W.H. Bagshaw: A New Vision for an Old Business

Founded in 1870 by Walter Henry Bagshaw in Lowell, Mass. to manufacture pins for the textile and phonograph industries, W.H. Bagshaw has not only remained true to its roots 143 years later but has evolved by expanding its product lines.

Now located in Nashua and run by Bagshaw’s great-great- grandson Aaron and his wife Adria—the fifth generation to own the company—W.H. Bagshaw is the oldest continuously family-owned business on this year’s list.

Aaron’s grandfather Joseph and his father David each ran the business, and Aaron recalls running around the company as a kid. He worked there as a teenager doing odd jobs and handled West Coast sales accounts for his family’s business while at college in California. “I was never pressured into the business,” Aaron says. When his uncle died, Aaron decided to come home to help his father. “When I came back here in 1997, we still had all our accounts on paper. We were typing orders in triplicate,” Aaron says.

While it took a few years, Aaron moved everything to electronic records, and when his dad retired, Aaron and Adria put together a proposal to buy the majority interest in the business from distant relatives who were no longer involved.

The couple has invested more than $1 million into the business during the past seven years, including purchasing new CNC machines that have allowed the company to win aerospace, defense and medical contracts. W.H. Bagshaw has been steadily growing sales of its pins and precision turned parts and plans to add six more positions this year to its staff of 36.

“We have an old company with solid values and history, but with the entrepreneurial spirit of a start up,” says Adria Bagshaw, the company’s vice president, noting in addition to equipment upgrades, the company also has focused on establishing a strong social media presence and even started a podcast earlier this year.

“We’re aggressive on the marketing front and it is paying off. Our name is synonymous with pins,” says Aaron, president and chief visionary officer.

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