This motor manufacturer was established in Palo Alto, CA, in 1940 as Jack & Heintz, Inc. The founders were Bill Jack and Ralph Heintz. The quickly moved the company to their home town of Cleveland. They soon won a contract to produce starter motors for the U.S. Army. Before the end of 1940 they had about 50 employees.

During the war years the company grew enormously as they produced airplane parts. By 1944 they had a whopping 8700 employees. At the end of the war they continued to produce airplane parts but also began making electric motors. In 1946, they merged with Precision Products Corp., and the name became Jack & Heintz Precision Industries, Inc. They were merged into Siegler Corp. in 1961, by which time they were focused primarily on aerospace.

Information Sources

• Article on war effort in 1943-03-22 issue of Life Magazine. Says the company was founded as Jack & Heintz, Inc., in 1940.
• A "Jack & Heintz Precision Industries, Inc." motor bears the model name "JAHCO".
• Correspondent George Sauer sent us this note.

  I worked at Lucas Aerospace, they had just taken over the Jack & Heintz plant in Maple Hts., Ohio. Bill Jack was way ahead of his time, in that employees had free coffee and donuts, free lunches which Lucas continued.I was attending college at that time and supplied the college with a film we had discovered in Bill Jacks former office. The film was a 1943 movie newsreel about the company. There were no time card clocking in. As I said free coffee & donuts,free lunches, free vitamins, a masseuse for all workers and a shoe store and an in house dentist. A DJ played music throughout all the plants for the employees. I obtained a copy of the newsreel for the school. I don't know if they still use it or not. The School is Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland Ohio.

• The newsreel mentioned by George Sauer, above, is available online courtesy of the Cleveland Historical Society. Thanks to correspondent Ed Mirmak for bringing it to our attention