Local family-owned manufacturer to help create Presidential Medal of Freedom cases

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By Ren Sikes, WHIO.com and Taylor Robertson

DAYTON — A local wooden chest manufacturer will play a role in creating the 2026 Presidential Medal of Freedom cases.

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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00 p.m., Gerstner and Sons, a family-owned business that has been in the Dayton area for 120 years, will be taking part in the construction of the cases for the medals.

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The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor in the United States, given to people who make important contributions to the country or world.

Gerstner and Sons in Dayton has been there since the early 1900’s, and the owners say that most people don’t know what’s inside it.

“My great-grandfather started the business in 1906, and he learned the trade from his father, who was a cooper. So he was training to be a pattern maker,” Kim Brown, the CP of Sales and Marketing at Gerstner and Sons, said.

Brown spent her whole life exploring the factory and learning how to manufacture wooden chests.

She told News Center 7’s Taylor Robertson that her great-grandfather started the factory in 1906 with just $100.

“He was leasing some space and renting out, and we had the flood come through in 1913, but we had some foundation work done, so we had a pad laid for the building, and then in 1914 we moved into here,” Brown said.

Brown said she remembers, as a kid, playing on an elevator shaft with her brother, Scott Campbell, who is now the president of the company.

“I can remember as a little kid being down here; I was being paid a penny a piece by my parents, my brother and I, to stuff envelopes and send out mailers when he first took back over the business in 1976, so it’s always been a part of the family; I’m fourth generation,” Brown said.

Brown said that a lot of Dayton history is preserved inside these walls. She said that it was an honor for her and her brother to tell Dayton Congressman Mike Turner.

The American Chest Company is the main contractor. Gerstner and Sons will create the wood case. Two other companies are also a part of the project.

“The fact that this has such an unbelievable history really is part of why we celebrate this,” Turner said.

Brown said that the plan for Gerstner and Sons is to stay in the family, and the fifth generation of employees are already preparing to take it over one day.

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