The Columbus Blue Jackets are excited to partner with First Merchants Bank to recognize small businesses in our community. Each month throughout the season, one company will be featured as the Small Business of the Month presented by First Merchants Bank. December’s Small Business of the Month is Schodorf Truck Body & Equipment Company.
Schodorf Truck Body & Equipment Company in Columbus was founded in 1881 and is now in its fourth generation of family ownership in central Ohio.
There are very few businesses that can boast such an impressive record of longevity, a testament to the ingenuity, quality and service provided by a company that boasts a local as well as national reputation.
“We’ve evolved,” said Joe Schodorf, one of three members of the family that now splits ownership. “Fortunately, most of us have gotten along well together, and we’ve been able to evolve to whatever it took at the time to survive and thrive.”
Austrian immigrant Andrew Schodorf founded the company as a blacksmithing shop 143 years ago in Galloway, and he’d likely be surprised at the way it has evolved in the ensuing time. His first major invention, patented in 1896, was the so-called “Schodorf rack,” which was used for shoeing difficult horses and sold nationwide in catalogs as well as by traveling salesmen.
The Schodorf company also served Columbus’ burgeoning brewing industry as it moved into the horse-drawn wagon industry at the turn of the century. Another early specialty was creating a special device for wagons to transport glass, which remains one of the core pieces of the business today.
Over the years, Schodorf also manufactured forestry bodies, including some of the industry’s first tree trimming truck bodies. Current areas of focus still include glass racks that can easily be installed on commercial trucks and vans, chipper bodies, snowplows and salt spreaders, and other specialty truck bodies.
Service is also a key part of the Schodorf business, and it’s developed a reputation across North America for dependability.
“We have a local business, we have a regional business and we have a national business,” Joe Schodorf said. “It goes from taking care of the customer and providing what they need at a decent price and with decent delivery.”
As vice president of operations, Joe Schodorf remains one of three co-owners along with brother Steve Schodorf, vice president of engineering, and cousin Paul Schodorf, who is vice president of sales.
Joe, his son Kevin – a longtime hockey coach at Gahanna Lincoln High School – and other members of the family attended the Blue Jackets’ game Dec. 14 vs. Anaheim. The group was recognized on the Nationwide Arena scoreboard, had a chance to take part in a first-intermission locker room lineup and watched the game from club level.
“I think we all had a blast,” Joe said. “It was certainly a pleasure and an honor. The First Merchants people treated us well, and everybody enjoyed it. It was a good experience, and we really had a good time.”
