Brown Industrial Legacy

Brown Industrial, is a third generation family owned company that has been in the metal fabrication and manufacturing business for over 90 years.

1930’s

Brown Welding Shop was started by Lawrence M. Brown (LM) in 1935 as a part time business in his garage in Botkins, Ohio. LM worked for the C.D. Beck Company in Sidney, Ohio, full time and worked to build his own business in the evenings and on the weekends. LM started by doing general repair work and making buck rakes. In the late 1930’s as the business grew, he resigned from C.D. Beck and began working full time for his company, Brown Welding. Also during this time he purchased a building on State Street in Botkins, Ohio and moved Brown Welding into it

1940’s

Around 1945, LM purchased the ground where Brown Industrial is currently located at 311 West South Street in Botkins, Ohio, built a new building and moved the business into it.  Brown Welding continued to grow throughout the 1940’s doing repair work, millwright work, building buck rakes, constructing buildings, and building grain bodies. In the mid 1940’s Brown Welding started doing work for a local renderer which began their start in mobile rendering equipment, which is a major product line of Brown Industrial to this day.

1950’s

In the early 1950’s Donald C. Brown and Laverne F. Brown, LM’s sons, took over the day-to-day operations of the business and continued the growth of the business. Brown Welding Shop became incorporated in 1956.

1960’s

In 1962, there were approximately 24 employees. During the 1960’s Brown Welding continued to build equipment for the rendering industry as well as millwright work, general repairs, building construction, platform hoists, installation of dump bodies and truck equipment, and also built the first automatic rubber bale cutter in 1969. The WaBo name was trademarked in 1967.

1970’s

In 1972 LM passed away and Donald and Laverne took over ownership of Brown Welding. The 1970’s were a period of rapid growth for Brown Welding. In 1970, Brown Welding expanded by adding onto its existing building located at 311 West South Street, Botkins, Ohio. In 1975, the current wash building was added. In 1977 Brown Welding purchased the adjacent ground and building that belonged to a local foundry. During the 1970’s Brown Welding continued to grow all areas of its business.

1980’s

In February 1980, Donald Brown passed away suddenly. At this time Laverne and Ruth C. Brown, Donald’s wife, took over ownership of the business. In 1981, Chris Brown, Donald and Ruth's oldest son, joined the company full-time and started doing much of the design work. During the 1980’s Brown Welding started building container grease trucks and trailers that are the company’s major product line for the rendering industry today. In 1984, 7,200 square feet of manufacturing area was added. In the 1980’s there were approximately 35 employees.

1990’s

In 1992, Brown Welding Shop Inc. ceased being the operational entity and the name was changed to Brown Industrial Inc. to better represent the diverse work that was happening in the business. During the 1990’s Brown Industrial continued to refine and grow its mobile rendering equipment line. In 1996, Craig Brown, son of Donald and Ruth, joined Brown Industrial on a full-time basis. He assisted Chris with the design work and worked in the day-to-day operations. In 1998 there were approximately 25 employees. This reduction in staff was due to the downturn in the rendering industry and led to the diversification of work in the 2000’s.

2000’s

In 2000, Brown Industrial bought its first laser cutter and started in the job shop market. This market grew very quickly for Brown Industrial with it now representing a significant portion of annual sales. In 2000, there were approximately 27 employees. In 2001, Brown Industrial added a 138-ton CNC Press Brake to their facility. In 2002, Chris and Craig Brown took over the day-to-day operations and became the third generation of Brown family to operate the business.

Brown Industrial grew to three laser cutters, and added another 6,600 square feet of building in 2005. In 2006, there were approximately 50 employees. In June of 2007, Laverne F. Brown passed away.

In 2008, Brown Industrial added a 280-ton CNC Press Brake to their job shop.  In 2009, a major remodel of the first building on the existing property was completed to streamline the look of the Company.

2010’s

In 2010, a new logo was created to represent the forward growth and cutting edge focus of the company to meet and exceed customer expectations. In 2011, Tyler Brown, Chris's oldest son joined the company as the first fourth generation family member involved in the business.  Also in 2011, a new aluminum line of truck bodies and trailers were created with the help of consultant Philip Pishock in order to focus on customer needs and requests. This line continues to be a highly successful addition in the truck business. With this additional growth, Philip Pishock stayed on with Brown Industrial as part of the outside sales team.

As the business grew so did the need for space. In 2011 a 6,300 square foot addition was added to the back building on the existing property. And again in 2012 a 12,530 square foot addition was built.

In 2012, a fifth laser was added which increases our capability with thickness of material and nitrogen cutting of mild steel.  In 2013, a waterjet was added to compliment the laser business and help the growing aluminum body line. In addition, a third CNC press brake was added to support the increased sales in the job shop and the expanded growth in the truck business.

In 2014 Brown Industrial added its largest addition to date. The new building added 60,800 square feet of manufacturing space.  In 2016 Brown Industrial purchased a neighboring property and has renovated the buildings bringing total square footage to over 135,000, on over 10 acres.

In 2018 two new Bystronic press brakes were added to help keep up with growing demand and offer new capabilities.  In 2019 the first robotic welding cell was added to help both the job shop side and in the production of parts for the growing trailer business.

2020’s

In 2020 a second larger robotic welding cell was added.   In 2021 a new Mitsubishi fiber laser was purchased, replacing an older one. On May 10th of 2022 Ruth C. Brown passed away, being the last of the second generation ownership.

In 2023 a new extrusion router and sheet router were added to help with trailer production and quality.  Joshua Brown, Chris's youngest son started working full time in  the business as the second full time member of the fourth generation.  In 2024 a new large robotic press brake cell was added increasing capabilities and capacity.

2025 marks the 90th year since L.M. Brown started the business in his garage.  Brown Industrial is poised to continue to grow with a fourth generation working hand in hand with the third generation leading the company into the future.

And Beyond

Brown Industrial will continue to work to be the leader in the mobile rendering, organic waste, oil filter, and specialty equipment markets, as well as metal fabrication job shop work.  We will continue to support our customers with the highest level of customer service today, tomorrow, and beyond.