Old Peerless logo

Old Peerless Building

1401 WEST MARKET STREET
WARREN, OHIO 44485
PHONE: 1-800-676-3651
FAX: 330-393-6041

The Peerless Electric Company was founded in 1893 in a barn near Warren, Ohio, by Elmer Gillmer. The firm produced only electric motors.

It would be difficult to have a more humble beginning. The year was 1893. Electricity was still a bewildering new power to many - Edison had patented electric lighting only 13 years before - but Elmer Gillmer saw a bright new future. He believed electricity was a force to be reckoned with and set up a small shop in a run-down barn in Warren, Ohio. He named his operation the Warren Electric and Specialty Company and began producing carbon lamps.

Shortly after, Gillmer moved into more permanent quarters on the site Peerless Electric occupies today. He was a man of "multitudinous enterprises," however, and he continued to add products and several subsidiaries to his growing "electric empire"; all were incorporated in 1902 as the Peerless Electric Company.

Again, Gillmer needed larger, more efficient facilities. He found his answer at the Buffalo Exhibition in 1903. There, a model of a "modern factory" was on display. The design impressed Gillmer, and he brought the plan back to Warren and had it built. The new plant established Peerless Electric as a vanguard producer of quality products - a reputation that continues today.

Gillmer's interest in electric related ventures didn't stop at the factory gate. He built dams along the Mahoning River to harness waterpower; his Warren Water and Light Company gave the city the first filtered water supply in Ohio, and he initiated the first incandescent street lighting in the nation.

Today, the lineage continues: the Warren Operations of Peerless Electric, a subsidiary of HBD Industries, Inc., remains in full production on the same site over 100 years later. The Warren Operations also reflects the same business principles that defined the original organization: growth, quality, and community involvement.

Under the venerable Peerless Electric (R) label, electric motors remain the mainstay. Top-ranked engineers produce world-class Industrial AC and DC motors in a highly efficient 135,000 square-foot facility under rigid quality control systems. Virtually all Peerless Electric motors are custom made, designed to serve industrial, military, and commercial markets, as well as niche markets such as materials handling, the machine tool industry, floor maintenance industry, hoist/lifting cranes, and many other unique applications.

Research and development and the pursuit of new technologies is an ongoing process at the Warren Operations. Motors made of new, highly efficient compounds and materials, such as ceramic, alnico, and rare Earth Magnets, continue to be redesigned to meet rapidly changing markets. Another Peerless breakthrough: powdered metallurgy in industrial motor applications, a process that produces parts to precise tolerances at greatly reduced weight, cost, and labor.

After a century of growth, the Warren Operations remains motivated, equipped, and staffed to meet the needs of the world marketplace, ready to continue to grow into its second centennial as is evidenced by its Mission Statement:
Peerless Electric being a world class designer and manufacturer of specialty electric motors will deliver products and services on time and of the highest quality. Our mission will be assured by providing a working environment of continuous improvement through total participation. Each employee will be committed to meeting or exceeding the requirements of their internal and external customers. Working as a team, we will achieve the greatest level of customer satisfaction while preparing for tomorrow through innovation in both products and service.