Richard E. Schramm professional papers

Collection

Identifier: MC-00-115

Staff Only

Content Description

The Richard E. Schramm professional papers consist of his personal set of Schramm, Inc. files, which complements and overlaps with Drexel's existing Schramm, Inc. records (Collection MC 91). Included are company ownership transfer files, Board of Directors and Executive Committee files, Stockholder records, sales and marketing materials, financial records, correspondence, business travel records, Human Resources records, notes, policies, planning documents, technical information about company products, printed materials, and other items. In addition to Schramm, Inc. materials, records related to the Pneumatic and Electric Equipment Company (PEECO), Atlas Copco, Schramm Foundation, and various companies with which Schramm, Inc. conducted business are also included.

The Richard E. Schramm professional papers are arranged in fifteen series, four of which have been further arranged in subseries. The contents of each series or subseries are arranged chronologically, with the exception of Series XII and Series XIV, Subseries XIVb, which are arranged chronologically then according to the original order.

The series and subseries arrangement of the records is as follows:

Series I: Atlas Copco, 1974-2005 Files include meeting minutes, correspondence, sales and pricing information, and internal financial documentation that were returned to Richard E. Schramm from Atlas Copco after the company decided not to purchase Schramm, Inc.

Series II: Company History, 1945-1983 Files include primarily reprints, lists of company names until 1945, and brochures about Schramm, Inc. and how the company began manufacturing.

Series III: Schramm International, Inc., 2010 File contains the stockholder agreements for Schramm International, Inc., with attention to Schramm's Australian headquarters.

Series IV: Business Trips, 1992-2003 Series comprises meeting minutes, travel agendas and itineraries, brochures, photographs, and correspondence as Schramm associates traveled around the globe. Locations include United States, Australia, Germany, South Africa, Japan, China, Chile, Argentina, England, and Mexico.

Series V: Schramm Family, 1944-2005 Series comprises professional and personal notes, correspondence, newspapers, timecard, stockholder and family agreements, employee memos, and other documentation about or by Schramm Family members.

Subseries Va: Harold J. Schramm, 1948-1974 Files contain drafts of internal memos to employees, capital investment notes, a statement of company philosophy, and a copy of a newspaper containing his obituary.

Subseries Vb: Henry V. Schramm, 1944-1975 This series contains professional and personal papers including family agreements regarding stockholders, income tax papers, and many copies of wills of Henry V. Schramm and Jeannette B. Schramm.

Subseries Vc: Barton Schramm, 1975 Files in this series detail Barton Schramm's time of service and time in the sales department.

Subseries Vd: Leslie B. Schramm, 1982-2005 This subseries contains stock and share information, operating statements, correspondence, a printed obituary, and a condolence letter.

Series VI: Pneumatic and Electric Equipment Company (PEECO), 1960-2022 Files in this series document PEECO, which was founded in 1930 by Henry V. Schramm to sell and service Schramm products. Materials include a history of PEECO and DITCH WITCH Mid-Atlantic (DWMA), letters to customers regarding ownership change, reports on company status, personnel lists, and files kept by Patricia C. Schramm during a period when the corporation dissolved.

Series VII: Board of Directors, 1975-2008 Files mainly comprise meeting minutes, financial reports and forecasts, product analysis, capital expenditures, sales histories and forecasts, information on the U.S. economic recession of 2008, ownership transition plans, and retirement protocols for leadership.

Series VIII: Executive Committee, 1989-2020 This series comprises meeting materials including minutes, notes, pamphlets, presentations, yearly company goals, and management meetings.

Series IX: Strategic Planning, 1968-2003 Files in this series contain proposals for company strategies and goals, summaries of tasks, correspondence, research materials, business plans, and workshop materials.

Series X: Personal, 1974-2013 Files relate to Richard E. Schramm's personal notes contemplating his relationship with his uncle, Leslie B. Schramm, and his succession as president of Schramm, Inc. Materials include personal financial documents, company development plans, correspondence with management and international contacts, and notes on company ownership and trying to keep Schramm, Inc., a family company.

