Leece-Neville is a global manufacturer and supplier of alternators, starters, electrical equipment and services to the transportation, industrial, military, marine, agricultural and construction industries. Leece-Neville serves as a division of

Prestolite Electric Prestolite Electric Incorporated is a global manufacturer and supplier of alternators, starters, electrical equipment, and services to the transportation, industrial, military, marine, agricultural and construction industries. The company sells i ...

History

Early history

The Leece-Neville co. was organized in 1909 by Cleveland inventor Bennett M. Leece and financier Sylvester M. Neville. Incorporated in 1910 with capital of $61,000, Leece-Neville opened at 2069 E. 4th St. in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

, Ohio. The company moved to 5363 Hamilton Ave. in 1915. In 1918, Leece had developed a self-starting ignition system, for which he received the

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling disclo ...

for that year. Leece-Neville starters and electrical systems were standard position for the

Haynes Automobile Company The Haynes Automobile Company was an American automobile manufacturing company that produced automobiles in Kokomo, Indiana, from 1905 to 1924. The company was formerly known as the Haynes-Apperson company, and produced automobiles under tha ...

Post war era

The company flourished during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, producing electrical starters, generators, and

Voltage regulator A voltage regulator is a system designed to automatically maintain a constant voltage. A voltage regulator may use a simple feed-forward design or may include negative feedback. It may use an electromechanical mechanism, or electronic components ...

s for airplanes, trucks, and industrial and marine equipment. After the war, the company pioneered the use of the alternator on municipal vehicles such as fire trucks, police cars, and buses. By 1950, the company held 56 patents, and with the introduction of the

alternator An alternator is an electrical generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy in the form of alternating current. For reasons of cost and simplicity, most alternators use a rotating magnetic field with a stationary armature.G ...

on passenger cars in 1960, company growth and expansion continued. In 1955, Leece-Neville purchased a plant at E. 51st St. and St. Clair to expand production, and in 1959, established a plant in

Gainesville, Georgia The city of Gainesville is the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it is often called the "Poultry Capital of t ...

Mergers and acquisitions

* In 1969, Leece-Neville merged with Victoreen Inc, and became a subsidiary of the VLN Corp. * In 1974, Cleveland-based VLN Corporation was merged into

Sheller-Globe Corporation Sheller-Globe Corporation was a U.S. auto parts manufacturer and industrial conglomerate based in Toledo, Ohio. Formed in 1966 on a heritage of much older companies, Sheller-Globe grew through the acquisition (and divesture) of many other business ...

. VLN's Leece-Neville divisions supplied heavy-duty alternators, starter motors, and fractional horse power motors for automotive and industrial customers. * It July 1987,

acquires Leece-Neville from the

Corporation. *In the early 1990s, the Cleveland and Gainesville plants of Leece-Neville are merged, and operations are moved to Arcade, New York. *On April 7, 2015 Prestolite Electric, LLC announces that Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor Co., Ltd. (Broad-Ocean Motor) completed its acquisition of Prestolite Electric, LLC and its subsidiaries.

References

{{Prestolite Electric Auto parts suppliers of the United States Electronics companies established in 1909 1909 establishments in Ohio Companies based in New York (state)