Pratt-Read was one of the oldest manufacturing companies in the state. The business, which started in 1798 in Ivoryton, first made buttons and other objects from ivory. It grew into a piano keyboard manufacturer in the 1830s and also started making screwdrivers in that same decade. The company expanded over the years, making pianos and screwdrivers, and at one point had 12 factories, including the one on Railroad Avenue in Bridgeport.
In the early 1990s, the company dropped the piano business and dedicated itself to screwdriver manufacturing, and employment in Bridgeport was as high as 170 in 2004, when workers there made 100,000 screwdrivers a day. The company moved into the old Atrium Window facility in Shelton in 2007. In January, Ideal took over Colorado-based Western Forge, which was the nation's largest domestic producer of screwdrivers, ahead of Pratt-Read.
Attempts to contact former executives at Pratt-Read failed. The issue facing the former workers of Pratt-Read is whether they will qualify for Trade Act benefits.
SK Hand Tools SK Hand Tools Corporation; Type. Subsidiary of. 2010, the company declared bankruptcy. On August 23, 2010, it was announced that two days later. Hand tools: Number of employees. Pratt-Read is an American manufacturing company based in Sycamore. In 2009, Pratt-Read filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Generally, to qualify, imports from countries with whom the United States has trade agreements must be shown to have taken market share from the company., a professor of economics at, said any U.S. Manufacturer of tools, such as screwdrivers, is facing stiff competition from China because of currency manipulation and low wages across the ocean. Companies have embraced China and have their products made there and shipped here.
It's a difficult situation for U. Feinwerkbau Sport 124 Parts Manual. S. Factories to navigate, he said, because the low-cost of Chinese goods make products affordable here. 'You and I as consumers are better off, but you and I as workers are not,' he said.