By Chris Mc Loone
There are very few companies that can claim to have been around for 100 years or more-and even fewer who can go 125 years as a family-owned business.
For Sutphen Corporation, not only can it boast 125 years as a family-run business, but is also the only fire apparatus manufacturer to have reached such a milestone. “To be in business for 125 years is a major accomplishment, and to have done it all under continuous family ownership is even greater,” says Drew Sutphen, president of Sutphen Corporation. “No other apparatus manufacturer can make that statement. We are very proud to be able to pass this legacy to the next generation.”
Equipment Origins
In 1890, Clarence (C.H.) Sutphen had an opportunity to sell fire hose. He accepted the offer and introduced the Sutphen name to the fire industry. At Fabric Hose Company, he sold hose and went on to sell hose dryers, axes, small extinguishers, and other firefighting equipment. “As time went on, the family got deeper into the equipment side, which eventually progressed into apparatus,” says Sutphen. The apparatus included small steam-powered engines, hand pumpers, and chemical carts. These units were popular because of their compact size and firefighting capability and because they did not require actual horsepower like larger apparatus, which was very expensive.
C.H. Sutphen, along with a small group of businessmen, organized the Prospect Manufacturing Company, located in the Village of Prospect, Ohio. One of its products was a 30-gallon chemical engine known as the Deluge. C.H. Sutphen sold one of these units to the Village of Dearborn, Michigan, which still owns the unit. To this day, Dearborn is a Sutphen customer.
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| Two current Dearborn, Michigan, Sutphen fire apparatus are shown with a 1907 hand pumper Sutphen built for the Dearborn (MI) Fire Department. (Photo courtesy of Sutphen Corporation.) |
Harry Sutphen joined his father in the business when he returned from serving in the United States Navy during World War I, and the business became known as C.H. Sutphen and Sons. After C.H. Sutphen passed away, Harry Sutphen continued the business as Harry Sutphen and Associates and continued to sell Prospect chemical carts and fire engines. Harry Sutphen’s sons Tom and Bob joined the business as the business grew to eight full-time salespeople and a staffed service shop. “With the addition of Harry Sutphen, my grandfather, and eventually Tom and Bob, my uncle and father, they were able to take the company to the next level,” says Drew Sutphen.
Equipment sales increased, and so did the demand for apparatus. Harry Sutpen formed relationships and began representing American Apparatus, based in Michigan, and Peter Pirsch and Sons, based in Wisconsin. In 1950, the company built a new service shop and offices in Grandview Heights, Ohio, which became the new home for Harry Sutphen Fire Fighting Equipment. It was also around this time that the company began manufacturing apparatus bodies and building on commercial chassis. One of its first deliveries was a front-mount pumper to Trimble, Ohio-a type of apparatus that became a signature product for the company.
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| The Pontiac (MI) Fire Department ran this 1992 Sutphen pumper. (Photo courtesy of Richard Story.) |
When Harry Sutphen passed away, Bob and Tom Sutphen continued growing the family business, shaping it into the company it is today. It continued to produce pumper products and, because of high demand and limited availability of commercial chassis, began to design and manufacture a custom chassis.
The company continues to manufacture its own cabs and chassis today and has expanded its pumper production, building a complete line of pumpers on either custom chassis or commercial. “By remaining dedicated to our core values and mission and focusing on innovation and engineering, Sutphen has grown to be what the industry now recognizes as a leader in fire apparatus,” adds Drew Sutphen.
Midmount Aerial Platform
When asked about Sutphen’s most important innovation, Drew Sutphen says, “Well, the one that really put us on the map in the industry would have to be our box-boom-designed, Huck-bolted, midmount aerial platform. When Tom Sutphen designed the product 50 years ago, he knew he had a product that would stand the test of time in the industry. He was right, as it continues to be our niche and what we are best known for today.”
