- Stamping
- Plastic Molding
- Grinding
- CNC Machining
- CNC Turning
- EDM
- Laser Welding
- Zinc Die Casting
- Tool & Die
- Molds
- Assemblies
- Home
1948
1953
1965
1969
1999
2006
Company History
Leech Industries Inc., established in 1948 as Leech Tool & Die Works, has grown to be a full service manufacturing company, offering a wide range of processes and services to a diverse group of customers.
Founded by the Leech family, and with the 4th generation in place, Leech Industries' steady growth and reliable reputation are the results of providing customers with quality product and exceptional service.
In 1921, Joe Leech arrived in the United States from Britain. Leech lived in Chicago and then Buffalo working as a supervisor for manufacturing time fuses, detonators, and small shell casings. In 1938, Leech settled down in Meadville, Pennsylvania, finding employment as a toolmaker at Talon Inc.'s experimental plant, the birthplace of the zipper.
In 1948, Leech retired from his job at Talon and founded Leech Tool & Die Works with his three sons starting in a barn and a former chicken coop in their own backyard on Dickson road. Soon after, Leech Tool & Die Works grew into a new 30 by 70 foot cement-block building and had 14 employees. The plant was humming with activity making small tools and dies for companies all over the United States, as well as the United States Government.
Through the 1950s and 1960s, Leech Tool & Die Works expanded their facilities several times despite a freak accident when a car swerved off of the road, through the cement bricks of the building and right into the tool room( Article). As Joseph Leech retired, leadership of the company passed to the second generation of the Leech family and operations in the plant included surface grinding, lathing, drill pressing, milling, heat-treatment, and plating.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Leech Tool & Die Works continued adding on to their facilities and the third generation of the Leech family started to become involved in the business. During this time, the company ventured into CNC machining, progressive die stamping, printer component assembly, and plastic molding. Leech Tool & Die Works also had two other plants around Meadville and at one point experimented with a molding and assembly plant in Nogales, Mexico.
In the 1990s, the business became a corporation under the third generation of Leech's and was renamed Leech Industries, Inc. Leech Industries moved its Nogales and smaller Meadville operations into a new manufacturing facility next to the original plant on Dickson road. The new manufacturing facility swelled from 10,000 to 60,000 square feet by the end of the decade, totaling 80,000 square feet of manufacturing facilities in Meadville. In the new plant, Leech expanded its printhead assembly operations, started into zinc die casting, more plastic molding including thermoset, thermoplastic, injection, compression, insert, and transfer molding, CNC laser welding, and creep feed grinding. In addition to the new manufacturing facility, Leech established a printer component assembly plant located in Sayre, Pennsylvania, which later separated into its own company.
In the new millennium, Leech Industries continues to grow as a full service manufacturer offering a wide range of processes and services from in-house designs to finished electronic, aerospace, automotive, and consumer products. Leech Industries continually strives to offer competitive pricing and on-time delivery while maintaining stringent standards of quality. Statistical process control techniques are used throughout the manufacturing facilities as required, and the quality system implemented has successfully attained ISO 9001:2008 certification. The team at Leech strives to offer the best value, personalized service, and must prove their value and leadership. For your next part, assembly, or special project, call Leech Industries to see what a valuable partner they will prove to be.