Series XI: Financials, 1979-2019 This series contains Schramm, Inc., financial reports and income statements, operating plans, budget data, and bank correspondence.

Series XII:Company Ownership, 1918-2022 Files in this series concern the ownership transition of Schramm, Inc. and document Richard E. Schramm's attempt to continue the family ownership model of younger generations buying out older generations. The series is divided into four subseries.

Subseries XIIa: Stockholders, 1918-2019 This subseries contains the original Christian D. Schramm & Sons stock certificate book, stockholder agreements, a list of stockholders, management investors, company buy-back offers, and company stock redemption agreements.

Subseries XIIb: Legal, 1982-2016 These files include documents on trademarks, patents, and other intellectual property issues; the selling and purchasing of stock; estate plans and wills; correspondence and reports from the law firm on retainer Drinker Biddle & Reath; and legal documents reflecting the sale of Schramm, Inc., to GenNx360 and the reverse merger of HDR with Schramm, Inc.

Subseries XIIc: General Company Ownership, 1928-2022 The subseries includes a report and recommendations on standards and initiatives, executive summaries, key investment highlights, industry overviews, Patricia C. Schramm notes on selling Schramm, Inc., and ownership transition materials including profiles on potential buyers.

Subseries XIId: Personal Notes, 2004-2010 The subseries contains handwritten notes, draft correspondence with management, ownership summaries and objectives, self reflections, financial reports, newspaper clippings, and printed articles on ownership transitions and family corporations. Items overlap with files found elsewhere in this series.

Series XIII: Human Resources, 1936-2015 This series include materials related to company managers and personnel, in addition to policies and procedures related to the employee handbook. Some items are restricted as indicated at the file level.

Subseries XIIIa: Company Managers, 1936-2013 Files in this subseries include Schramm, Inc. hire and termination documents, retirement papers, corrrespondence, employee reviews, and proposals written by various managers.

Subseries XIIIb: Personnel, Policies, and Procedures, 1937-2015 Files in this subseries include items related to health care benefits, retirement, pay grades and changes, personnel policies, a list of active personnel, goals and objectives of the Human Resources department, employee complaints and legal documentation, university co-op programs, job applications, and obituaries.

Series XIV: Sales, 1928-2020 This series contains sales and marketing materials, reports and product analysis, and materials on aeration products.

Subseries XIVa: General, 1928-2020 Files comprise a sales manual, an operators and maintenance manual, global customer contact information maintained by the Sales department, maps of the U.Ss indicating sales personnel by region and sales by territories, drawings of compressors, and sales & price guides.

Subseries XIVb: Reports, 1942-2020 Files in this subseries contain product analysis and comparison charts of rotary drill rigs, early sales data from 1980s, reorganization of sales department, summaries and statistics, and analysis of new Schramm, Inc., rigs sold by market and by models.

Subseries XIVc: Aeration, 1977-1988 This subseries includes materials on the launch of and phasing out of Schramm aeration products, information on obtaining trademark papers for Aqua-Ring and AquaPuss products both in the U.S. and in Australia, analysis of aeration products, and brochures.

Subseries XIVd: Marketing, 1966-2015 This subseries contains general Schramm, Inc., marketing materials including press kits, global marketing plans, and PowerPoint slide presentations.

Series XV: Schramm Foundation, 1955-1970 This series contains a bound volume of meeting minutes of the Schramm Foundation, formed by Henry V. Schramm and Jeannette B. Schramm.

Dates

1918-2022
Majority of material found within 1974-2016

Creator

Schramm, Richard E. (Person)

Language of Materials

Collection is predominantly in English; materials in German, Spanish, and Swedish are indicated at the file level.

Conditions Governing Access

For legal privacy reasons, a few folders are temporarily closed to researchers, in most cases until eighty years from the end date on the folder. These include Box 13 Folder 6 in Series XI (Financials) and Box 22 Folders 5 and 12 and Box 23 Folders 1 - 3 in Series XIII (Human Resources). Please see University Archives staff for more information.

