[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 42 (Thursday, March 21, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E368]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING 125 YEARS OF THE EASTMAN MACHINE COMPANY AND THE STEVENSON 
                                 FAMILY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BRIAN HIGGINS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 21, 2013

  Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to commend and honor the Eastman 
Machine Company for its 125 years of business. Owned by the Stevenson 
family for the past five generations, Eastman revolutionized the 
apparel industry. Today, Eastman is undoubtedly the global standard for 
material handling, spreading, and cutting equipment.
   The Eastman Machine Company began in 1888, when Canadian inventor 
George Eastman developed the first fractional electric motor that could 
be mounted onto a cutting base. By attaching the motor to a 
reciprocating knife, he created the Eastman, the first electric fabric-
cutting machine.
   The Eastman rendered manual cutting obsolete, transforming the 
apparel industry. Rather than painstakingly cutting materials by hand, 
the Eastman allowed companies to cut fabric mechanically, which 
exponentially increased production speeds while drastically lowering 
production costs.
   Ten years later, one of Eastman's first investors, Charles P. 
Stevenson, took over full ownership of the company. The Stevenson 
family holds the company to this day and remains intimately involved in 
all aspects of the business.
   C.P. Stevenson's son, Wade, assumed leadership in 1908, when he was 
just twenty-two years old. A shrewd businessman, Wade greatly expanded 
Eastman's markets. Initially, he propelled sales to reach across the 
country. By 1921, he was selling Eastman products in Europe, South 
America, and South Africa. To further increase sales, Wade developed 
numerous patents, each stemming from the original Eastman fabric 
cutter.
   Wade controlled Eastman Machine Company for sixty years, passing the 
company to his son C.P. ``Chuck'' Stevenson in 1968. Due to his 
leadership, Eastman acquired the world's leading producer of cloth 
spreading machines in 1974, Cutting Room Appliance Corporation. With 
this purchase Eastman became the unequivocal source for all types of 
apparel manufacturing and fabric cutting machines.
   In 1988, Robert L. Stevenson and Wade Stevenson bought the rapidly 
growing company from their father. Robert became President, and Wade 
remained in charge of international operations as Export President. 
Under their innovative leadership, they sought to make Eastman able to 
produce the complete set of material cutting and handling equipment. 
They understood that by controlling each piece of machinery, their 
customers would have the most efficient, economical solution, a truly 
revolutionary idea.
   To accommodate rapidly expanding and widely variable global markets, 
Eastman purchased North Technology Systems in 1995. North Technology 
Systems developed ground-breaking software used in computers that 
controlled cutting machines, and pioneered the use of materials Kevlar 
and Mylar, which allowed Eastman to expand into new industries that 
used composite and industrial fabrics.
   The Stevenson brothers continue to be passionate about their 
company's potential and visionary in their pursuit of it. Abroad, 
Eastman opened a factory in Ningbo, China, in 2004. In 2008, the 
company acquired Saber Industries of Nashville, Tennessee, improving 
spreading capacity.
   Today, the Eastman Machine Company has produced over one thousand 
automated systems located in over twenty countries. Since its humble 
beginnings in Buffalo, New York, it has become the world's foremost 
producer of material handling, spreading, and cutting equipment, with 
innumerable patents, and hundreds of machines, and facilities on five 
continents.
   Mr. Speaker, I sincerely thank you for allowing me to acknowledge 
the incredible legacy of the Eastman Machine Company and the ingenuity, 
dedication, and vision of the Stevenson family. I wish all those 
involved with this institution the best of luck in all future 
endeavors.

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