1942, the McLaughlin Manufacturing Co. was operating at 801 East Cass Street
The McLaughlin (historically spelled McGlaughlin) name has been active in providing solutions for the underground industry for an extremely long time. Before establishing his own manufacturing company Joseph McLaughlin Jr. was drafted for World War I. He was a stenographer with the One Minute Manufacturing Co. of Newton, Iowa and arrived in Joliet after the war. He lived with his brother and worked at the Champion Machine Co. and Illinois Steel. By 1921, Joseph McLaughlin established the Jos. McLaughlin Manufacturing Co. which in 1927 was operating at 213 East Washington Street in Joliet. In 1942, the McLaughlin Manufacturing Co. moved and was operating at 801 East Cass Street where the company manufactured carbide, carbon and high-speed steel bits for coal, clay and iron ore drills as well as conveyor type augers. Joseph McLaughlin died in Joliet in 1964 at the age of 75. By 1947, a Chicago businessman named Paul A. Barker had assumed the position of President of the McLaughlin Manufacturing Co located on 801 East Cass Street. He likely moved the company from Joliet to Plainfield between the years of 1965-1967. Mr. Barker converted the business into a company that built underground construction equipment and later moved the operation to a 60,000-square-foot plant in Greenville, S.C. The current President, Dave Gasmovic joined the company in 1979 as regional sales manager at its Plainfield, IL facility. Later, he transferred to the Arlington, TX plant before transferring to the company’s Greenville, SC headquarters in 1983. He was appointed general manager in 1985, assuming responsibility for all administrative and manufacturing functions, as well as sales and marketing activities with the company’s national dealer organization. In 1990 he was promoted to the position of vice president and now is the current President of the company. Continually expanding the companies horizons, McLaughlin now manufactures Utility Locators, Core Saws, Auger Boring Machines, a large line of Piercing Tools, Vacuum Excavators, directional drills, and a moleing line.