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founded 18 May 1964 · Cole 1969
On 18 May 1964 Marion and Vern Ward opened the doors of Ward Pattern & Engineering Company in the former Wayne Knitting Mills building on Growth Avenue — a small pattern shop with three employees and 1,500 square feet, and first-year sales of $90,000. The company's own timeline keeps the day; a 1983 city bond application names Marion Ward as the company's president and Vern Ward as vice-president, and Vern was named Indiana's outstanding Small Businessman of the Year in the founding year. In 1969 Marion's brother Gail Cole started Cole Precision Castings beside them. The Ward course — Ward Aluminum Casting in 1978, the Ward Corporation of today — is the Business section's.
Sources:
- Businesses — "Ward Pattern & Engineering Company → Ward Corporation" and "Cole Precision Castings" (the company's timeline for 18 May 1964; the bond application's officers; the 1969 Cole founding).
- The Journal Gazette's 2018 profile of the founders, as summarised by ACGSI — the Wards' 1964 start.