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Our History: "The Organ Builders'" Organ Builder

Organ Supply Industries' employees are respected and valued by the firm both as individuals and as workers. The approach has paid off in a strong company with a team spirit.

For over 20 years, this forward-looking business has had an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Eligible participants share in the ownership of the company.

The kind of Time Honored skills still practiced daily at Organ Supply Industries sets it far apart from the average shop. The company is a production shop, but first and foremost, it's a shop of craftsmen. The company is justifiably proud of the men and women who make up the Organ Supply Industries' team.

The average age at Organ Supply Industries is 47. But this shop of experienced craftsmen is continually open to new workers eager to learn the traditional crafts used in fabricating organ parts. In effect, the shop is an ongoing apprentice program with established artisans teaching aspiring ones.

The company has a deep loyalty to its employees, a fact clearly reflected by the workers' attitude toward their jobs. Personnel records show that the average length of service stands at 12 years. The longest service record is 36 years.

Organ Supply Industries was built on the solid foundation of creativity that has thrived for generations in Erie. With that foundation as its base, the company has become a world leader. The strength of the company lies in its people. Organ Supply Industries currently employs nearly 80 men and women.

From its sprawling 46,000 square-foot facility at 2320 West 50th Street, Organ Supply Industries is reaching out to the world. In the company's busy engineering department, state-of-the-art computer systems are used to solve problems for clients and develop products for tomorrow. The recent acquisition of a automated molder and a sophisticated CNC router are only a part of the commitment to the future of the company. Here, as throughout the company, the commitment to excellence is ongoing.

Continuing the Erie Tradition

In May 1993, Reisner, Inc., of Hagerstown, Maryland, became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Erie-based supplier. The Reisner name has been synonymous with quality electrical and electro-mechanical organ products for decades. In May 1996, all manufacturing operations were consolidated at the Erie facility.

The last decade was a time of rapid growth for Organ Supply Industries. In 1991, the business acquired both the Deagan and Mayland Organ Chime Divisions of the Verdin Company of Cincinnati, Ohio. The Deagan and Mayland names have origins that date back to 1866. Manufacture of the Deagan and Mayland tubular brass and solid aluminum bar chimes is now being carried out in the Erie facility.

Newest Additions to the Business

As with the metals and woods, the leathers used by Organ Supply Industries craftsmen are also of superior quality. For the strength, flexibility and longevity required by the industry, the finest leathers are used. The search for quality never ends as the company studies additional lines of exceptional leathers.

The craftsmen in the company's well-equipped wood shop build all of the cabinet and mechanical components. Clear poplar is the material of choice for internal parts. For the furniture pieces, woods range from carefully selected red and white oak to cherry and walnut. Such exotic woods as ebony, teak, and rosewood are available for special applications.

In the pipe-fabrication area, for instance, artisans using Time Honored craftsmanship produce thousands of pipes of all sizes each year. For the majority of the pipes, sheets are cast of spotted metal made from a 50-50 combination of high-quality lead and tin. These are planed to the necessary thickness, then carefully cut into pipe parts. Finally, experienced specialists assemble the pipes, soldering each joint with painstaking care. For the largest pipes, specially formulated organ-quality zinc is used. In addition, a variety of special pipes are fabricated using high tin alloys or high-quality domestic copper.

Organ Supply Industries searches the world for the highest quality materials. These are then crafted into an amazing array of organ parts. Pipes, windchests, consoles, keyboards, pedalboards - even entire organs - are built by the artisans using the finest raw materials available.

Fine Raw Materials Ensure Exceptional Finished Products

This fact is underscored in the company's busy shipping department. Completed orders - some placed in custom-built crates - are routinely sent out across the country and around the world. From Joplin to Japan from Boston to Brazil, from Albany to Australia, clients circle the globe.

In addition to stock supplies, the company's talented craftsmen create many custom components to customer's demanding specifications. Like its predecessors in the Erie organ-building community, Organ Supply Industries is an innovative shop of highly skilled specialists.

Fine workmanship is the standard at Organ Supply Industries. That excellence can be found in everything the company offers - from simple screws and springs to ornate casework and consoles. Every item needed for organ repair or maintenance is available through the company's comprehensive catalog, which lists over 1,600 different items.

Quality is the Guiding Principle

As a wholesale business, the company provides qualified buyers with a full range of items for use in organ building, repair, and maintenance. Components made at Organ Supply Industries can be found in instruments from coast to coast as well as Canada, Mexico, China and Europe.

The exceptional artisans who make up the Organ Supply Industries team have custom-crafted parts for organs located throughout North America as well as in foreign lands.

Meeting the Needs of the Organ Industry Near and Far

With the national organ building industry flourishing, the need grew for a dependable source of quality organ components. To fill this need, a number of Erie organ experts joined forces to create Organ Supply Corporation in 1924 and Durst & Co. in 1926. In 1971, these two companies were purchased by local interests and combined into one organization as Durst Organ Supply. The business was renamed Organ Supply Industries in 1978 to more accurately reflect its responsive approach to the demands of the industry it served. The firm's solid reputation for quality draws a loyal following among craftsmen dedicated to the building and maintenance of pipe organs. Through the years, the business has kept the tradition of the Erie organ community alive in the eyes of the world.

In the late 1880s and early 1900s, scores of gifted artisans were drawn to Erie, which had developed into a center for organ building. By the 1920s, the Erie area boasted one of the highest concentrations of organ craftsmen of any place in the country.

One of Erie's best-kept secrets has been its dominant position in the pipe organ industry. Many early organ building giants established thriving businesses in Erie. They included the Burdett Reed Organ Company, A. B. Felgemaker, Tellers Organ Company, and pipe maker Anton Gottfried. M.P.Moller and Herman Schlicker started their American careers in Erie and Lawrence Phelps completed his pipe organ career here.