Among our industry’s unsung heroes, Walter Moehlenpah takes a close second place behind Cal Jureit. Both built pivotal, pioneering businesses, Jureit through his truss plate and Moehlenpah through his truss machine. Yet Jureit was bound to have the upper hand, as he was the truss...

As builders began demanding Gang-Nailed trusses, imitators answered their call with little concern for violating Cal Jureit’s patent. Even though his claims were technical triumphs, vetted by D.C. patent experts, they were quickly contested by two now-familiar figures, Bill Black and...

The plated truss industry went bonkers around 1961. Truss fabricators were besieging suppliers for product and were willing to try nearly any plate or machine. Plate suppliers had to conform to the new testing and QC required by TPI-60, but machinery vendors had no guidelines beyond satisfying...

Joe Hardy of 84 Lumber was the last of the World War II veterans to whom we owe our industry. Ed Ryan of Ryan Homes (now NVR) and Cal Jureit of Gang-Nail (now MiTek) were also major contributors. All three returned from winning that war with a drive to transform home building, and they helped...

On July 5, 1960, in a marathon session, a dozen entrepreneurs set standards for a brand new industry, and, in the process, met a government deadline. These early truss plate adopters came well-prepared and didn’t hesitate to make far-reaching decisions. Fortunately, they left a detailed...

Pat Linton was a MiTek original, like none other, with his hands on and his arms around MiTek equipment for 44 years. He led by example, with the utmost humility, and was a key player in elevating MiTek machinery from mediocrity to magnificence. And his start, assembling two of the truss...

Twelve competitors faced one another for the first time—but only because they had to. Each of their fledgling plate businesses was threatened by a July 31 deadline from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and they had less than three weeks to put together a design criterion for...

After Cal Jureit’s impressive debut at the 1958 NAHB Show, lumberyards and builders across America were anxious to start trussing, but they encountered several obstacles. Their deluge of inquiries couldn’t all be answered, and most were far away from the South Florida source of...

Carol Sanford’s invention didn’t equal Cal Jureit’s, but he made up for it with his head start and his aggressive marketing. Sanford had filed for his patent in March 1954, two years ahead of Jureit’s September 1956 filing, and had a plate design that was relatively...

On September 20, A-1 Industries, a leading manufacturer of pre-engineered wood trusses in the Southeastern United States and the Caribbean, celebrated our 45th anniversary with the launch of a new corporate video and a special day of appreciation for our employees at the Fort Pierce, FL and...