The McNaughton-McKay Electric Co., Madison Heights, Mich., hosted a customer appreciation open house last month to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding. The company also marked the occasion by donating an electric vehicle charging station to Oakland County as a token of appreciation to the community.
The open house featured over 40 of McNaughton-McKay's premier electrical suppliers such as Rockwell Automation, Hoffman Enclosures, Sola/HD, Ferraz Shawmut and Sylvania. Douglas J. Smith, deputy Oakland County executive, accepted the donation of the ClipperCreek charging station on behalf of the county.
McNaughton-McKay opened for business on February 10, 1910, in Detroit. Company founders Arch McKay and John R. McNaughton saw sales nearly double their projections of $75,000 in less than 11 months of operation. That same year Clarence Bull began working as a delivery boy for the company. In 1929 he was made a stockholder of the company, and in 1949 became chief executive officer and partial owner. Upon retiring in 1979, he remained active in the company as chairman of the board until his death in 1990 after 79 years of service.
In December of 2006, after 96 years under the ownership of the McNaughton, McKay and Bull families, McNaughton-McKay became 100-percent employee owned. The company now has 22 locations in 5 states: Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina and South Carolina, with a European location in Krefeld, Germany. Each of the locations is planning a customer appreciation event during the year with a culminating event taking place in November in Orlando, Fla., at the Rockwell Automation Fair to honor both customers and suppliers.
To commemorate its 100th anniversary, the company is writing a keepsake book which will be published at the end of the year. McNaughton-McKay has also chosen to partner with Habitat for Humanity by participating in 5 home builds in their regions by providing the funding for electrical supplies in each home and volunteers.