Inside NIBCO’s Stuarts Draft Plant: A Legacy of American Copper Craftsmanship

STUARTS DRAFT, VA — NIBCO is one of the best-known brands in the plumbing industry. The company was founded in 1904 by Casper Schweitzer as the Northern Indiana Brass Foundry Works in Elkhart, IN. Originally, the company made brass keys for musical instruments and bronze castings for balancing scale weights. In 1922, thanks to the visionary work of Ross Martin (Schweitzer’s son-in-law), NIBCO entered the indoor plumbing market.

Today, NIBCO is a worldwide manufacturer of flow control solutions for residential, commercial, industrial, marine, and irrigation markets. Through five generations, it is still led by the Martin family and owned by its associates via an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The company’s only copper manufacturing facility is located in scenic Stuarts Draft, VA.

CONTRACTOR was invited on a recent factory tour for media and influencers to see how this American manufacturer delivers on its legacy while serving its customers.

Welcome to Stuarts Draft

The Stuarts Draft facility was purchased by NIBCO in 1969, and since then has seen a range of additions and improvements. Under company Chairman Rex Martin, three separate copper plants were consolidated into the one facility. Today it is the most automated copper manufacturing plant in the world.

Stuarts Draft is the company’s only wrot copper fitting manufacturer. (Wrot—a 19th century variant of “wrought”—means the copper is shaped, not cast.) Building #1 and #2, where most of metal processing takes place, have a combined 300,000 sq. ft. Building #3, where most of the packaging is done, measures 120,000 sq. ft.

The facility is capable of producing 3,085 SKUs and boasts a full tool room and mechanical services, allowing NIBCO complete control of both the manufacturing and the quality control process.

The Process

Safety First

Safety is a core value at NIBCO. The company has achieved OSHA-certification in the Voluntary Protection Program (VPP). In VPP, the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s Occupational Safety and Health staff establish a cooperative relationship with management. Employees work directly with management to ensure a safe and healthful workplace.

Companies achieving VPP status have demonstrated outstanding health and safety performance, often achieving injury and illness rates significantly below their industry's national average.

The associates, of course, are what make the whole system work; company culture encourages associates to look out for one another, both on and off the job.

Investing in People

More than a third of the associates working at Stuarts Draft have been with the company 25 years or more, with one associate still working after more than 60 years with NIBCO. To put that in perspective, in January 2024, wage and salary workers had a median tenure of 3.9 years with their current employer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The values of Safety, Teamwork and Continuous Improvement are reflected in the spirit of the workforce, and the pride team members have as employee-owners shines like, well, like a new copper fitting fresh off the production line.