Tool maker lands 2-year federal contract

THE VINDICATOR
COLUMBIANA -- A Columbiana tool maker has received a contract to make 12,000 crowbars and wrenches a year for the federal government.
The contract with the General Services Administration will pay J & amp;H Manufacturing $181,000 over two years, said John Kephart, company president.
The contract can be extended to five years, which would make it worth $454,000.
J & amp;H, which employs 10 people and has annual sales of $1.5 million, is to provide 5,000 crowbars a year and 7,000 lug-nut wrenches a year. Kephart said he thinks many of the tools will be sent to Iraq. The crowbars are designed for a variety of digging and prying uses, he said.
About 5 percent of the company's orders are with the government, he said.