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BUSINESS UPDATE: A 138-year-old New York Manufacturer Gets Another Life in Fulton
E.J. Willis Co. was founded in New York City in 1888 and for generations it has made ship’s bells and other equipment for the U.S. Navy and American shipbuilders. This summer, the new owner moved the company’s equipment to Fulton By Stefan Yablonski E. J. Willis Co. cast brass ship’s bells — handcrafted in the United States since 1888. Ship bells, “built to last a lifetime at sea,” are now manufactured in Fulton. E.J. Willis Co. has moved its operation and manufacturing business to Fulton. They are currently operating out of N.E.T & Die. The company is now under the ownership of Jonathan Hyatt. He recently acquired the company after seeing a for sale note on Craigslist. [caption id=attachment_11110 align=alignright width=400] Entrepreneur Jonathan Hyatt is the new owner of E.J. Willis Co. He bought the business this summer after finding a listing on Craigslist by chance.[/caption] “I had been looking for something to do. I had been 20 years in corporate America and I was just tired of building someone else’s empire, you know what I mean? I was in consulting, pretty much a jack of all trades. I wanted to do something that I could call my own,” he explained. “I’d been on this path of trying to find a business to buy for about a year. One night I am on Craigslist about 11:30 in mid-April searching for something completely unrelated. At the bottom of Craigslist was a ‘things you might be interested in from outside of your area.’ There was an ad that said 138-year-old bell manufacturing company for sale. So, I clicked; why not, right? I wasn’t looking to buy a manufacturing company, but I went down the rabbit hole, absolutely fell in love with the history and ended up buying it.” He read the ad and responded. “I called and I am talking to the owner of the business for about two hours. We ended with, let’s have another chat and then come on out here and have a look. I figured, well I might wind up getting kidnapped and getting murdered or there is a real business here. But I gotta see it through,” he quipped. “And sure enough, there is a big machine shop operation there. The gentleman who owned it was retiring and in the corner of this shop is a little room where they make bells and they have been doing this ever since the company had started.” That’s the one constant thing that has survived the changes of the business. [caption id=attachment_11061 align=alignright width=300] Sales 1929 general catalog published by E. J. Willis Co, listing all the merchandise it sold. It’s like the Sears Roebuck and Co. catalog for marine parts.[/caption] “I drove home and told my wife, ‘This is what I am doing for the rest of whatever we are calling this — mid-life crisis.’ And she said, ‘absolutely you got to do it.’ I took out a loan and off we go.” He put in an offer on the business and they closed on July 1. He didn’t disclose what he paid for the company. “In terms of price, the seller and I have agreed to keep those terms private.” “I am finding that I am a business owner, an archeologist, opening files and cabinets that haven’t been opened in 100 years. It’s just amazing, just cool things that I am finding,” he said. “I want to build the business back. I want to be able to sell the bells to outsiders. I think they are beautiful. “It’s really a wild story about a company that started in lower Manhattan, exploded in the automotive space, sold parts to the Wright Brothers, moved into the aeronautical world and then landed in marine. The cool thing, I have been digging around and the gentleman who owned the company prior to me was not a digital guy. There is nothing out there. “Now I am sitting here with all the art from like the 1930s, the E.J. Willis boat catalog it’s like 250 pages of things this company used to make. It’s like the Sears-Roebuck and Co. catalog for marine parts. We are modernizing, we are staying true to the heritage of the business. It’s exciting to be the next steward of the whole business.” Initially he thought he’d move everything from the company’s plant in Middleville, Herkimer County, to Boston, out of convenience. “Then I thought let’s keep the foundry where it is. Let’s not move anything right away,” he said. “I want to get a good sense of what we’ve got, what works and what doesn’t. “I went to the foundry and met with the people there, lovely people, and said here is my position — I am buying a company where everyone is retiring. There is machining and polishing to be done, who would you work with around here? Without hesitation they said, ‘you need to go to NET Tool & Die and talk to Michelle [Shatrau]. She is a third-generation machinist and she runs the company now.’” So, he drove to Fulton. “I knocked on the door, they let me in. And she said, ‘how’d you get in here?’” he said with a laugh. “We became fast friends. I told her what I am doing. It must have struck a nerve. She has a very entrepreneurial background. I must have said something right because she came out and she said, ‘I’d love to help you. Why don’t we move the equipment that you have into my large building and I will give you a space to work at and use my team?’” [caption id=attachment_11058 align=alignleft width=300] Bell in progress awaiting assembly[/caption] It’s a great relationship so far. “We are bringing the business into the modern world. It’s been a lot of stuff all at once. But it has been very exciting,” he said. “We moved in a month ago [in July]. We closed on the business July 1. We moved a couple weeks later. We had all our equipment set up, electrical being run, everything. [caption id=attachment_11059 align=alignright width=300] Bell attached to a lathe going through the machining process[/caption] “We’re working with NET Tool & Die to rebuild production and preserve manufacturing processes that, in some cases, existed mostly in the heads and hands of the people who had been doing them for decades. We’re currently working on several 200-pound ship’s bells and bringing an old two-way manual bilge pump back into production.” He said he will be working with NET employees for the time being, adding, “I’d love to get to a point where I have so much growth that I need to hire people.” No one wakes up and says, ‘I am buying a bell today,’ Hyatt admitted. [caption id=attachment_11060 align=alignleft width=225] Bell after receiving a custom etching toward the bell mouth[/caption] “Everyone does wake up and has things that deserve acknowledgment and remembering — a promotion, a marriage, the birth of a child,” he said. “These are the things I feel like if there was something that could capture a particular moment in time and will literally outlast the person that bought it, a bell is that. We can engrave a bell if you get married or the birth of a child. We can put anything on a bell. “I have orders, yes. I am working on several orders right now. We have a little bit of busyness. But there are still some things to work out. I want to make things consistently and continue to move forward.”
