Shawnee Specialties was established in 1973 by four men in a rented section of a block building and just one lead machine.  It was originally located near Bridgman Michigan just off of Shawnee Road, thus the name Shawnee Specialties.  All four of the original owners began as employees in various die cast companies and worked in most departments within these companies.  During this time they gained the experience and knowledge needed in order to operate a successful die cast company.  The diverse backgrounds of each of the individuals has proven to be the recipe for SUCCESS and allowed for a true team concept.  For many years Shawnee thrived off of the military’s use of lead castings in their sonobuoy programs, until the use of lead was found to be detrimental to the environment.  As the demand for lead products declined Shawnee recognized the need for diversification and added zinc alloys to their product line.  As time passed and Shawnee excelled in the production of zinc castings, we again diversified, as per our customers needs and added aluminum and zinc-aluminum alloys to our capabilities.

In 1976 Shawnee re-located to their current location in Eau Claire Michigan in a new 6,000 square foot manufacturing facility.  As Shawnee Specialties reputation grew in supplying quality castings there was again a need for expansion, adding more equipment and an additional 12,000 square feet and then again expanding to the current 36,000 square feet.