Translate Site Map

County Achievement Awards
Franklin County

James Hardigg
Hardigg Battery Products

In 1942 while studying mathematics at Dartmouth College, Jim Hardigg became intrigued by the study of outer space and wrote of his interest to Dr. Goddard, the pioneer in rocket science. Dr. Goddard advised Jim to study mechanical engineering at a good engineering school and then come to see him. Jim took his advice, but Dr. Goddard died only a few months before Jim graduated from MIT. Jim then took a job in the aircraft gas turbine division of a large industry. Five years’ experience of labor unrest and management that was sometimes dishonest led Jim to plan to found a company built on trust and mutual understanding. In 1954, he started working on his own in a one-room office in Washington, DC. Here he designed ways to protect delicate equipment from damage in shipment. He made his first prototypes in the basement of his parents’ home, cooking the foam cushions in his mother’s oven. A few months later, he moved his operation into part of a small building in Bethesda, Maryland. An ad in the paper brought him part-time help from Scotty Spink and John Miller. The three of them outfitted boxes with the special cushioning devices Jim had invented, and launched the first Hardigg containers into the market.

In 1956, Jim accepted a job as a design engineer for a firm in Danvers, Massachusetts with the understanding that he would keep his own company going in his spare time. Jobs were found there for Scotty and John as well. Jim found space for his company in an old grain mill in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. There the three men worked evenings and Saturdays, producing a type of cushioned package that gained acceptance with the electronic companies along Route 128. Jim married that year and in 1957, the first of his seven children was born.
In 1958, Jim left the Danvers firm and moved to Western Massachusetts, renting part of a mill building in South Hadley Falls for his growing business. Norm Barstow and Joe Strzegowski came to work in those early days and are now leaders in the fields of packaging and custom molding. In 1961, Jim purchased land in South Deerfield and constructed a building that has grown to its present size.

In 1986, a plant in Columbus, Indiana was built for Hardigg Battery Products, to move the company’s production of industrial battery jars closer to its market. In 2000, a plant was built in Devens, Massachusetts to produce kayaks and other recreational boats. Reusable shipping containers are the major product of the South Deerfield plant. Distribution centers to custom-fit these containers are located in California, Texas, and in Europe, as well as Northampton, Massachusetts. Jim Hardigg gives the reason for starting a manufacturing company in the company’s statement of purpose†“Hardigg Industries, Inc. strives to maintain a just, safe, productive, and rewarding workplace for all of its Associates... a Company where people can do a share of the nation’s work under good working conditions and receive their fair share of the nation’s income.â€