j.l. Matthews Co., Inc.

j.l. matthews is a family owned and operated business established in 1946. we have been specializing in lineman and arborist equipment for over 71 years. j.l. matthews is the leading carrier in tools & safety equipment. joe l. matthews was born and raised in grove city, pa. he joined the u. s. navy in 1932 and spent 4 years serving our country, when he returned home from the navy he went to work on the production floor for the w. m. bashlin company. he quickly moved from assembly of product on the production floor to manager of production. under his leadership he invented many products which are still used in the industry today, the most important was the design and invention of the shifting or floating dee ring lineman's belt. after returning home and getting a job with w. m. bashlin company, he married his childhood sweetheart, alberta thompson and they had two children. during world war ii he reenlisted in the u.s. navy's construction battalion (seabees) where he was able to utilize