Verson Allsteel Press Co.

It built sheet-metal presses of all sizes, including some weighing thousands of tons and as tall as a three-story building.

In January 2001, Allied Products sold the majority of its Verson assets to Enprotech Corp. for $21.5 million less certain adjustments.

[1] Enprotech Corp., which is owned by the Japanese firm, Itochu International, continues to produce large presses under the brand name Verson-LCM.

In 1910, Morris Verson, a Jewish Russian blacksmith, arrived in Galveston, Texas, with his three sons, David, John and Ralph.

[2] John Verson was considered the mechanical genius of the firm, and David, the company president, was the more outgoing financier-salesman.

[11] However, it held onto Verson, because a 16% duty had been imposed on Japanese presses as a result of claims that it was dumping machines onto the US market.

[12][13][14] In 1996, Verson built what was referred to by the Chicago Tribune as the "mother of all machine tools," a 2,500-ton press as big as a house.

Verson presses are still produced for manufacturing a variety of products such as automotive body panels, appliances, sinks, bathtubs, and other items made from sheet metal.