|
|
|
|
        |
A Brief History Of SBC John Martin Walton III came from a family with ideas ahead of their time. His father (J M Walton I) founded a small college in Tennessee before the Civil War where his wife managed the food and student activities in general as well as teaching art & music. In further challenges to stereotype, JM forbad corporal punishment and even educated a slave who then taught Greek at the college. With a strong belief that honesty, diligence and a genuine respect for others were requisites for success, young John was well prepared for the challenges that awaited him. Walton ended up in New York City where his older brother was a commercial artists’ agent. He enlisted in the army in 1916 and taught flying in the Army Signal Corps for the rest of the war in West Point, MS. He then sold advertising very successfully for Page Publishing. Hearing that Iowa had the greatest percentage of automobiles in the country per capita he moved to Des Moines in 1919, the year that Henry Ford opened an auto plant there. This would be the home for Standard Bearings. John gave flying lessons and airplane rides to finance the new business, eventually buying out his partner who insisted they were going broke. At the airport while waiting for students and passengers, John priced invoices and managed other business functions. Early on, the business shifted from the automotive to the industrial market. In the depth of the depression in the 30’s, Walton went to Sioux City and started the second location; then the third in Davenport in the 40’s. In the 60’s and 70’ following his death, the family opened operations in Mason City and Cedar Rapids. Standard Bearings is becoming increasingly more specialized and technical with staff specialists for mechanical and industrial engineering and computer programming. All five Iowa customer service centers are linked by a private, integrated telephone and computer network which allows all customers immediate and simultaneous access to a team of highly skilled and experienced staff distributed among the five locations. In addition to bearings and power transmission components, the company markets its unique Just-In-Time materials procurement and Integrated Sourcing Solutions services to manufacturers of all sizes; supplying responsive material flow, finished outsourced sub-assemblies, and other value-added services.
John Walton with his 1929 Curtiss Robin
|
|
Standard
Bearings |
