Our story begins in Milwaukee, Wisconsin way back in 1920. That's when a man named Sherman Mcfredries saw an opportunity to supply a booming post World War I economy with forged parts that were then in short supply. Armed with a loan from the local bank, and a lot of spunk, he founded the Interstate Drop Forge Company. The company grew and prospered despite the nation's ailing economy. Fifty-two years later, in 1972 the principals of that company shook hands on a bold new venture one that would see them invest much if their life savings in a brand new forge shop a thousand miles to the south. They called it "Interstate Southwest". The founding trio was headed by Interstate Forging Industries' President, Franklyn Esenberg, along with its two Vice Presidents, Larry Schuetz and Steve Shanley, Jr.
To better understand how the Southwest Operations came into being, let's go back in time to discuss an east coast metal-processing company known as the Philadelphia Steel & Iron Works. During the 1960's " Philadelphia" decided to diversify into the forging business in order to provide forged parts to one of their largest customers Hughes Tool Company. The price of skilled labor plus the need to ship their finished product all the way to Texas oil fields made Philadelphia's forging operation less than profitable. They wanted a way out. The solution was to persuade Interstate to buy its hammer. After a tough bargaining, a deal was struck. The hammer would be sold for a reasonable price. But that was just the first step on a long road ahead. Now a suitable plant somewhere in Texas would have to be found. Once finances were settled things moved swiftly. They looked into everything imaginable from availability of labor, wage levels, local union practices, access to utilities, transportation, land costs and taxes
