Horton Brasses is the sum of the people that work here. We are a very fortunate company, as we have the efforts of 21 wonderful and different people. Each person has their own specialty, but everyone basically does what needs to be done. With such a small crew, it is important that each of us can do many different jobs, so orders go out without delay. We take pleasure and pride in turning raw brass into objects of beauty.
Donna Haase... where would we be without Donna? I am completely dependent on my dear friend. As office manager, she is the epitome of competence and has been so for more than 20 years, even on Mondays when things can be hectic. Donna runs the office, manages the bookkeeping and directs the customer service policy that defines the brassco. Besides her many talents at work, she is probably one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Soon she will be a very happy grandma to a beautiful little girl. We can't wait, and we are all thrilled for her!
Amy Rand is yet another employee with more than 15 years at the brassco. If you’ve called us on the phone, you’ve probably spoken to Amy. In addition to answering the phone, she enters orders, processes returns, answers email, and waits on customers. She is very knowledgeable about hardware and goes the extra mile to help customers find what they need even if we don’t make it! Amy’s good nature keeps everyone in the office smiling.
And then there is Mary Hayes: the world's finest shipper. Mary and I joined the Brassco the same month, March 1990. Everyone in the building gravitates to Mary. Her infectious laughter floats throughout the factory and the office. Mary ships between 40 and 75 orders a day with amazing accuracy, and little help. It is due to Mary, the office, and the entire finishing staff that our policy of shipping all orders in a day or two is possible.
Molly and George have their home and forge in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. True homesteaders, they have built their house beyond the reach of electric and phone utilities. So they do indeed forge in the traditional manner, with coal, muscle, and hand-operated blower. Molly and George make our latch sets, grips, and butterfly hinges.
Terry is a native of Tennessee and has worked for us for several years. He makes our long strap hinges, H & HL's, slide bolts, and rattail hinges in addition to doing all of the custom fabrication. His shop is in the back yard, and this works very well for his family. He can pick his daughter up after school and participate in school activities.
Here is another of our blacksmiths. She shall remain nameless, and as you can see from this photo, she is somewhat camera shy. She and her family live in a beautiful part of rural Kentucky on an old farm. She is fine blacksmith and currently makes a variety of smaller items for us.
Chris Burch joined us in 2002. Chris’ entire job is to fill in wherever we need him. That versatility is vital to the company. In addition to regular factory work, he helps Mary in shipping, Lynn in coloring, and Carlos in buffing. Chris is always a welcome sight, both for his extra pair of hands and cheerful disposition.
Addie enters and checks orders too, but her primary job is invoicing every order and processing every package through either FedEx, UPS or the US Postal Service. On busy days, she and Mary work together in shipping.
Holding it all together is Steve. This year, Steve celebrates his 24th year at the brassco. Not only do we have a number of 10+ year people, but both Donna and Steve have more than 20 years with us. We are fortunate to have them. Steve began his brassco career as our maintenance man, a job he loved. But the broad nature of his many talents became obvious and he has been our shop foreman for the last 14 years. Steve's strengths are many. He does an outstanding job of pulling people, machinery, and the needs of the company together. The result is a comprehensive inventory, a factory with the ability to turn on a dime, and two on-demand finishing departments. Steve is a strong believer in cross training, and has made the flexible factory concept a reality so we can meet sudden and urgent customer needs.
Two Steves work for us. Steve McGrath is our maintenance man. Since 1994 he’s kept this old building and our old machinery going. Maintenance is the best job of all. Never dull, Steve’s duties range from snow removal in the winter, to gardening in the summer, to machine repair and janitorial jobs. Steve is flexible and is the person to call for special projects and tasks. Outside of work, Steve’s life is full with an active family and an active band. Steve plays guitar and sings with The Happening, a 60’s musical tribute group.
Toby, is our jack of all trades person. The husband of Barbara, who is now retired, Toby continues to act as our IT person. He developed our brand new database and still comes in to make changes, improvements, and fix the occasional glitch. Horton Brasses strength today is reflected in where we have been. A large part of who we are today is reflected in the work of the previous generations. Toby has been instrumental in modernizing us and keeping us up to date technologically. Toby personally built our first two websites, with the first one coming on line all the way back in 1996!
I am Orion Henderson. I joined Horton Brasses in 2001 and am the 4th generation Horton. I bought Horton Brasses in January of 2007. Many of you have gotten to know me over the last few years, and hopefully we will get to know each other better over the next couple of decades. If you ever need to speak to me, just call or e-mail, no voicemail, no runaround. I would love to to hear from you.
$5.00 shipping. 2nd day air is a mere $12.00, and we can ship overnight if you need us to. We will weight the package and charge accordingly. Do you have your own FedEx or UPS number? No problem, just tell us in the comments section when you order.
Horton Brasses Inc., 49 Nooks Hill Road, Cromwell CT 06416, 800-754-9127