History

History

Stetler and Evelyn Young founded and operated Forest City Gear with an emphasis on developing close relationships with customers, vendors and employees. Our machinery has evolved to the point that it would be nearly unrecognizable to our founders, but our way of doing business has not. Forest City Gear, led by the Young family, operates a world-class business while maintaining those personal relationships with our customers, vendors and employees. The timeline highlights some of our milestones.

1982 Appy Young born in Roscoe, IL 1904 Stetler Young born in Montoursville, PA.
 1906 Evelyn Joelson born in Russia. 2001 An aerial photo of the Forest City Gear facility in 2001. Forest City Gear expands to 12,000 square feet, a 60% increase in floor space. 2001 Gears manufactured for Spirit and Opportunity, NASA’s first Mars Exploration Rovers. 2004 Forest City Gear becomes AS 9100 certified. 2007 Gears manufactured for another Mars rover, Curiosity. 2012 On-campus facility, Roscoe Works, built to better accommodate high-volume customers. 2013 Jared Lyford, Kika Young, Wendy Young, Fred Young, and Jeff Mains. The Senior Leadership Team forms: Fred and Wendy Young, Jared Lyford, Jeff Mains and Kika Young. 2017 Gears manufactured for the fourth Mars rover, which is set to launch in 2020. The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council certified women-owned business logo. 2017 Forest City Gear obtains
WBENC certification. 1985 Kika Young born in Roscoe, IL 1988 Mindy Young born in Roscoe, IL 2004 Spirit and Opportunity rovers land on Mars. 1930 Stetler and Evelyn marry. Fred Young at one year 1943 Fred Young born in Chicago. 1948 Stetler enters the gear industry, joining Rynel Gear Corp. in Sterling, IL. 1953 Stetler works his way up to president of Rynel Gear. 1954 After the sale and liquidation of Rynel Gear, Stetler is approached by a former client, J.E. Porter, to establish a gear company that could supply its needs. 1955 Forest City Gear founded in Rockford, IL — nicknamed “the Forest City” — in the downtown plant formerly occupied by Skandia Furniture. The first products are spur gears used to operate the crankshaft in home ice cream makers, and worm gear hoists and electric winch winders for raising and lowering gymnasium basketball hoops; all are manufactured by J.E. Porter. 1967 Manual setups on Barber Colman equipment. Forest City Gear buys its first brand-new machine, a Barber-Colman Type Q precision hobber. All previous machines were bought used and refurbished. Stetler’s focus on quality, paired with the capabilities of this new machine, lead to a growing business, counting Woodward Governor, Slick Electrode and Sall Brothers among its customers. 1965 Fred graduates from Rockford College (now Rockford University) with a BA in English literature. 1956 The Roscoe, IL Forest City Gear building in 1956 Forest City Gear moves to Roscoe, just north of Rockford. 23-year-old Fred Young in uniform shaking hands at his US Navy training graduation. 1968 Fred returns from two years of active duty in the U.S. Navy and starts working full time at Forest City Gear. 1970 Stetler and Evelyn gradually step away from the business as Fred takes on more responsibility. 1980 6” diameter honing machine Koepfer 153AO19 Forest City Gear buys its first brand-new machine, a Barber-Colman Type Q precision hobber. All previous machines were bought used and refurbished. Stetler’s focus on quality, paired with the capabilities of this new machine, lead to a growing business, counting Woodward Governor, Slick Electrode and Sall Brothers among its customers. Fred Young and Wendy Nutter on their wedding day. 1981 Fred Young and Wendy Nutter wed on the banks of the Wolf River in Wisconsin. They honeymoon in Europe, including an extended visit to the Koepfer plant in Germany, where lifelong friendships are made and additional machinery and tooling are acquired. 1983 Forest City Gear buys a Hofler EFRS630 gear checker. All of the new precision equipment lures customers who have more precise demands. To prove the superior quality of Forest City Gear parts, investment in gear-inspection equipment ramps up quickly. 1989 Forest City Gear enters the American Gear Manufacturers Association. Fred Young, in a suit and tie, at the 2000 AGMA annual meeting. 2000 Fred serves as chairman of AGMA. The Rover Curiosity on Mars. 2012 Gears manufactured for another Mars rover, Curiosity. 2018 Kika Young, Fred and Wendy's second daughter, named one of Rockford Register Star's "People to Watch in 2018." 2021 Perseverance rover lands on Mars. 2022 Wendy Young passes away peacefully at 69 after a tenacious baattle with cancer. 2022 Kika Young is named President of Forest City Gear. 2023 Forest City Gear obtains Nadcap accreditation for magnetic particle inspection nondestructive testing. 2022 Wendy Young posthumously receives the AGMA Chairman's Award. Her daugters Appy, Kika, and Mindy accept on her behalf.
