A Letter from George
EGW started 30 years ago, what an amazing ride! Right out of the gate we are blessed, super fortunate.
First - A Little History
My first pay job in guns was making grips for a Savage 45 in my barn. My dad was a collector, my grandparents were NRA instructors so unsurprisingly I found guns interesting. My first shot was with a Springfield 1922 and it was heavy! My dad’s friend, Buddy Ripley, jumped on a backhoe and cut in a back stop, boom, we were shooting. Turns out, 6 was pretty early for black coffee but the entire experience was great. I’ve been hooked ever since.
My dad worked at Standard Pressed Steel which meant that our garage had some pretty cool machines that I became familiar with from an early age. What I learned on tours of Standard Press Steel and later tech school all benefited me down the road. In, 1986 I walked into Behlert’s and was hired on the spot. I learned a good amount from Austin and Art Lecke. After 5 years, there were things I wanted to do different, so I was off to rent a giant 2000 square foot space.
EGW – The Early Years
Shooting competitively was a great way to wave the company flag. Yet again, I found myself fortunate. Two shooters I practiced with were Matt McLearn and Doug Koenig. Turns out, they won national championships and more. Shooting with better shooters is always a good thing. Matt, John Deangelo and I started working on guns and we were off.
We added a couple smiths and machines. We ended up moving to the end of the building, totaling 4000 square feet. The building we rented space in eventually came up for sale and we found it necessary to move. We found a non-condo building and moved from Doylestown to Quakertown. 2004 was the year we started making parts for Sig. That Sig contract gave us a taste for manufacturing, and we liked it.
Parts, gun parts, lots-o gun parts. It was 2005, we did not have any major OEM contracts and started producing more of our own products and selling through Brownell’s and Denny’s Shooter Supply. That started to roll and we branched out and started making scope mounts. Things started progressing steadily from that point. We outgrew our 5700 square foot building and moved into the 23,000 square foot building across the parking lot. That was 2011. Since then, we have added more machines, pallet changers, swisses, horizontals, automated saws, automated tumblers, automated blasters.
EGW Today
Our catalog now contains over 1400 products and have sold a cool 2 million scope bases. We have 20 CNC’s and 30 outstanding individuals. We make parts for most of the major U.S. manufacturers. Our parts sell in several markets; we are fortunate that many top tier gunsmiths choose our parts as well as tons of home enthusiasts. Currently, red dots and red dot mounts are selling surprisingly well. We made our first red dot mounts 20 years ago and have seen that category grow exponentially. We’re also very excited about our Keystone Ring project. We were able to introduce an affordable, U.S. made scope ring that has many improvements over what is currently available on the market. Like every EGW part, they are all made in the US, with over 97% of our products being made in our building.
How did we get to where we are at now? What works?
Treating people exceptionally well. You cannot run 20 CNC machines, answer 4 phones, package thousands of parts, advertise, manage banking, accounting, etc. Culture matters, often people comment on the chi of EGW. Yes, we pay our employees to come in. Yes, there are bonuses and they seem happy about that. But they are appreciated. They see we do well and everyone receives a piece of that. They are encouraged to contribute ideas, processes, try out new equipment, tools, and machines, find better ways to manufacture or package or market. Even what parts to make or markets to go after. Treating customers exceptionally well is also part of the secret sauce. Without customers you have nothing.
Let me again say, THANK YOU for the work! Sincerely.
35 or 30 or 25 years ago if you asked me what will become of EGW? Where do you see it in 30 years I would say I have NO Idea! I got that right.
What does the future hold?
What I am concerned about if the direction of our Great Republic. Communism has no place in our country nor our Government. It has never worked. Yet they teach it
In our schools. Go ahead, take extra paper and list where it has worked out for the people? Capitalism built the Greatest Nation. People are Not trying to break into
Russia or China or Cuba! States Must restore Election integrity, currently there is NONE. That would be a good starting point. Noam Said it is not our place to decide if
You can keep your business open. Smart lady.