Company History

1906

Incorporation of Jones Cold Store Door Company

This is how it all started, a small operation in Hagerstown, Maryland, started by a Dr. Elgin, R.E. Jones and J.V. Jamison, Sr. The three men agreed to combine their assets – the patented hardware from Elgin and Jones and $2500 cash from Jamison. Within a year Jamison found that he couldn’t work with Jones so he made a buy/sell offer of $5000 to his partners. Jones and Elgin sold out but the name of the company remained until 1914.

1907

J.V. Jamison, Sr. became president

John Vincent Jamison, Sr. led the company until his death in March, 1920.

1909

Move into present facilities

Over the years many additions to this original structure were made, but this original section still stands, a daily reminder of the heritage of the company.

1910

Acquired Noequal Door Company, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Noequal Door Company had been in business about 2 years when Jamison bought it. There were certain perceived advantages of the door they made which centered around their use of rounded jambs which did away with square corners on the frame.

1913

Completed negotiations for purchase of present site from Hamilton Estate.

First unit of new plant completed and occupied.

1914

Charter amended to change name of corporation to Jamison Cold Storage Door Company

1917

Signed first contract with United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, Local Union No. 340, and received the State of Maryland’s Union Label #1.

Every door that leaves the factory has the union label, signifying the door’s quality meets the high standards of the workers who have built it with pride.

1920

J. V. Jamison, Jr. was elected president, succeeding his father.

Warehouse (now the machine shop) and new office building erected.

1928

Acquired Stevenson Door Company, Chester, PA.
Created Sales Department

Mr. Sam Price Stevenson had started the first cold storage door factory in Chester, PA during 1896 and Jamison became his first competitor.

1936

Acquired inventory of Victor Cooler Door Company, Hagerstown.
First 30-Year club dinner held.

These dinners, which continue to this day, honor those who have worked for the company for 30 years. The large number of members of this group explain the organization’s stability which yields consistent high quality performance in all aspects of the business.

1940

Built first sound reduction doors for Wright Aeronautic Corporation

While specialty doors have never been the company’s main product, they have been a consistent source of income over many years.

1941

World War II

Almost 50 Jamison employees served in the Armed Forces during World War II.

1942

J.V. Jamison, Jr., elected chairman of the board, J.V. Jamison, 3rd elected president and general manager.

The company had its first million dollar sales year.

1946

Acquired door business from York Corporation

1947

Built building (now Head Cell Department)

1950

Introduced the Series 50 cold storage door

1955

Built building (now Crating and Shipping Departments)

1958

Introduced the Jamolite all plastic cold storage door and frame

1959

Introduced the Electroglide (Mark I) power operated sliding door

1962

Introduced the Mark II series of doors

1967

Charter amended to change name to Jamison Door Company

Expanded manufacture of Jamison doors to Japan.

1972

Introduced Jamiglide series of doors

1977

Introduced Alltemp cold storage fire door, UL Labeled

1978

J.V. Jamison, 3rd elected chairman of the board and D. Tolly West., Jr., elected president

Initiated the “chop strand” technique for manufacturing large plastic doors.

1979

Introduced printed circuit board control

1980

Started full production of PowerTron operator

Introduced plastic coated Controlled Atmosphere Door.

1981

Introduced Hydraulic Operator for Cold Storage Doors

1983

Roland F. Smith elected president

J.V. Jamison, 3rd honored by city and county representatives and Congresswoman Beverly Byron for 50 years service.

1984

Introduced Mark III Series Doors with patented Diamond-Trac® System

1985

Introduced new line of STC 50-57 Swing Sound Doors (Jamisonic® Series 2000)

1986

Introduced new line of STC 51-53 Horizontal Sliding Sound Doors

1989

Introduced Mark III A Vertical slide Door (Woodless) and Mark III Auto Clear Fast-Acting Bi-Fold Door

1991

Shipped two Special Steel Blast Clean Room Doors for 20’ x 50’ openings to Cape Canaveral Satellite Processing Facility,Florida.

Jamison’s largest single leaf operating doors ever built- each door in six pieces weighing 21 tons.

1993

J.V. Jamison, 3rd recognized for 60 years in industry

Wye Jamison Allanbrook elected Chair of the Board; Series 2000 Post Office Doors Pass U.S. Postal Office “torture test”. Began using environmentally- friendly non=CFC foam insulation.

1994

New Firetemp® Sliding Door design achieves 3 hour UL fire label

Series 2000 Hollow Metal Sound Doors introduced. Obtained 3 hour Fire label on Hollow Metal Sound/Blast Doors.

