ZANESVILLE – Standing unobtrusively on the corner of Moxahala and Cleveland avenues since the mid-1940s, the Stewart Glapat Corp. continues to produce the extendable conveyor belts that have kept this fourth-generation family business running for 75 years.

The Glapat (short for glass patents) Corp. was founded in Zanesville in 1939 by Charles T. Stewart Sr. with help from his father, C.O. Stewart. The two began designing and manufacturing glass-making machines, but Charles Sr., who had a knack for design,began to expand his reach toward more varied machinations, necessitating the 1945 establishment of the Stewart Manufacturing Corp. The two companies would merge four years later, but the product Charles Sr. would invent in 1946 would forever change the family's history and industrial logistics.

The ADJUSTOVEYOR, or extendable conveyor, was invented initially for the reliable delivery of glass-making chemicals to the correct part of the furnace, but the company soon realized the applications the machine could have for product distribution, as well as loading and unloading over-the-road trailers.

While Stewart Glapat now regularly manufactures 95-foot-long conveyors for sale, figuring out the way to keep the machine cantilevered during extension was a difficult feat of engineering. The fallout from this invention soon necessitated the expansion of the facility on Moxahala Avenue which remains operational today.

The company soon found a prominent role in national and international business, producing customized conveyor systems for retail, shipping and manufacturing industries. Sometimes, son and current president and COO Bill Stewart said, his father would take orders for machines he didn't even know if he could produce yet, telling him that he would figure it out.

"(Charles Sr.) was a brilliant designer," Bill said. "He could come up with stuff that was really, unbelievably, complex. Most of them worked, and the adjustable conveyor was one that really worked."

In the '60s, the company really took off, necessitating repeated expansion as it got into the postal and newspaper industries. Business was booming, and its 60 employees were busy making as many conveyor systems as the shop could churn out. Harder times would soon be coming, however.

Changes in the way newspapers and mail were distributed soon dried up what was Stewart Glapat's main business, and by the mid-'70s, 76 employees had been temporarily laid off because of a general slowdown of business. Members of the Machinists Local 1234 were striking over contract negotiations, and while the matter was settled less than two weeks after it started, the company's prospects looked grim.

"We were looking at maybe being open four more months," said 38-year employee and sales manager Dutch Lewis.

With some quick thinking from management, the company transformed the way it marketed its product and started to focus more on the extendable conveyor systems.

"That was, I think, the real turning point," said 40-year employee and engineer Ron Bachelor. "Getting away from some of the things that, financially, weren't that great to a product that we were making money on. We started to establish a financial base and then started to build the company out."

Just as the company was getting back on track, life dealt Stewart Glapat a personal and professional blow when Charles Sr. passed away from a heart attack at 66 while on a business trip to Germany.

The death of the man who had been heavily involved in Zanesville social, charitable and business dealings rocked his family and community.

"To say that the sudden, untimely passing of Charles Stewart was a great loss to our community is not enough," wrote a local businessman in a 1978 Times Recorder letter. "A brilliant, God-given intellect and highly specialized training and education produced what those in the best position to know have described as a genius. To his business acumen was added a gregarious personality which endeared him to all who knew him. ... He loved Zanesville and its people and that the reverse is true."

Keeping the company running after the death of its founder and his father was difficult for his son Charlie Stewart, who is now acting CEO and chairman of the board. But despite monumental decisions that had to be made about the future of the company, the business rebounded.

"We've had some down periods, but we always rebound. Always," Lewis said. "We're not down for very long."

While Charlie had jumped into the family business before Charles Sr.'s death, Bill took a more indirect route back to his hometown, obtaining his bachelor's degree at MIT, his master's degree at Ohio University and his doctorate at Ohio State University in 1978 before dedicating himself to teaching at Purdue University, Zanesville High School and the institution that his father advocated for during his lifetime, what is now Zane State College.

In 1985, Bill returned to Stewart Glapat as its president. Some of his earliest memories were with this company — riding along with his father on the way to test a new conveyor system, cleaning the shop and running machinery during summers in high school and working in the engineering department after his years in college. It was good to be back.

"I've done everything from sweeping the floors to being president of the company, so it's been a nice evolution for me," Bill said, laughing.

Working with family, while daunting, has been nothing but a smooth operation, Bill said. Charlie and he trust each other's judgment, which allows them to work seamlessly with one another.

His daughter Amy Stewart's return to the company six weeks ago after attending Bucknell University, serving in the Army and teaching at Zane State College is a learning process, he said, but when the time comes, she'll be ready to take over the family business, maybe in conjunction with her four other siblings.

"She'll make mistakes, she'll learn from it, she'll get her feet on the ground and then she'll start feeling comfortable in the role," Bill said.

The legacy of a fourth-generation business continues to inspire the family to this day.

"Nothing would make my father happier than to know that the company continues to be successful and that his grandchildren who he never got to see are involved in it," Bill said. "I think that would make him very happy."

"You're working not only to grow the company but also for your family," Amy said. "It gives you more motivation."

In a small company like Stewart Glapat, its 32 full-time employees are just as close as family.

"It's like home," Bachelor said. "I have worked here 40 years now and have never been laid off. How rare is that to work your whole career without being laid off?"

Providing jobs and financial support for the people of Zanesville is especially important to the business, despite the lack of local name recognition.

"It's sort of interesting. In Zanesville, people don't know us very much," Bill said. "People on the outside know us and people around here don't. And that's okay. We've been involved in the community many different ways, not flashy ways, but behind the scenes. It's our hometown and that's important. When you do work in your hometown, you raise your family here and you feel the desire to invest in people and infrastructure."

The hometown mentality transcends to their product, which despite the widespread dispersion to large customers such as Walmart, Target and Federal Express, still come with the home phone numbers of Bill and engineers Mike Hinton and Bachelor.

With production up to four units a week for an average price of $50,000 a unit, the company is looking toward what they believe will be some of the best years yet.

"The future is as bright as it's ever been," Bill said. "We're well established with some of the best companies on the face of the earth. They've decided to place their future with us and we've earned their trust. ... I think the next five years are going to be gangbusters."