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Alliance Rubber Company's History |
William H. Spencer started Alliance Rubber in 1923 in Alliance, Ohio. In March of that year, Mr. Spencer obtained rejected Goodyear rubber inner tubes and began cutting them into rubber bands in his basement. His business philosophy emphasized continuous product improvement, an objective that is as important to his company today as it was back then. Moonlighting as a railroad worker for the first fourteen years of the company, he was able to meet his growing payroll and expenses. Then during the depression of 1930, he purchased a building in Alliance, OH and hired a carpenter for $.42 per hour to remodel the location. In his available time, he would travel from business to business, persuading office supply stores and paper & twine houses to carry his top-quality line. Mr. Spencer pioneered new markets and uses for his rubber bands. In 1923, after seeing the Akron, OH Beacon Journal blowing across lawns, Spencer persuaded newspaper managers to try his bands. These were the first newspapers in the world to use rubber bands on home delivery routes. Marking another industry first in 1923, Spencer persuaded produce grocers to quit using string to bundle vegetables and try his rubber bands for faster bundling. Later, as business blossomed and Spencer refined his product, he opened a production plant in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1944. This was followed by facilities in Franklin, KY in 1957 and Salinas, CA in 1988. Alliance patented the Open-Ring® style band in 1957 which set the world standard for efficiency and ease of application. In 1970, Alliance installed the world's first continuous cure rubber band production line. In 1993, a new plant expansion increased the company’s capacity to over 2 million pounds of bands per month. Then in 1997, ProTape®, our UPC-imprinted produce tape and dispensers were added to our packaging applications and brought to market. Business took off again with a specialty line of mailing and shipping products; as well as our Brites® stationery line joining the Alliance family of products in 1998. In 2000 our Cable Wrapz™ and then in 2002 our Gear Strapz™ and our Price Gun product lines enable Alliance to enhance and update ordinary mailing, shipping and packaging supplies with extraordinary, durable and colorful solutions. Today, Alliance remains the leader and innovator for rubber bands, paper clips, cable wraps, mailing & shipping products and more. All made possible by one man’s dedication to continuous product improvement – William H. Spencer. Alliance History Chronological Order: 1923 W.H. SPENCER FOUNDED COMPANY IN ALLIANCE, OHIO. INVENTED NEWSPAPER, PRODUCE, TY AND PACKER BANDS 1944 HOT SPRINGS FACILITY OPENED 1957 INVENTED THE OPEN RING BAND 1958 INVENTED QW BUNCHES AND JUMBO PACK 1959 INVENTED SLIDE DISPENSER MASS MARKET, PACK PERFORATED DESK AND OPEN WINDOW BOXES 1959 - 1969 ARCO CIRCULATION SUPPLY SUPPLIED NEWSPAPERS 1963 INVENTED “BRILLIANT BANDS” AND FREEZER BANDS. 1966 DEVELOPED THE FIRST ZIP BANDS 1967 INTRODUCED DEALER’S WINDOW DISPLAY 1969 INSTALLED WORLD’S FIRST CONTINUOUS CURE EXTRUSION LINE. 1970 INVENTED FLEX® BANDS... FIRST PLASTIC BANDS. 1970 - 1983 MANUFACTURED IN WALLDORF, GERMANY 1974 INVENTED BIG BANDS 1984 INVENTED PIC PAC 1986 INVENTED THE WORLD’S FIRST IMPRINTED AD BANDS® 1993 AWARDED BLUE CHIP ENTERPRISE AWARD FROM U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 1995 INTRODUCED PROTAPE® AND DISPENSERS 1996 NAMED ARKANSAS BUSINESS OF THE YEAR BY ARKANSAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE. AWARDED ARKANSAS QUALITY AWARD BY THE STATE. 1997 INVENTED BRITES® BAND LINE 1998 INTRODUCED AUTOBAND® SYSTEM AND BRITES® STATIONERY LINE 1998 PURCHASED MAIL/SHIP LINE FROM ROTEX 1999 NAMED GARLAND COUNTY INDUSTRY OF THE YEAR 2000 RECEIVED GOVERNOR’S AWARD FOR DRUG-FREE WORKPLACE PROGRAM. ADDED CABLE WRAPZ™ 2002 INTRODUCED GEAR STRAPZ™ AND STRAC PACK™. ADDED PRICE GUNS 2006 ADDED PALLET BANDS; INTRODUCED LATEX-FREE (ORANGE) BANDS; AND INVENTED FRAGRANCE BANDS™ 2007 INVENTED X-TREME FILE BANDS™, COLORED EPDM AND LATEX-FREE BANDS WITH ANTIMICROBIAL PROTECTION. |
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