A History Of Ken-Tronics Inc.
Written by Don Berg and Dick Hoexter 

        In the year 1961, the president of Tri-City Tool and Machinery decided to get out of the Tool and Die business.  This left his vice-president, his chief tool designer, two of his best tool designers and one secretary, out of a job.  The design department had a good reputation, but it looked like they were going to have to split up and go their separate ways.  While shaving one morning, the thought came to Don that “the four” could carry on the design business under a new company, after all, 3 of them were good designers and the 4^th was the best salesman in the Quad-City area.  Don talked this over with Clint Bond, one of the designers, who said he had been thinking about it too.  Then they both spoke with Kenny Hulsbrink and Dick Hoexter who also thought it could be made to work.   At the time, Tri-City Tool and Machinery was engaged in a large program with International Harvester East Moline.  They agreed to continue working with “the four” if a new company was formed.       

        We needed to buy some of the equipment from Tri-City Tool and Machinery but we were a new company with no funds.  A fee was set and each partner paid that fee.  That initial investment was repaid to all partners during the first year of operation.  Clint was 53 years old, Kenny 43, Don 32, and Dick 21.        

        One of the first requirements was to find a company name.  Kenny had a registered name (Ken-Tronics) for selling scuba gear and electronic gadgets, so we named ourselves Ken-Tronics Associates and formed a four-man partnership for the purpose of designing tools and dies.  We even agreed never to get involved in the building of tools.        

        The next requirement was a place to set up shop.  Clint had a building on his property in East Moline.  All it needed was a floor, insulation and wall covering, a bathroom, a heating plant, lights, and a door.  We continued working during the day at the office of Tri-City Tool and Machinery in Rock Island (Heeren Company now operates out of that building).  At night, we worked on rebuilding the “new building.”  There were many long days and nights.  We had room now for six drafting tables.  We made the move from Rock Island to East Moline on November 13^th, 1961.  Our secretary at that time was Maxine Arms and our wives took turns cleaning up the place.        

        The next requirement was to keep a steady supply of work orders coming in.  Kenny Hulsbrink traveled the circuit selling Ken-Tronics to the customers he had called on while he had worked for Tri-city Tool and Machinery.  The first year was very slim picking.  Clint and Don farmed out to work in Rockford and in Charles City, Iowa, while Dick worked for John Deere Harvester East Moline and the Rusty Palace.  After the first year we were able to get enough work to stay in the office instead of farming out.  We used part time moonlighters to help meet the delivery schedules.        

        During the third year we started having disagreements about where we were going and how we were going to get there.  We re-organized and the three of us bought out Clint Bond.  This meant we had to find a new place to work right now.  We moved to “Berg’s Basement” in Rock Island on April 3^rd, 1965.  Then Dick found a place at 4109 14^th Avenue in Rock Island, so we moved there on April 7^th, 1965 (the Stitch Nitch moved into that building later).  Here we purchased some new drafting equipment bringing our total to nine drafting tables.       

        We kept growing.  Customers like Bower Roller Bearing brought the need to hire a new full time employee. We also worked with Orion Tool and Die as their design source, which brought in a steady flow of work causing more growth, so Dick started looking for another place to move to.  He found a house and after a little remodeling, we moved to Milan.  Now we had room for 12 drafting tables and two new employees.  We were still operating as a design only firm, with Orion doing the build work.  Our biggest joint venture was an assembly machine for the IHC Rotary Hoe.  We were also using some part time help now and although we did not make money on that project, it kept us occupied for a long time.  At times we find we are still operating under those same circumstances.  It was during this period of time that Ken-Tronics incorporated.        

        In 1970, Kenny got us started at Allis Chalmers in Springfield, IL.  We started designing locating plates for Uni-Punch units.  We designed them and they built them.  They decided to stop building, so we had to either build the templates or quit working for Allis Chalmers.  Orion was having labor pains at this time and decided to go out of business.  This really put the pressure on us.  It seemed like we needed a build source to stay in business and finding a new one was next to impossible.  Allis Chalmers offered their hand-operated press so we could punch the holes.  It was just a small machine.       

        The addition of a built shop meant adding on to our building.  The first shop was the enclosed carport.  That was outgrown before it was finished, so it was extended in 1972 to where the EDM machine is now.  We were now able to design and build tools under one roof.       

        One of Kenny Hulsbrink’s friends had a tool and die shop in Rock Island.  In 1974, he decided he was getting too old to run it and wanted to sell it to someone who would let him work as a toolmaker.  Not wanting to move to his location, we waited for a buyer for his building and then we bought just the machinery.  To make room for this machinery, we built the 50 x 100 foot all steel building and the old shop converted to a design room.  At this point, we had 17 drafting tables.  John Deere Dubuque, John Deere Plow Planter, and Allis Chalmers were keeping us busy now.  In 1977, the front porch was enclosed, giving us more needed office space. 

        The wire EDM was added to our list of machines in 1978.  We missed being the first with that capability in the Quad-Cities by one week.   By 1978, again needing more room, we added the second 50 x 100 foot area to the shop. Kenny Hulsbrink retired from the partnership on July 1^st, 1986.  In 1987, Don began flying to Peru, Indian to start a new era and help spread our contacts out a greater distance.  We acquired our first CAD (Computer Aided Design) System in 1989.  Thus, we became the first job shop in the Quad-Cities to have it.   The first job we did was number A-100.   We are now on J-3150 and that makes about 80,000 jobs so far!  We’ve come a long way in the past 30 years.