OMA History

Since 1910: Protecting and Growing Ohio Manufacturing

Since 1910, the OMA has helped Ohio manufacturers prosper and grow. Today, the OMA and its members continue working together to ensure a global advantage for Ohio manufacturers and to enhance our quality of life by standing up for Ohio’s largest industry.

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Early Work

With Colonel J.G. Battelle of the Columbus Iron & Steel Company serving as a catalyst to bring together manufacturers from across Ohio, the OMA entered the policymaking scene with a robust policy agenda.

Invitation From Colonel Battelle to the First OMA Meeting

The first meeting of the OMA convened in response to the following letter of invitation from Colonel Battelle:

November 5, 1910

“The subject of forming an association of Ohio manufacturers has been presented to a number of our friends, and has met with sufficient encouragement to justify calling a meeting of those interested for the purpose of effecting a permanent organization.

“In accordance with the majority of those who have considered the matter, the time has been fixed for 2 o’clock p.m., Thursday, November 10. The place of meeting will be the Chittenden Hotel, Columbus, where Parlor B has been assigned for our use …

“The success of this organization will depend almost entirely upon our ability to select a strong executive committee and a staff of thoroughly qualified officers. In this work, your cooperation is most earnestly solicited.

“There is important work for this organization to do in the immediate future …

“I beg that you will let me hear from you at once stating who will represent your company at the meeting on November 10th and what time he will arrive in Columbus. I will thank you also for any suggestions that you may care to make for consideration before the meeting is held.”

Very truly yours,
J.G. Battelle

List of Companies at the OMA's Initial Meeting

Representatives of 17 manufacturing companies from multiple Ohio cities attended the initial meeting of the OMA on November 10, 1910.

Buckeye Steel Castings Co.

Columbus

Columbus Iron & Steel Co.

Columbus

Federal Glass Co.

Columbus

Kinnear Manufacturing Co.

Columbus

Jeffrey Manufacturing

Columbus

Case Crane Co.

Columbus

Case Crane Co.

Columbus

Shelby Shoe Co.

Portsmouth

LaBelle Iron Works Co.

Steubenville

Pioneer Pole & Shaft Co.

Piqua

Champion Coated Paper Co.

Hamilton

Niles Tool Works Co.

Hamilton

The Lodge-Shipley Tool Co.

Cincinnati

Bellaire Bottle Co.

Bellaire

The Dayton Manufacturing Co.

Dayton

Ohio Malleable Iron Co.

Columbus

The C&G Cooper Engine Co.

Mt. Vernon

Excerpt From the OMA Constitution

One order of business at that initial meeting in 1910 was to draft a constitution. After declaring the organization’s name to be The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, the constitution clearly states the focus of the association’s work:

“The object of this Association shall be to promote the general welfare of productive industries in the State of Ohio, to advocate a public policy favorable to the development of such industries, to oppose propositions that would tend to restrain such development, to develop a relation of mutual helpfulness between those engaged in such industries, to create a medium that will facilitate the exchange of information relating to the same, and to keep prominently before the public the importance of such industries for the general prosperity of the State.”

Secretary’s Report from the OMA’s First Annual Meeting

The secretary’s report from the OMA’s first annual meeting, held on November 10, 1911, reveals no shortage of activity — or strong opinions. Secretary George S. Boudinot delivered a detailed report on the association’s work on key issues such as membership recruitment, “workmen’s compensation,” working hours for women, and taxation. Mr. Boudinot’s incisive prose provides a colorful glimpse into the news and views of the day. Here are some highlights:

Membership

“The work of building up this organization was delegated to the Secretary’s office. It was hoped that a total of 400 members might be secured during the first year. The total is 369, a little short of our hopes, but the best that could be done under the circumstances.”

Legislative Work

Mr. Boudinot also reported: “About forty bills intended to insure the business of manufacturers were introduced. Some of them were so foolish that they worked their own death. Others were killed in committee, and some that reached the calendar never came up for consideration. In other cases amendments were secured that gave satisfactory results.”

Workmen’s Compensation

Passage of Ohio’s first “workmen’s compensation” legislation was a major focus of the OMA’s work in 1911. As passed, Mr. Boudinot wrote: “The present Compensation Act in Ohio is probably the best law on this subject in the United States today.” However, he went on to note, “we do not know that it is going to work satisfactorily.” Mr. Boudinot foresaw the likelihood that the law would be appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, and advised that “the only safe course for members of this Association to take is to await with patience the outcome of the test that must be made sooner or later.”

Publicity

While today’s OMA cultivates positive relationships with members of the news media, Mr. Boudinot’s comments suggest that may not have been the case in 1910. He wrote: “It is a matter of common knowledge that practically all of our newspapers, and most of our magazines, are overflowing with attacks on business interests. This has become popular amusement … This is not because a majority of newspaper publishers are anxious to destroy or even impair business. It is so, however, because newspaper publishers have found so far that it aids them to sell papers, and the business interests are too cowardly to stop paying them for advertising space.”

1912 Ohio Constitutional Convention

In the early twentieth century, reform-minded Ohioans called for a Constitutional Convention. The upcoming convention was previewed at the OMA’s 2012 Annual Meeting in less-than-flattering terms: “One hundred and nineteen delegates to the Constitutional Convention have been elected. A majority of them have been chosen from obscure, fanatical classes without responsibility to any party or reputable organization, without independent judgment, or even an acquaintance with the great questions of the day, acknowledging no dealers but wild-eyed demagogues, and no master but the yellow press.”

Tribute to Colonel Battelle

This stirring tribute to Colonel J.G. Battelle, who spearheaded the formation of The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association, was printed in the secretary’s report to the first annual meeting of the OMA:

“No statement of formation of this Association or its early work can be made fairly without giving the fullest credit to the personal interest and constant efforts of Col. J.G. Battelle of Columbus. It was in his mind that the idea first took form, and it was through his direct efforts and supervision that a canvass of the state was made with a view to ascertaining the sentiment of other manufacturers on the subject of organization. And finally, it was through his financial backing that the experiment was made at all. Furthermore, the Association is indebted to Col. Battelle for constant, painstaking, personal interest in all of its affairs during its first year of existence, and to him is due very much of the credit for the accomplishment that has been achieved.”

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