Gary Powers and Lisa Podwirny, owners of Ketchum Manufacturing, examine some of the thousands of tags of every type made at their plant.
By Barbara A. Brewer La Mere
Tucked away on Town Shed Road in Lake Luzerne is a business that stands as a small, unassuming icon of the American dream. Ketchum Manufacturing, established in 1927 on Wall Street in Luzerne by Henry G. Ketchum, is presently headed by siblings Gary Powers, president, and Lisa Podwirny, vice president, the fourth generation in their family to own the business since it was purchased by their great-grandfather, Otis Howe, and a partner in the mid-1950’s.
Henry Ketchum and his brother, Zebulon, had begun a business in Ottawa making agricultural identification tags and an assortment of other implements such as veterinarian supplies, tail holders (to hold a cow’s tail while she was being milked) and equipment for animal branding and tattooing. Henry saw a need for an animal tag business in the northeastern United States and moved down to establish a business that today, with 13 employees, is one of four major suppliers of agricultural tags in the United States and has customers as far away as Poland, Turkey, Fiji, and Australia, to name a few locations. (The Ketchum tag business that Zebulon and Henry Ketchum established in Canada still exists and there continues to be trade between the two Ketchum companies.)
The company moved from Wall Street to its present location in 1963. Their most recent product, in addition to animal tags, has been plastic firefighter accountability tags, placed on a ring by firefighters at the scene of a blaze to indicate that they are fighting the fire or they are safely out. Ketchum Manufacturing has recently had an order for the tags from the City of Chicago for its firemen. Both large municipal fire companies and smaller volunteer companies are Ketchum customers. (In addition to owning Ketchum Manufacturing, all four generations have been chiefs of Van R. Rhodes Volunteer Fire Company. Gary Powers is currently the fire company’s president.)
Most of the metal tags produced by Ketchum Manufacturing are intended to identify a particular agricultural or pet animal as having had specific vaccinations, so many of Ketchum’s customers are states (Ketchum makes the New York State dog rabies vaccine tags.) or other municipalities. Veterinarians who administer vaccines are also tag customers. Tags are available in aluminum, stainless steel, or brass. Beyond ear tags for cattle, some of the more unusual uses of Ketchum tags are in jewelry, coral research, marking grapes in Gallo vineyards, equine trail marking, labeling of cameras and other expensive movie production equipment, on telephone poles, and crematory tags. Ketchum also makes tags for industry for such purposes as labeling the function of a particular valve on a piece of equipment. Wrist tags to serve as proof of payment at events or to ensure that members of a group (think school field trip) can be rejoined to their group should they become separated are also Ketchum products.
While more modern safety controls and safer feed methods have been added to the equipment used in tag production, and tags are available in a variety of shapes and colors, the type for tags is still set by hand, one letter at a time. The company does a good deal of production-type run of a tag once its type is set. Having machinery that can do 200 strokes a minute means that an equal number of tags can be produced in a minute. The company has just purchased laser equipment and is eager to see how its use will impact their business.
Ketchum also does a large share of the country’s production of leg bands for poultry, indicating such factors as the batch of eggs from which a bird is hatched and its age. The company also sells ankle bracelets for cows as well as animal tattooing equipment and animal traps.
Powers and Podwirny appreciate the rarity of their positions as fourth generation heads of an American manufacturing company producing all-American products. They can be reached at 696-3331, or at sales@ketchummfg.com.