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About JW Devers

In 1895, J.W. Devers began a business at the corner of Main and Broadway in Trotwood, blacksmithing and building carriages. The Devers family business began in Antioch, Ohio, and moved to the James McGee (Western Avenue) area of Dayton, and then to Trotwood. The business did well and as modes of transportation progressed to motorized vehicles, the business focus changed.

Two of the innovative modifications in the early years were the Model T into a 25-30 passenger bus and a Model A into a 55-passenger bus. Devers & Son’s operation switched to truck bodies and accessory items such as trailer hitches and other welding pieces. After several of the immediate family members died, the company suffered from financial problems. During that time the business was purchased in early 1960’s by Jack Haupt (deceased), grandson of J.W. Dever’s, Jim Piatt (deceased), and Howard “Slim” Booth (deceased).

Jerry Haupt (passed president, deceased) led the company to successfully expand its services to the business of trucking and other modes of transportation. Along with Steve Wolf (Joe Wolf, Steve's father, retired after years of service) and Davis Henderson on the the Board of Directors, they developed new avenues of business. The company now includes a building which houses the van body department, our main building where the manufacturing department is located and deals with providing van and other vehicle modifications to provide handicap accessibility (Devers Mobility), and a building which handles the hydraulic department. JW Devers proudly installs hydraulics, manufactures utility trucks, plus farm trucks and snow plows, and works on snow plowing and salt spreader equipment–very busy during the winter season!

The company also works on utility equipment, custom bodies on all types of vehicles, repairing of truck bodies, etc. The handicap accessibility department has complete handicap accessibility for handicapped customers. The business is always a flurry of activity throughout the workday. The reputation of JW Devers is know throughout many states, and among the valued customers are Butler County, Washington Township, U.S. Post Office, Ohio Department of Transportation, City of Dayton, Englewood, Vandalia, Dayton Board of Education, Easton, Middletown, Xenia, 84 lumber, Tipp City, Urbana, Connersville (Indiana), and DP&L, as well as private companies. Of the twenty-five employees, twelve have been with the company twenty years or more. Several employees are second generation.