturer of drop-forged industrial hardware, with a product base that covers a wide selection – from carbon steel eyebolts and rod ends to eye nuts, turnbuckle bodies and fittings, and forged D-Rings. This family-owned company makes everything happen at its 400,000-square-foot facility in Jefferson, OH.

But every successful company has to start somewhere. Ken Forging began not as a large factory, but as one man’s dream inside a 20-by-20-foot garage in Cleveland.

From one person to dozens

In 1970, Richard A. Kovach opened shop in his home garage, with nothing more than himself, a die-cutting machine and the name Ken Tool & Die. Kovach had no idea he was kicking off a success story that would run for decades. But the business thrived so quickly that in less than nine months, he could hire two part-time employees and move into a 2,000-square-foot facility.

By the mid-1970s, Kovach had 11 full-time employees and was ready to expand the business. Ken Tool & Die moved to a new and much larger facility in nearby Jefferson, in 21 acres of quiet wooded area complete with wildlife and a pond. The focus of the company also changed at that point – it began specializing in forging fasteners, while still producing and selling eyebolts along with many other industrial components and products. Since then, the company has been known as Ken Forging.

And the business has continued to grow. It now employs more than 130 people full-time, and its property includes a 12,000-square-foot packing and shipping area. Kovach credits the company’s longevity to its “total quality commitment,” which includes quick turnaround, competitive prices, a wide-ranging inventory immediate shipment of products, and dedication to customer satisfaction.

“Employees know and understand the importance of providing customers with superior quality products,” says Kovach, adding that the company meets its high standards by doing everything in-house.

Nearly half a century after Kovach opened his modest garage shop, Ken Forging has become one of the most trusted names in forged industrial products in North America.

To learn more, contact Ken Forging.

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