Score Entertainment officials project fall opening for Deerbrook Mall location
Score Entertainment officials project a fall opening for a new 155,000-square-foot entertainment venue in the former Sears space at Deerbrook Mall in Humble.
Lyle Ignace stepping down as CEO of Indian Health Center in Milwaukee
Lyle Ignace, who is a member of the Wisconsin-based Menominee and the Idaho-based Coeur d’Alene tribes, is moving to Colorado with his family.
Here’s what that big hospital at the old Sears site in SLC would look like
New renderings of the planned Intermountain Health hospital at the old Sears site in Salt Lake City are here. What do you think of them?
Belfast’s East Side is a ‘business graveyard’ compared to Searsport
The municipalities take a different approach to economic development, the author says.
A cleanup effort is underway on the shores of Sears Lake. Here’s what’s lurking in the dirt.
Cleanup is underway at the long-empty, and contaminated, former Sears site in Salt Lake City.
Padres Snap 8-Game Losing Streak With Win Over Dodgers
Manny Machado’s three-run blast and dominant pitching from JP Sears propelled the San Diego Padres past the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Dodgers vs. Padres game chat
Emmet Sheehan faces J.P. Sears as the Dodgers look to sweep the San Diego Padres on Sunday. SUNDAY GAME INFO
IKEA to open second upstate New York location in early 2027
Tentative plans call for IKEA to transform the 67,000-square-foot lower level of the former Sears and Sears Auto space.
Fire unfolded in mill that has been part of Maine’s forest industry ‘since forever’
An explosion and fire at a Robbins Lumber facility in Searsmont on Friday left multiple firefighters and civilians injured, officials said.
Old Sears store in Central Austin gets new life as health center for low-income residents
The flagship administrative and medical center for Central Health, the local public hospital district, opens in Hancock Center for limited services starting Friday.
Manhattan DA pushes state lawmakers for tougher 3D-printed gun laws
The top Manhattan prosecutor is supporting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s effort to crack down on both 3D-printed ghost guns and 3D-printed auto sears.
Steven Roth sells former Queens department store to Northwell Health for $236M
Two of New York’s frequent real estate shoppers just made a $236 million deal on an abandoned department store in Queens.The seller was Steven Roth, who acquired the 340,000-square-foot retail property in 1995 after a battle for control with now-President Donald Trump. Roth and partners stand to reap a nearly $150 million gain from selling the building near the Long Island Expressway to Northwell Health. The deal was disclosed Monday by Alexander’s Inc., a real estate firm Roth runs that is named after the big-in-its-time department store that once operated in the building. Alexander’s filed for bankruptcy in 1992 and closed all 11 of its locations. The site later became a Sears. It has been vacant since Burlington and Marshalls moved out last year.
Maryland Politics: Primary candidates set for state and congressional races; a GA update
Maryland Matters government and politics reporter Bryan Sears joins Midday guest host Jayne Miller to recap state and national primary candidates, and the latest legislative moves in Annapolis.
Caesars May Lose Houston Rockets Bets If Fertitta’s Company Takes Over
Tilman Feritta, owner of the Houston Rockets, could expand his gaming portfolio by acquiring Caesars. But it would create operational hurdles.
Demolition tears into Portland suburb mall to make way for sports center, major renovation
Contractors have fenced off the Tigard shopping mall’s southern parking lot in recent weeks and are tearing into the property’s fortress-like walls where Sears used to operate.
Wisconsin should have more Winter Olympians. How can it happen?
Those closest to the winter-sports scene in Wisconsin say providing more opportunities will create more Winter Olympians from the state.
Massive Japanese-Style Entertainment Center Officially Opens At Formers Sears In Houston
Round1 Bowling & Arcade has officially opened in the space at Willowbrook Mall in Houston formerly occupied by SEARS.
D-Wave Announces Formation of U.S. Government Business Unit
PALO ALTO, Calif., December 02, 2025--D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) ("D-Wave" or the "Company"), a leader in quantum computing systems, software, and services and the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers, announced today that it has formed a new business unit dedicated to driving the adoption of its quantum computing products and services with the U.S. government. Led by seasoned government and public sector business executive Jack Sears Jr., the newly formed unit will suppo