WINTER 2020

BEGINNING OF A DREAM
It was down a country road 12 miles from the border of
Ohio and West Virginia that a young boy was born into a coal
miner’s family in the little town of Dillonvale, Ohio, population,
619, in 2019. A boy took his first steps toward a future that
would enable him to see the American dream come true.
Richard A. Kovach was not quite six when he began his first
paper route with his older sister, the driving force behind the
enterprise. The route consisted of 25 families. Two years later,
his sister gave up her portion of the job and Rich continued on
his own by getting up before school every morning to make
his deliveries. By the time he was 16, his customer base had
expanded to 125 homes. Right from the beginning he shared
his profits with his parents.
As he grew older, he had other part time jobs but one
in particular led to a life changing decision that was the
catalyst of his success story. While Kovach was working at
a service station, a successful business owner brought in his
Cadillac to be worked on. After Rich completed the work, the
customer turned to him and said,” Rich, the only way to get
anywhere is to own your own business.” Rich decided at that
moment he was going to own his own business and set his
goal toward that aim and never looked back. His course was
set although he did not know where or what, but he knew
he would own his own business.
MOLDING THE DREAM
Kovach, a proud U.S. veteran, was of draft age in the years
between the Korean War and the Vietnam War. He chose to
serve his country in the Army serving stateside with the 4th
Infantry for two years. When asked what he learned during
his time of service he replied, “I learned to treat people fairly.
Being in the service makes a man out of you and teaches
you to stand on your own two feet.” He added, “I learned
the importance of good communication and that led to my
business policy today that the customer is always right. “
EXPANDING THE DREAM
After leaving the service, Kovach went to work as an
apprentice at Champion Forge, a Cleveland, Ohio company,
where he learned the craft of die making for five years. When
the company was closed, Rich decided to strike out on his
own and start his own company.
Cleveland Hardware had closed their die room and they
needed an outside source to continue their business. “I could
be that outside source,” thought Kovach, and that is exactly
what happened in 1970. With only himself, two die cutting
machines and two employees, he began working in his
own 20x20 garage making original dies as well as doing
maintenance on existing dies. He named the company after
his son, calling it Ken Tool and Die.