1983
Forest City Gear buys a Hofler EFRS630 gear checker. All of the new precision equipment lures customers who have more precise demands. To prove the superior quality of Forest City Gear parts, investment in gear-inspection equipment ramps up quickly. 1982 Appy Young born in Roscoe, IL 1904
Stetler Young born in Montoursville, PA. 1906
Evelyn Joelson born in Russia. 1930
Stetler and Evelyn marry. Fred Young at one year 1943
Fred Young born in Chicago. 1954 After the sale and liquidation of Rynel Gear, Stetler is approached by a former client, J.E. Porter, to establish a gear company that could supply its needs. 1948
Stetler enters the gear industry, joining Rynel Gear Corp. in Sterling, IL. 1953 Stetler works his way up to president of Rynel Gear. 1955 Forest City Gear founded in Rockford, IL — nicknamed “the Forest City” — in the downtown plant formerly occupied by Skandia Furniture. The first products are spur gears used to operate the crankshaft in home ice cream makers, and worm gear hoists and electric winch winders for raising and lowering gymnasium basketball hoops; all are manufactured by J.E. Porter. The Roscoe, IL Forest City Gear building in 1956 1956 Forest City Gear moves to Roscoe, just north of Rockford. 1965
Fred graduates from Rockford College (now Rockford University) with a BA in English literature. 23-year-old Fred Young in uniform shaking hands at his US Navy training graduation. 1968
Fred returns from two years of active duty in the U.S. Navy and starts working full time at Forest City Gear. Manual setups on Barber Colman equipment. 1967 Forest City Gear buys its first brand-new machine, a Barber-Colman Type Q precision hobber. All previous machines were bought used and refurbished. Stetler’s focus on quality, paired with the capabilities of this new machine, lead to a growing business, counting Woodward Governor, Slick Electrode and Sall Brothers among its customers. 6” diameter honing machine Koepfer 153AO19 1980 Forest City Gear buys its first European-made machine, a Koepfer 6” diameter hobbing machine. This leap forward in technology allows FCG to grow rapidly and reinforces for Fred the importance of continually investing in the world’s best equipment. 1970 Stetler and Evelyn gradually step away from the business as Fred takes on more responsibility. Fred Young and Wendy Nutter on their wedding day. 1981
Fred Young and Wendy Nutter wed on the banks of the Wolf River in Wisconsin. They honeymoon in Europe, including an extended visit to the Koepfer plant in Germany, where lifelong friendships are made and additional machinery and tooling are acquired. 1988
Mindy Young born in Roscoe, IL Fred Young, in a suit and tie, at the 2000 AGMA annual meeting. 2000 Fred serves as chairman of AGMA. An aerial photo of the Forest City Gear facility in 2001. 2001 Forest City Gear expands to 12,000 square feet, a 60% increase in floor space. 2001
Gears manufactured for Spirit and Opportunity, NASA’s first Mars Exploration Rovers. 2004 Forest City Gear becomes AS 9100 certified. 2007 Gears manufactured for another Mars rover, Curiosity. Jared Lyford, Kika Young, Wendy Young, Fred Young, and Jeff Mains. 2013 The Senior Leadership Team forms: Fred and Wendy Young, Jared Lyford, Jeff Mains and Kika Young. 2017 Gears manufactured for fourth Mars rover, Perseverance The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council certified women-owned business logo. 2017 Forest City Gear obtains
WBENC certification. 1985 Kika Young born in Roscoe, IL 2004 Spirit and Opportunity rovers land on Mars. 1989 Forest City Gear enters the American Gear Manufacturers Association. The Rover Curiosity on Mars. 2012 Gears manufactured for another Mars rover, Curiosity. 2012 On-campus facility, Roscoe Works, is built to better accommodate Make Complete and high-volume customers. 2018 Kika Young, Fred and Wendy’s second daughter, named one of Rockford Register Star’s “People to Watch in 2018.” 2021 Perseverance rover lands on Mars. 2022 Wendy Young passes away peacefully at 69 after a tenacious battle with cancer. 2022 Wendy Young posthumously receives the AGMA Chairman’s Award. Her daughters Appy, Kika, and Mindy accept on her behalf. 2022 Kika Young is named president of Forest City Gear. 2023 Forest City Gear obtains Nadcap accreditation for magnetic particle inspection nondestructive testing.