Jorgensen

In May 2016, former CEO of the Adjustable Clamp Company Doug Holman announced that the woodworking clamp supplier would be suspending its business operations. It had manufactured Jorgensen® adjustable handscrew clamps and other products, as well as the iconic “orange” Pony® brands of clamps and clamping fixtures, from its Chicago facility for more than a century.

His great-great grandmother Adele V. Holman, a pioneering entrepreneur and professional singer, founded Adjustable Clamp in 1903. Her new company began manufacturing “J” style wood handscrews following the clamp design of cabinetmaker Hans Jorgensen. Adjustable Clamp’s legacy provides a fascinating example of 20th-century American manufacturing.

In the year that’s passed since Adjustable Clamp shuttered its operations, the future of Jorgensen and Pony products has seemed altogether uncertain. Recently, however, Woodworker’s Journal has learned that both Jorgensen and Pony brands will, in fact, continue forward under new ownership. The assets have been purchased by GreatStar Industrial, based in Hangzhou, China. The company is a leading manufacturer of hand tools in Asia, serving DIY, professional and industrial markets worldwide. It also manufactures a full range of specialty tools for drywall, masonry, painting, tiling, plumbing and automotive applications, as well as power tools, tool sets and flashlights.

“From the beginning, Adele insisted that the Adjustable Clamp Company would always deliver excellent quality products at the best value,” says Gene Smith, director of sales for the new Adjustable Jorgensen and Pony Clamp, LLC. “Now, after five generations of Holman family ownership and over one hundred years later, a new era has begun, a new corporate organisation has taken over the ownership … to assure that same excellence of quality and value.”

Smith was with the former Adjustable Clamp Company for 27 years, serving in sales, marketing and product development roles.

“Now working with Adjustable Jorgensen and Pony Clamp LLC, I’m bringing my years of experience and extensive product knowledge to ensure that equal high quality found in both Pony and Jorgensen will continue.”