William Gray moves his family from Ontario, Canada, to Rochester, NY.

• In September 1903, Malcolm E., William H., and Daniel D. Gray founded Atlantic Stamping Co. in Rochester, NY.
• Starting in a small room with 2-3 second-hand machines making oil and gas cans. Expanded early product line to include wash boilers and dairy pails due to customer demand.
• Rapid success attracted interest from Rochester businessman W. J. McKelve, a man well known in the Masonic circles.
• Partnership formed between McKelvey and the Gray brothers and the business rapidly grew, requiring expansion to a larger building and more equipment.
• Product offerings grew to include cups, dippers, dishpans, cream pails, cream separators, galvanized wash tubs, and other goods.
• Atlantic Stamping Co was incorporated and McKelvey brought in multiple investors to secure capital for company stock.
• The infusion of investment capital helped build a state-of-the-art 52,804 sq. ft. manufacturing facility on Ames St. in Rochester, NY.
• Malcolm and brother William file several patent applications for various metalware items resulting in 2 jointly issued patents and 5 individually issued patents (Patent#’s 796,717; 893,321; 890,640; 893,484; 880,522; 876,633; 884,485).

• William H. Gray pursues a career path which leads him into another metal related trade and starts a contracting business dealing with the public as a sheet metal tradesman.
• William offered comprehensive tin, copper, and sheet iron work, with furnace heating as his specialty. His services included general jobbing and repairs, cleaning and repairing furnaces and stoves, painting conductor pipes, and providing a wide range of custom specialty work.
• William serves as an agent for underground garbage cans produced by the Rochester Can Company.
• He buys out a competitor and continues working as a contractor for roughly 18 years.
• During this period, he expands into gutter-related products and files patents for a stove pipe and gutter end cap.
• He received two patents in 1921 and 1922 (U.S. Patents 1,373,883 and 1,437,937).
• By the mid-1920s, he was operating as William H. Gray & Son’s with his sons William J. and Donald E. Gray.
• The business, located at 20 Beacon St., Rochester, NY, manufactures furnace elbows, nestable furnace tees, gutter hangers, gutter caps, gutter outlets, and sheet metal ductwork.

• William H. Gray receives two patents for an eave trough hanger and a duct joint construction (Patents 2,233,049 and 2,260,221).

• William J. Gray received a patent for a snap lock for pipe (Patent 2,264,761).
• June: Donald E. Gray sells his interest in Gray Metal Products, becoming essentially a silent partner prior to the sale.
• Gray Metal Products, Inc.evolves as a full line pre-fabricated sheet metal air duct manufacturer and establishes a reputation for providing high quality air duct products throughout the New York, Pennsylvania, and New England regions.

• Gray Metal purchases the first Welty Way “Colatch Machine” for attaching collars to fittings automatically. Delivered personally by Mr. Welty, marking the first machine ever sold by the company now known as Iowa Precision.

• Richard Gray Sr. identifies the need for expansion and automation.
• After convincing his father, a 10,000 sq. ft. addition was built at the Rochester plant and purchased a 60” Welty Way Slear to process steel transforming the plant from sheet-fed to coil-fed production—significantly reducing material costs and improving competitiveness.
• The original 1969 Slear remains in use at Gray Metal’s Avon, NY facility today.

Marguerite S. Gray died and left her stock to Richard E. Gray Sr. in recognition of his dedication to Gray Metal Products, Inc.

Mid to late 1970’s

• Richard and Carole’s children: William, Marguerite, Richard Jr., Martin, and Joseph, enter the business, learning the factory and office roles by performing the work hands-on.
• All remain active in the family business currently.

• August 1989, William R. Gray founded Gray Flex Systems, Inc., a flexible duct manufacturer, operating out of a 3,600 sq. ft. room within Gray Metal Products’ Norman St. facility.
  
• Richard and Carole cosign a capital investment loan to support William’s startup.
• William’s wife, Carrie, works with him from the beginning and later serves as Secretary/Treasurer.

• William R. Gray receives his first patent for reinforced flexible duct core (U.S. Patent #5,526,849).
• Gray Flex Systems relocates to North Carolina and experiences rapid growth, eventually operating in a 190,000 sq. ft. facility in Coats, NC.

• William R. Gray and his brother Richard Jr. founded Snap-Rite Manufacturing in Coats, North Carolina to produce insulated sheet metal duct items.
  
• William R. Gray received two patents: one for a vent screen and one for a motorcycle warning device (U.S. Patents 6,361,433 and 6,034,594).

• Snap-Rite relocates from Coats, NC to Lake Park, Georgia to better serve the Florida, Georgia, Alabama market. The company currently operates in a 155,000 sq. ft. facility.

• Richard E. Gray Sr. dies unexpectedly, leaving controlling interest in Gray Metal Products, Inc. to his wife Carole, who continues to run day-to-day operations alongside sons Richard Jr. and Martin.
• At the time of Richard Sr.’s death, Gray Metal Products, Inc. has grown approximately tenfold compared to when Richard Sr. and Carole took over in 1974.

• William R. Gray files several new patents related to the air-duct industry (all pending at the time).
• The Gray family acquired the assets of Air Fab of New Jersey AKA Cheney Co., redistributing the equipment among multiple plants.
• Snap-Rite acquired the assets of Nu Era of Michigan and relocated the assets between Cleveland, OH and Lake Park, GA facilities.
  

The Gray family continues its tradition of innovation, quality, and American-made craftsmanship through having in house tool & die capabilities along with machine building and design facilities. These internal resources allow the Gray companies to react quickly to market changes by continually improving manufacturing processes. They also play a key role in developing new product ideas and innovations across the family of businesses.