H.A. DeHart & Son marked 140 years with an open house in Thorofare, N.J. The company, founded in 1884, evolved from blacksmithing to transportation equipment sales. Their ESOP business model and diverse product line draw attendees from varied sectors, showcasing partnerships and community support.
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Joe Tompkins, president of H.A. DeHart & Son, delivers remarks about the 140-year anniversary open house to guests.
H.A DeHart & Son held an open house Oct. 17, 2024, to celebrate a remarkable milestone — 140 years in business.
The event, held at the company's facility in Thorofare, N.J., where it has been for all its 140 years in business, drew well more than 300 contractors, municipalities and friends.
Joe Tompkins, who started with H.A. DeHart & Son as a sales representative in 1993 and became the company's president in 2016, talked about the company's long illustrious history during the event.
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"We have developed from selling wagons back in the 1800s," he said. "Then, we made truck-mounted bodies in the early days, the late 1800s and early 1900s for wooden bodies, wooden platforms and dump bodies. And then as things developed, we started working with some of the national manufacturers selling school buses, Great Dane trailers and truck equipment."
According to Tompkins, H.A. DeHart has been a Great Dane trailer dealer since 1952, making it the longest-tenured Great Dane dealer in the United States.
"And we have been selling school buses since the 1940s," Tompkins said. "For the past 25 years, we have been representing Thomas Built Buses, based in High Point, N.C., and they have been very good partner along with Great Dane."
H.A. DeHart & Son was founded in 1884 with its primary business being blacksmithing. This business included the repair of wagons, which from all accounts, led the company into manufacturing new wagons. The first wagon produced then led the company into manufacturing ice units and furniture vans. With the advent of the automobile, the company altered their product line by selling truck chassis and building a truck body to fit.
Today, the company is an Employees Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) business that has entered into more than 30 dealership agreements with manufacturers of transportation equipment, including refuse, snow removal, hydraulics, dump bodies, stake bodies, street sweepers, cranes, recycling equipment and buses. Within these product categories, the company offers an array of product options and custom features. H.A. DeHart & Son also has a full line of parts, service and repair facilities to handle all facets of the transportation market.
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During the event, many of these manufacturers set up exhibitor booths to showcase their lines, including Great Dane, Schwarz Industries street sweepers, Galion-Godwin Truck Body, ARM Truck Corp., Stellar Industries, Towmaster trailers, Knapheide Manufacturing, New Way Refuse Equipment, Tommy Gate, Spaulding Mfg., Brush Hawg, Super Products "Camel Max" Jet/Vac, Swaploader hook lifts, Air-Flo, and many, many more.
"We have a diverse range of products, and we have a diverse customer base here," said Tompkins. "We have municipalities from a 120-mile radius of South Jersey here to attend our open house, and we also have construction contractors here. So, diversification has helped us over the years. If one segment of contractor business is down, there's always trash on the streets, which need to be picked up, the streets still need sweeping and the sewers and basins still need to be vacuumed and cleaned."
In addition to exhibitors keeping guests busy, a country music duo, Bar None Band, kept everybody entertained with live music and H.A. DeHart & Son kept all well fed with a free lunch.
"It's been a good run for us at H.A. DeHart and the fact that we are employee-owned, and employ over 75 employees, everybody takes pride in their ownership," Tompkins said. "We all try to do a good job." CEG
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