Heco Slings

As told by Thomas G. Dolan of Wire Rope News & Sling Technology Sometimes things don't work out as you planned -- but they still work out anyway. This has pretty much been the story of Harvey Howlett, Jr., who owns Heco Slings Corporation, Norfolk, VA. After attending the University of Virginia, Howlett had planned to become a doctor; but, as he ca... ndidly admits, "I didn't have the grades". So, instead, he went to work for his dad, Harvey Howlett, Sr. At that time things weren't working out for his dad either. He ran the Howlett Elevator Company, which had a contract to do all of the elevators and overhead doors for NASA at the Langley Research Center. At the time NASA planned to incorpor ate the testing of wire rope slings into the contract. So Howlett, Sr. purchased the testing equipment, NASA didn't follow through with its promise, and Howlett, Sr. was stuck with a wire rope machine he couldn't use. It was about this time that his son was thinking about a career other than medicine, so, recalls Howlett, Jr., "We decided to form a wire rope business as a spin-off from the elevator company." But this didn't quite work out as planned either, Howlett, Sr. passed away in 1978. His son kept the elevator business going for about ten years, but then closed it down because the wire rope business was the more viable. This is why that company is called Heco Slings Corporation, the "Heco" standing for the now obsolete Howlett Elevator Company. The transition from medicine to wire rope is a big one, especially since Howlett, Jr. knew nothing about the latter. But he corrected this situation by going to work for a rigger in New Orleans and learning how to splice wire rope and fabricate slings. In 1974, he started his present business. His dad provided the financing, but stayed with the elevator company. Howlett Jr. had a secretary who did the billing. But he did everything else. "I was the inside sales guy, the guy in the shop, and the delivery guy," Howlett says. He started in a renovated 4,000 sq. ft. building on the ...Read More