The Mill-Rose Company, the largest U.S. manufacturer of twisted-wire brushes, was recently inducted in the Western Reserve Historical Society’s Hundred Year Club, Cleveland's oldest existing cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of Cleveland, and the Western Reserve, which represents the northeast Ohio area.

     The induction was recently held where Mill-Rose was recognized for its 100+ year history of serving the area known as the Western Reserve, encompassing 3.3 million acres in northeastern Ohio.

     Mr. Greg Miller accepted the prestigious award, presented by Glenn Anderson of the Western Reserve Historical Society, on behalf of The Mill-Rose Company.  Mr. Miller was accompanied by his wife and three daughters, along with sisters, nieces and nephews as it was a family affair.  Mill-Rose remains a family-owned organization, now in its fourth generation of management.

     It all started in 1919 when Victor H. Miller accepted a contract from a Cleveland manufacturer to make percolator brushes, and from this modest beginning, The Mill-Rose Company was to grow and become the leading manufacturer of twisted-wire brushes used in virtually every industry.  Mill-Rose is uniquely suited to manufacture brushes as tiny as .014 in diameter up to 18-inch wire wheel brushes. Customers can choose from thousands of standard and not-so-standard sizes and shapes of brushes that debur, polish, finish, sort, auger, conduct, dissipate, collect, move, and protect materials.

     “It’s important that we, as a company, continue to do what has made us successful over the past 100 years. Our company-wide philosophy has always been ‘The customer is king.’ Embracing and working with customers has always led to success for The Mill-Rose Company.” said Greg Miller.

     Today, Mill-Rose has more than 200,000 square feet of production space with facilities in Ohio, Texas and Mexico, and the company is expanding its Mentor facility to create a 105,000 square foot distribution center. “Our growth and success are a direct result of the skilled residents of Northeast Ohio, plus Texas and Mexico, who have worked with us over the years. We take great pride in our work force and history of serving satisfied customers.” added Miller.

It is with sadness that we share the news that Rob Coleman died on February 3rd of cancer.

Rob was a co-founder of Brushwork magazine and was dearly loved by his family and throughout the Brush industry.

We will publish an obituary in Brushwork commemorating his life in due course.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.

 
I first met Rob at college in 1977 where we were both studying business and it soon became apparent that he had a good eye for entrepreneurship when he and another friend of ours started a business selling records to fellow students.  One of the many activities we did together was playing squash which led him to meet my father .  I’m not sure if it was Rob’s squash talents but my father , Herbert Samuel, saw his potential and offered him a job at Delbanco Meyer ( DMC ), then the world’s leading supplier of bristle and  brush making materials.  Rob soon took charge of our synthetic filament business both in the UK and abroad , and was also heavily involved in our machinery business , which included Jacksons paintrollers.   
One of Rob’s first jobs at DMC was organizing our stand at Interbrossa in Freiburg and he combined his many skills in this, designing  and building our stand from scratch.  Rob was also a very skillled driver but whilst we were driving the van to Freiburg he managed to knock half the stand off the roof whist going through a low tunnel in Belgium ! 

In 1986 , buoyed by his success with Jacksons, and keen to start his own businesses he left DMC and set up Coleman Hall Products together with his brother-in-law Brian Hall, and they launched Brushwork magazine.  He remained as sales agent for Jacksons and their successful relationship continued for many years.  He was also retained as UK sales agent for DMC’s synthetic filament business.
Another successful partnership was working together with Boucherie as their sales agent in the UK  ( starting in 1987 ) where I know he was much respected and admired.

Rob also began working with Schuman handles and helped them expand their USA business and he developed excellent relationships with all the major paintbrush companies .  Knowing how well Rob was respected in the USA , DMC offered him a role of bristle agent for the USA and I again had the pleasure of going on trips together to USA ( including a bit of skiing ! ) and introducing him to the delights of visiting Chinese bristle factories.
Undoubtably his most successful relationship with a US brush company was with Wooster where, together with many members of the Coleman family, they have firmly established Wooster as a leading player in the UK brush scene.

One cannot write about Rob without mentioning his passion for golf;  a personal highlight was Rob bringing back the British Brushmakers Golf Society in 1998 and sponsoring a new trophy, The Herbert Samuel Memorial Cup ( I’ve failed many times to win it ! )
 
A special mention to Rob’s wife Bridget, who was a constant loving support not only in his personal life but also in business.
Rob involved both his children, Jessica and William, as well as his brothers, in the business and it has undoubtably been left in very safe hands.
 
Rob had enormous enthusiasm , energy, drive and passion for life both in his business and private life and will be sorely missed by all who knew him.
 
 
Mark Samuel

The Kathy K. Parr Memorial Scholarship Fund is designed to provide up to two (2) $2,500 annual scholarships to industry employees and their families for the purpose of coursework, continuing education, certification, professional licensing or training work in a manufacturing-related field of study. Applications for the award shall be submitted to the ABMA Foundation Board by March 1 of any calendar year.