Biographical / Historical

Richard E. Schramm (b. 1935) has worked for Schramm, Inc. in different capacities over several decades, including president of the company and chairman of the Board of Directors. His great grandfather Christian D. Schramm founded Schramm, Inc. in 1900, and his grandfather Henry N. Schramm founded the Pneumatic and Electric Equipment Company (PEECO) in 1930. Schramm, Inc. is a manufacturing company based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, that has had strong ties to Drexel University for almost one hundred years. In its early years, Schramm sold small gasoline engines and portable air compressors, but in recent decades the firm has specialized in the manufacture of drilling equipment. PEECO was established to sell and service Schramm, Inc. products in eastern Pennsylania, New Jersey, and Delaware. For a more detailed history of Schramm Inc. and PEECO, see the finding aid to the Schramm, Inc. records (Collection MC 91) at Drexel University Archives.

The heir of his family business, Richard began working at Schramm Inc. in the summer of 1950 when he was fourteen. He assisted six mechanics in the Repair Shop, who were tasked with maintaining company vehicles and fork trucks, in addition to repairing and reconditioning air compressors and drilling rigs purchased by customers. Every summer and winter break until 1959, Richard worked in various departments, including as a receptionist, telephone operator, storeroom clerk, and even assembling air compressor units and core engines, running wheel-mounted machines, Rotadrills, and PneumaTractor Rotadrills. In 1958, Richard graduated from Haverford College and, the following year, began taking business courses at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. As a Quaker, Richard fulfilled his military obligation as a conscientious objector by working as a social worker in Chicago from 1960-1961.

From 1961, Richard’s industriousness and perseverance allowed him to work his way through the ranks until he became executive vice president in 1974, president in 1985, and president & chairman of the Board of Directors in 1988. In 2005, Richard stepped down to a part-time role in the company, which was carried out on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. As the company was based on a family business model where employees held the majority share, Richard had Edward Breiner, the new president, organize the “Management Investors” to do a buyout of the majority shares owned by Richard and his wife, Patricia C. Schramm (1937-2020). The “Management Investors” were Breiner; John Bellis, VP of Finance; Robert Edwards, VP of Engineering; Frank Gabriel, VP of Sales; Fred Slack, VP of Supply Chain; and Bruce Mackay, VP of Customer Service. After the sale transaction, Richard continued to visit customers, participate in trade shows, participate in strategy sessions, and chair the board.

In 2012, Schramm Inc. was sold to GenNx360 in a reverse merger process where the new company, HDR, Inc. (Hydraulic Drilling Rig), began doing business as Schramm Inc. As Richard was not on the HDR Board of Directors, he became known as past chairman and continues to do customer relations, manage defense product liability suits, and oversee obtaining and defending intellectual property.

Extent

10.4 Cubic Feet (27 Boxes) : 25 document boxes; 2 half document boxes

Additional Description

Overview

Richard E. Schramm (b. 1935) has worked for Schramm, Inc. in different capacities over several decades, including president of the company and chairman of the Board of Directors. As the heir of his family business, Richard worked his way through the ranks until he became executive vice president in 1974, president in 1985, and president & chairman of the Board of Directors in 1988. In 2005, Richard stepped down to a part-time role in the company and became known as past chairman when Schramm, Inc. was sold to GenNx360. He continues to do customer relations, manage defense product liability suits, and oversee obtaining and defending intellectual property. The Richard E. Schramm professional papers consist of his personal set of Schramm, Inc. files, which complements and overlaps with Drexel's existing Schramm, Inc. records (Collection MC 91). Included are company ownership transfer files, Board of Directors and Executive Committee files, Stockholder records, sales and marketing materials, financial records, correspondence, business travel records, Human Resources records, notes, policies, planning documents, technical information about company products, printed materials, and other items. In addition to Schramm, Inc. materials, records related to the Pneumatic and Electric Equipment Company (PEECO), Atlas Copco, Schramm Foundation, and various companies with which Schramm, Inc. conducted business are also included.