Founded in 1957 by the late Albert E. Kircher, Tri-State Technical Sales Corp. was originally established as a manufacturer's representative. Tri-State operated in this fashion from a small office in the Borough of Malvern staffed by three people for the next ten years.
In 1968 it was decided to expand the company to become a distributor of industrial valves and instrumentation. Because of this change in direction, the current facilities could no longer support an inventory oriented operation. By mid 1968, a new office and warehouse were built at what is now our current location on Lancaster Avenue in Frazer. By the end of the decade, Tri-State became one of the first valve distributors to specialize in valve automation. Complete automated valve packages were engineered, designed and built in-house. These unique abilities allowed Tri-State to grow our business and further develop our services and products.
By 1979, with no more room for expansion in the present building, the adjacent property, which had existing warehousing buildings, was purchased and inventory and shop facilities were moved into these buildings allowing the former warehouse/shop space to be converted into much needed office space. As Tri-State continued to prosper, facilities were opened in 1988 to better serve our customers in the North Jersey, New York/Metro areas. By 1991, growth opportunities were identified in the state of Maryland. As a result, facilities were opened in Baltimore to service the needs of the Maryland , Washington , DC and Northern Virginia areas. All the while, the Malvern facility continued tremendous growth and in 1995, construction of a 12,000 square foot warehouse addition was completed. In the same year, the Towanda Pennsylvania facility was opened to support the needs of our customers in the Northern region of Pennsylvania and the southern area of New York State.