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Van Dyne Crotty 1935-2006
Van Dyne Crotty, Inc.- Founded by Lloyd Van Dyne and Fergus Crotty, on January 1st,1935 during the height of the depression. This Textile Leasing company grew from a $500 loan into one of the premier privately owned uniform companies in the United States.

Van Dyne and Crotty began their business by renting industrial shop towels to the service gas stations, manufacturing plants like NCR, Delco Products, Frigidaire and the numerous tool and die shops that supported the automotive manufacturing industry in Southwest Ohio.

The company thrived in the area which was often called "little Detroit" due to Charles Kettering who had invented the automobile self starter and held numerous patents at NCR for the cash register. General Motors could not persuade Patterson to move to Detroit so they built numerous plants around him in the Dayton area which later evolved into DELCO (Dayton Electronic Labratory Company).

The areas that Van Dyne Crotty operated in boasted of having more patents per capita than any other region in the United States, some of the inventions patented in their home town were the airplane, the parachute, pop top beverage cans, ice cube tray, the step ladder, just to name a few. The partners were in the right place at the right time. Dayton needed the service the pair provided and the business grew steadily.

Van Dyne Crotty grew geographically through out Ohio, and additional products were introduced such as glove renovation which proved to be profitable due to the heavy industrial base figured it was less expensive to clean gloves versus buy new gloves for the manufacturing process.

Van Dyne Crotty is also credited as being the first company east of the Mississippi River to rent an entrance mat also known as "walk off mats" which has since grown into a multi Billion dollar industry in itself.

Lloyd Van Dyne passed away in the early 60s and the company was headed by Fergus Crotty who at the time of his retirement had left or sold the company to L. William Crotty and Frank Crotty.

The company was at that point divided between the two brothers Frank who owned Van Dyne Crotty Company in Columbus, Ohio and L.William Crotty who became the CEO of Van Dyne Crotty Inc which this article is written about.

L. William Crotty would become the catalyst to lead the company into its next era of growth. L.William began his career in the U.S. Marine Corps as Drill instructor at Paris Island,SC and then graduating from the University of Dayton.

L. William, led the company by example working in all areas of the company. He rewarded his employees for performance and always promoted an anti-union work environment where people were treated fairly. One of his favorite sayings to his associates was "inch by inch is a cinch...mile by mile is a trial".

L.William grew the privately held company from an estimated $5 Million per year in sales revenues to $90 Million. During this time the third generation of Crotty's were being raised in the company, and would eventually help shape the the textile leasing industry.

Daniel Crotty would become President of Van Dyne Crotty in the mid 1990s and then grow the company to roughly $115 Million per year in annual revenues, his brother Kevin Crotty was Vice President of Operations, and Robert Crotty Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

From the mid 1980s forward the companies focus was changed from being an industrial laundry to a uniform rental company. The marketing tagline was changed from "The Very Fabric of American Industry" to "First in Lasting Impressions".

Van Dyne Crotty was noted industry wide as being innovative in new product offerings that would eventually grow their industry, as well as setting the industry standard for customer service.

Van Dyne Crotty was sold in February 06' to publicly traded Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ Ticker Symbol CTAS)