SIA New Member Profile: Hager Companies

New Security Industry Association (SIA) member Hager Companies is a family-owned company that provides full line door hardware, offering more than 6,000 door hardware products. The company is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, with its plant located in Montgomery, Alabama, and sales offices and distribution hubs in the Middle East and Asia.

SIA spoke with Ginny Powell, product marketing specialist at Hager, about the company, the security industry and working with SIA.

Tell us the story of your company.

GP: In 1849, Charles Hager, an immigrant from Germany, purchased a blacksmith shop in St. Louis, Missouri, where he had been working for a year. Easterners heading west needed wheel rims and hardware for their Conestoga wagons. As St. Louis grew, so did the company that bore Charles Hager’s name: C Hager.

By 1878, the blacksmith shop had taken on a new look, different products and a new name: C. Hager and Sons Hinge Company. Over the next 100 years, new techniques in manufacturing enabled the company to increase the diversity of its products, while family members remained at the helm, consistently strengthening the company’s growth.

From the 1970s through the 1990s, the company experienced rapid growth by adding several new product lines and opening three new factories.

Meeting our customers’ requests to provide a complete door hardware package, Hager released product lines for locks, exit devices and door controls in 2005.

In 2017, Hager partnered with Salto Systems to provide a line of electronic access control products.

What solutions/services does your business offer in the security industry? And what makes your offerings/company unique?

GP: As a family-owned door hardware and electronic access control company, we provide quality products with unmatched customer service, all under one brand. Beginning with Charles Hager, the company has designed a culture around our customers. We keep the entire experience, from specification writing to after-market documents, simple and transparent.

What’s something we might not know about your company – or something new you’re doing in security?

GP: The Hager family is very much involved in day-to-day operations. Currently, we have members of the fifth and sixth generations working at Hager in many different roles and departments. A new state-of-the-art distribution facility is in progress at our Montgomery, Alabama, location. Scheduled to open in late 2020, the new facility will support future sales growth while reducing lead times.

What does SIA offer that is most important to you/your company? And what do you most hope to get out of your membership with SIA?

GP: Hager Companies has always placed a premium on educating the industry and sharing information on security and safety. We exhibit and provide seminars at multiple industry events as well as provide direct education, both generic and brand specific to influencers and decision makers. We advocate for smarter buildings while at the same time promoting the well-being of their users.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association.