COMPANY HISTORY In the early days of World War II our grandfather, Michael Joest, founded Imperial Machine & Tool Company with borrowed money and a few small machine tools. With persistence and perspiration he was able to exploit opportunities necessitated by the war effort. From the beginning our concentration on quality and customer service was paramount. We still find it interesting to review meeting notes and Board of Director’s minutes from the early days. Curiously enough, the focus has not changed all that much over the decades. Customers still need and deserve top drawer quality and dedication to their needs, just like we provided way back then! With the retirement of Michael Joest in the early 1960’s, our dad, George Joest, Sr. took the reins. Trained as a mechanical engineer and with additional electronics training during the Korean conflict, he was truly a natural to lead Imperial Machine & Tool through the very exciting and interesting days of the 60’s, 70’s, and early 80’s. With a dual focus on some of the large military and space programs (Lunar Lander and Saturn) as well as developmental and production work for the fledgling computer and high tech industry, Imperial Machine & Tool grew and prospered. Our dad’s versatility and varied skills laid a tremendous foundaton for Imperial’s next generation. As third generation owners, George Jr. and Chris grew up in the business. From painting and machine maintenance during the summers right on through their apprenticeship and formal training as machinists we can truly say we’ve learned the business from the inside. With our dad’s sudden and unplanned retirement in 1985, we really hit the ground running. Continuing to build on our dad’s success with technology companies, we built, prospered, and planned our future throughout the 80’s and early 90’s. In 1995 we realized our dream of relocating to our brand new plant in our rural hometown of Blairstown, New Jersey. This relocation and subsequent influx of eager and talented employees really made an impact. With a revitalized workforce, a brand new building, and great customers, both military and tech, we have been expanding and growing ever since. Both of us are very much “hands-on” type managers. Most days you will find one or both of us on our shop floor discussing the priorities of the day with the various departments. George has overall responsibilities for production, while Chris oversees sales and outside contacts. We truly make every effort to remain out of our ivory towers and the insulation they bring, and rather enjoy the give and take of the activity of the shop floor.