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Our Mission
The Business Foundry helps business startups get on their feet by providing basic tools and resources they need. We do this because we were there once: starting our first business alone. These are the very tools and resources we wanted and needed. We do this because we want to help individuals with vision and dedication to have an opportunity to create a business. We also want to help strengthen our community as new businesses come to life providing vital economic growth, needed services, and job opportunities.
History of the Valparaiso Business Foundry
In 1882 just outside of the original city limits of Valparaiso, Indiana, and adjacent to the railroad tracks on what was then known as Foundry Street, James Kellogg built the original brick building. He operated it as the Kellogg Foundry up until his passing in the early 1900s.
In 1905, James H. McGill, who had founded the Crescent Company in Chicago, Illinois, near the turn of the century, purchased the Kellogg’s building and moved his company to Valparaiso where it continued as the Crescent Company. The first products were for the electrical industry and included wire guards for lamps, cord spools, socket handles, and other electrical specialties.
In 1910, the name was changed to McGill Manufacturing and he added the Levolier switch, which, when first marketed, was an immediate success. This success prompted McGill to expand operations and add an additional section to the building, bringing it to the size we see today.
This development proved to be an extremely profitable product for McGill and these profits enabled Mr. McGill to dabble in a variety of other sidelines such as automotive carburetors, floor start switches, venetian blinds, golf clubs, small blow torches, washing machines, laxatives, gyroscopes, cracker jack whistles, time clocks, and even a venture in gold mining. This eventually led to the bearings for which McGill is still known today.
Learn more about the History of McGill Manufacturing.
Along the way, the building has been used for furniture manufacturing, storage for what is now the Valparaiso University, a glass warehouse, and plumbing and heating distribution.
In 2004, a group of local businessmen, who had been apart of several startup business ventures realizing the need for new type of facility, purchased the building. Armed with a vision of creating space and services that would help new business owners test their business ideas, they renovated the building and added the latest technology for its tenants. In the true spirit of James H. McGill, it has become, literally, a foundry for new businesses.