A Brief History of New Hampshire Ball Bearings --NHBB
- From:
- Panox Display
- Time:
- 2023-10-08
Tags:
Founded in 1946, NHBB is turning 75 in 2021.
The year 2021 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of New Hampshire Ball Bearings and its 36th as a MinebeaMitsumi subsidiary. In 1946, New Hampshire Ball Bearings, Inc. was started in Peterborough, NH by Arthur N. Daniels and Pierre Wentworth, who set out to bring the production of miniature precision ball bearings into the, “modern era.”
Daniels and Wentworth believed that a “micro” ball bearing could be fully ground and, as such, would deliver significant performance advantages over existing products. As the pioneers in fully ground miniature ball bearings, the two entrepreneurs had set the stage for steady growth and profitability for years to come.
The business grew rapidly from the start and, to keep up with demand, NHBB expanded its manufacturing operations twice in the first ten years alone. In 1956, NHBB broke ground on a new manufacturing plant on a parcel of land south of the village. Today, this location in Peterborough serves as NHBB’s headquarters and manufacturing operations of the HiTech Division.
Acquisitions made it possible for the company to diversify into new product niches and new markets. In 1964, NHBB acquired the Astro Bearing Company, a manufacturer of rod end and spherical bearing products. Originally located in Los Angeles, California, NHBB relocated Astro to Laconia, NH in the early ‘70s in order to expand its operations.
