After 50 years in the business, Jack Dennehy, Owner of Composite & Wire Machinery, has decided to retire. If you know Jack, you can probably guess he is not one to talk about himself. But after a fair amount of arm twisting, he acquiesced to spending a few minutes with me talking about his years in the industry. “I had a couple key employees retire,” Jack said, “so after 50 years in the braiding industry, I decided to retire.” At 82, Jack is as sharp and spry as ever and decided to finally pursue a more leisurely lifestyle. “God has been good to me health wise, so I decided it was time to slow it down.
Jack stopped taking new orders in May of 2021. “We still had a banner year! We had those machines built and shipped out by October,” he detailed. He has spent the past months winding down the business and is finally at a point where he can relax. “I was very fortunate in that another company in town had their eye on my real estate for the last three years. They approached me when they found out I was going to wind it down and they bought the building. So, everything just kind of worked out lovely.”
Jack has kept his old phone number and email address and hopes to stay in contact with folks in the industry. He has decided to refer his customers to John Tomaz at Wardwell Braiding when they call him for parts or new equipment. “I’ve always stuck with the New England design, so almost any parts for my machines they will be able to get from John.”
As a testimony to Jack’s hard work and attention to detail, one of his good customers bugged him to build them some machines late last year. “They said, c’mon Jack…you must have some spare parts to build some machines. But I told them ‘no, I’m done guys.’” Jack has a tremendous amount of respect for his loyal customers who made it all possible for him over the years. “I was selling to the grandchildren of people I sold to back when I was with New England Butt,” he recalled proudly.
Jack asked me to keep this short, so I will. I speak often about the class and dignity of folks in this industry, and Jack Dennehy is a wonderful example. I’m so honored to call him my friend, and so appreciative of the wisdom and knowledge he has shared. Join me in wishing him all the best in retirement.
