Van Dyne Crotty

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Van Dyne Crotty Inc. was a textile leasing company in the United States, trading from 1935 to 2006. Founded by Lloyd Van Dyne and Fergus Crotty, on January 1, 1935 during the height of the Great Depression, the company grew from a $500 loan into one of the premier privately owned uniform companies in the United States.

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[edit] Establishment

Van Dyne and Crotty began their business by renting industrial shop towels to full service gas stations, manufacturing plants like NCR, Delco Products, Frigidaire and the numerous tool and die shops that supported the automotive manufacturing industry in Southwest Ohio.

The company thrived in the area, which was often called "Little Detroit" due to Charles Kettering who had invented the automobile self-starter and held numerous patents at NCR for the cash register.

General Motors could not persuade Patterson to move to Detroit so they built numerous plants around him in the Dayton area, which later evolved into DELCO (Dayton Engineering Laboratory Company).

[edit] Growth

The areas that Van Dyne Crotty operated in boasted of having more patents per capita than any other region in the United States. Some of the inventions patented in their home town were the airplane, the parachute, pop top beverage cans, ice cube tray, the step ladder, just to name a few. The partners were in the right place at the right time. Dayton needed the service the pair provided and the business grew steadily.

Van Dyne Crotty grew geographically through out Ohio, and additional products were introduced such as glove renovation which proved to be profitable because heavy industry calculated that it was less expensive to clean gloves than to buy new ones for the manufacturing process.

Van Dyne Crotty is also credited as being the first company east of the Mississippi River to rent an entrance mat also known as "walk off mats" which has since grown into a multi billion dollar industry of itself.

Lloyd Van Dyne died in the early 1960s and Fergus Crotty who at the time of his retirement had left or sold the company to L. William Crotty and Frank Crotty headed the company.

[edit] Division

The company was at that point divided between the two brothers Frank who owned Van Dyne Crotty Company in Columbus, Ohio and L.William Crotty who became the CEO of Van Dyne Crotty Inc, which this article is written about.

L. William Crotty would become the catalyst to lead the company into its next era of growth. L.William began his career in the U.S. Marine Corps as Drill instructor at Parris Island, SC and then upon his return he graduated from the University of Dayton.

L. William led the company by example working in all areas of the company. He rewarded his employees for performance and always promoted an anti-union work environment where people were treated fairly. One of his favorite sayings to his associates was "inch by inch is a cinch...mile by mile is a trial".

L.William grew the privately held company from an estimated $5 million per year in sales revenues to $90 million. During this time the third generation of Crotty's were being raised in the company, and would eventually help shape the textile leasing industry.

Daniel Crotty would become President of Van Dyne Crotty in the mid 1990s and then grow the company to roughly $115 million per year in annual revenues; his brother Kevin Crotty was Vice President of Operations, and Robert Crotty Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

[edit] Change of Focus

From the mid 1980s forward the company’s focus was changed from being an industrial laundry to a uniform rental company. The marketing tagline was changed from "The Very Fabric of American Industry" to "First in Lasting Impressions" and finally into "Uniforms That Work".

Van Dyne Crotty was noted industry-wide as being innovator in new product offerings that would grow the entire industry, as well as setting the industry standard for customer service.

Perhaps one of the greatest legacies from Van Dyne Crotty,Inc was the creation of the Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at The University of Dayton School of Business Administration. Ranked as one of the top programs in the country for students who want to learn how to start their own business.

Van Dyne Crotty was sold in February 2006 to publicly traded Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ Ticker Symbol CTAS)

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