It was when Bob and Tom Sutphen took over the business and spent a lot of time on the road selling that they would encounter fire equipment and apparatus of all types. The use of aerial ladders was becoming popular, and after seeing different versions of aerial ladders, Tom Sutphen had an idea for a telescoping aerial device. He used knowledge gained form his military and engineering experiences, enlisted an aircraft engineer, and began laying out plans for his aerial device. To combat the effects of metal weakening when welded, Tom Sutphen decided to use aircraft-grade Huck bolts to construct the device and constructed the aerial using a four-sided box design with aluminum for added strength and stability.
The original selling features of the Sutphen aerial tower Tom Sutphen first marketed can still be found on today’s models, such as a patented hydraulic leveling device; controls at the turntable and in the bucket; telescoping, protected waterway; dual monitors at the platform; and midmount design for weight distribution, maneuverability, and driver visibility.
Continual Innovation
Staying in business 125 years is no easy feat. According to Sutphen, “In today’s globalized world of business, Sutphen encounters the same types of challenges as any family-owned private or publicly held company. We face the day-to-day challenges of growing our business, satisfying our customers’ needs, producing a product we are all proud to place our name on, and continuously enhancing our competitive advantage.” Continuing to grow requires a company to constantly reevaluate itself and to stay in motion. “We didn’t get here by being static,” says Sutphen. “We are dedicated to continuously evolving, especially when it comes to our core value of strategic innovation. One of those innovations is our Extreme Duty chassis.” Sutphen says that when the company began building its custom chassis in 1968, it knew it would be a project that would never actually conclude. “If we want to lead in technology and safety features, and meet the many expectations that firefighters have from a custom chassis, we must remain at the forefront of the industry,” he says. “Through constant engineering, testing, and input from the field, our custom chassis has evolved into one of the most rugged fire truck chassis in the market today.”
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| This 1986 Sutphen aerial was in service with the Dearborn (MI) Fire Department. (Photo courtesy of Richard Story.) |
As a result of this philosophy, Sutphen serves a wide variety of customers in the market-from small volunteer departments to large metropolitan career departments. “We feel we are well positioned within the market place for a company our size and are on target with the growth within the market place,” states Sutphen. And, looking ahead, Sutphen says the company will continue to do what it does best: striving to be innovative and at the forefront of safety and technology in the apparatus market. “We want to continue to offer our customers the best custom apparatus, and our long-term goal is to gain market share by diversifying our product offering,” adds Sutphen.
Supthen Today
Sutphen Corporation has grown to five factories, with its corporate headquarters in Amlin, Ohio. Plants are located in Hilliard, Ohio; Springfield, Ohio; and Monticello, New York. In terms of leadership, the company is on its fifth generation of family involvement. “My cousin, Julie Sutphen Phelps, who is vice president of the corporation and president of Sutphen Towers, and I both have children in the business, as do our siblings,” says Drew Sutphen. “Dan Sutphen, my brother, and his son Harry Sutphen are in sales, and my sister Dareth Fowler helps oversee the Sutphen Service and Refurbishment Center. My wife, Judi, heads up contract administration, and my daughter Shelby is in executive administration.” Sutphen’s brother-in-law, Jim Holand, is in engineering, and his son Jim Holland Jr. is in business systems development. Phelps’s son Steven is in accounting, and her daughter Megan works in manufacturing engineering. Phelps’s nephews, Scott Herb and Andy Herb, are both in sales along with their father Dan Herb.
Looking back over the company’s history, Sutphen comments, “So much has happened over the past 125 years. We’ve weathered two World Wars, the Great Depression, and numerous financial crises. The fire industry and overall business world have indeed transformed. As a company, we’ve made every effort to learn from our mistakes and capitalize on our successes. Our history is driving us to stay focused on what will take us into the next 125 years and to position ourselves in the market in a manner that will allow us to grow and to best serve our customers.”
CHRIS Mc LOONE, senior editor of Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment, is a 22-year veteran of the fire service and an assistant chief with Weldon Fire Company (Glenside, PA). He has served on past apparatus and equipment purchasing committees. He has also held engineering officer positions, where he was responsible for apparatus maintenance and inspection. He has been a writer and editor for more than 20 years.