1995

Inducted largest class into 30 Year Club – twenty employees

1996

Roland F. Smith elected Vice Chair Board; John A. Latimer III elected President and CEO

Introduced Mark IV Series of Doors; Maple Avenue renamed J. V. Jamison Drive by City of Hagerstown

1997

Initiated Jamison Website: www.jamisondoor.com

Introduced computer aided Scriber to layout metal to manufacturing operation; Installed Pro Engineer; Began reorganization of shop to cell manufacturing process; Installed “PowerCerv” software to control Distribution, Manufacturing and Financial systems within company.

Curtis Berry hired as V.P. of Engineering

1998

Implementation of “Synchronous Manufacturing” to improve the workflow through all processes; Introduced InVision Bi-Fold Power Door

1999

Introduced “FOOD PRO” Horizontal Sliding Door; Introduced first “CD” Rom Interactive Digital Catalog

2000

John T. Williams elected Chairman of Board.

Recruited Dwight Clark, a long-time manufacturers rep for doors, as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

2002

Introduced Retail Pro Manual Horizontal Sliding Door

Installed new High Pressure Foam Machine to meet Montreal Protocol and EPA standards.

2004

Jamison acquired HCR (Re-Circulatory Air Door Manufacturer), Lewistown, MT

Introduced Power Horizontal Sliding PAD Door; Jamison began hosting own Website.

2004

Introduced “Windload” Door Line (Swing, Horizontal Slide, Vertical Lift and Overhead models) tested in accordance with American Society Testing and Materials standards

Installed Dual Cutting Head Aluminum Saw in manufacturing; Introduced On-Line Customer Assistance program; Opened a production facility in Mexico City as a joint venture with Jamison’s Mexico representatives.

2005

Jamison Door Latino America produced is first door

The joint venture, formed in 2004, gave Jamison a presence in the growing Mexican market with a new plant in Mexico City.

Greg Lloyd joined the management team as Vice President-Finance/CFO.

2006

Jamison celebrates its 100 year anniversary.

Received approval from Underwriters Laboratories for redesigned power door control panels; Introduced PUB Anniversary Door

2007

Jamison entered the RFID market with its first portals, the cabinets that house the electronics components.

2009

After years of research and development, introduced Versaflex, the industry’s best hittable door.

2010

Signed a licensing agreement with Changzhou Jingxue Freezing Equipment Co. Ltd. in China for the manufacture and sale of HCR air doors.

2012

Began manufacturing high speed rollup doors at our BMP/Jamison plant in Hagerstown, a result of our having formed a joint venture with B.M.P.S.r.l. of Alba, Italy.

Strengthened our management team with the addition of long time director, Boyce Martin, joining as Executive Vice President and General Counsel. David Briggs replaced retiring Tom Johnson as director of operations.

2015

June 17, 2015 – Jamison announces the grand opening of their new Jamotuf manufacturing plant.

Jamison Door Company opens their newest manufacturing plant which manufactures the Jamotuf line of doors. Jamotuf is the name of Jamison’s line of 1 3/4″ insulated molded non-corrosive fiberglass doors and frames. It is Jamison’s 5th North American manufacturing plant, and 6th operating company.

2018

Jamison Door Company Names Dwight Clark President and Chief Operating Officer.

Jamison Door Company has promoted Dwight Clark to be President and Chief Operating Office effective January 1, 2018. Mr. Clark joined the company in 2001 as Vice President Sales and Marketing and has led the sales effort since that time, developing a sales organization capable of selling the growing number of products the company manufactures. He has been a key player in helping guide the introduction of new products and territories. Active also in industry activities, Mr. Clark has been on the Board of Directors of the International Association for Cold Storage Construction since 2002. Dwight is excited to have the new responsibilities and the opportunity to help lead as we go forward.

2018

Jamison breaks ground on their new BMP manufacturing plant.

On August 22, 2018, Jamison Door Company officially broke ground on the new Jamison BMP manufacturing facility. The Franklin County (PA) Area Development Corp. is serving as a developer for the 50,000-square-foot building, and the new space for roll-up door production is anticipated to be complete by summer of 2019.

2019

Jamison officially opens doors in PA

We marked our continued expansion August 21, 2019 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at our new BMP Doors USA production facility in Franklin County, PA. This is a result of teamwork and dedication, and we are excited to ‘open the doors’ to new opportunities.