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Our History
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American Holtzkraft, Inc was founded in February 1985 by Phillip and Barbara Apple. Phillip C. Apple hails from a third generation apple farm; which he and his father, the late Herbert Apple, operated 1000 acres of the A/A Orchards until the summer of 2002.
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In addition to the A/A Orchards, Phil and his father created H.V. Farms and Troyers Mill. Troyers Mill was established by hiring local Amish wood workers to build wooden bins and pallets to ship apples to grocers and food processing plants. Troyers Mill grew into a very large specialized wood pallet business which was in full operation until March 2005, when a fire burned the building to the ground. Only a small portion of Troyers Mill remains operational today.
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Between harvest times the employees of A/A Orchards would be looking for work, so Phil and Barbara set out to find a niche that would utilize their employees’ Amish workmanship and enhance their wood operations. After much searching for that niche and the need for an outdoor umbrella in their backyard, Phil and Barbara realized only one outdoor umbrella manufacturer existed in the country in California. American Holtzkraft, Inc. was created and our first umbrellas were manufactured in an Amish barn, with hydraulic sewing machines. Many of our original employees continue to work for American Holtzkraft, Inc.
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Our Patents and Attention to Producing Quality Products
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By attending trade shows and knocking on doors, Phil and Barbara were able to gather valuable information from those in the industry on vendors’ needs in the hotel, theme park, water park and retail industry. These needs all lead to Phil’s eight patents for improving, testing and enhancing products used in the industry today. The double-vented umbrella was one of the many ideas that Phil tested and made successful without the ability to patent. One of the most successful patents is the 8-foot double-vented rotating-canopy umbrella. Hundreds of these umbrellas exist in the industry and are proven extremely durable in high wind conditions. This umbrella was wind tested behind a King Air Jet and at the University of Maryland’s Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel. Another extremely successful invention is the in-ground stanchion with a newly designed quick release latch.
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American Holtzkraft remains a small family business, but our continued interest in engineering and designing quality products continues to grow. Synthetic wood was added to the our products, which allows our outdoor furnishings to be manufactured with a wood appearance - without wood’s high maintenance.
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In addition to these four businesses, Phil is part owner of Keystone Wood, Inc. with his brother-in-law Gary Leitzel. Keystone Wood is a very successful pallet manufacturing company that sells and manufacturers over 30 trailer loads of pallets per week. Gary operates one of the most state-of-the-art pallet manufacturing facilities right in Mt. Pleasant Mills, Pennsylvania. Their customer base features several Fortune 500 companies such as Owens Corning, Tri Seal, Quikrete, Ryerson-Tull, Package Pavement, and GAF, to name a fee.
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Our Growth
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In the fall of 2006, American Holtzkraft signed a contract with Tommy Bahama to manufacture their retail umbrellas and do their restaurant installations. Complimenting their already successful umbrella line, Tommy Bahama offered American Holtzkraft an exclusive contract to sell their furniture line to the hospitality industry. Also, adding some new custom designed items that were needed in the industry.
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Lasting & Growing Relationships
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Major theme parks have grown to be our largest customer base, continuing to work with American Holtzkraft for over 20 years. We understand and believe in their high standards for quality and creativity. Our relationships began with manufacturing wood and metal products to meet their needs, concentrating on outdoor umbrellas. The rotating-canopy umbrella was developed specifically for theme parks to keep their umbrellas open during afternoon thunderstorms, saving on employee revenue - by eliminating the employees’s responsibility to close the umbrellas. Following many years of joint research with these theme parks - American Holtzkraft was able to satisfy their needs of a synthetic wood to replace the use of natural wood and the high costs of maintaining natural wood products.
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Continued Support & Service
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American Holtzkraft not only manufacturers new products as refinishing and refurbishing existing products is a large part of our business as well. American Holtzkraft is able to work with our customers in supplying them with service and support in: replacement tops, furniture rehab and re-creating previously purchased products from other vendors...just a few services we offer.
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Creating custom specialized products in wood, metal and other unique materials is also a service American Holtzkraft provides our customers with...today and tomorrow.
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