At the Clarksville Montgomery County Economic Development Council, our mission is to build a community where people want to visit, live, work and invest. While we often celebrate new businesses arriving and existing companies expanding, it’s just as important to spotlight the incredible products made right here in Clarksville – many of which are used in homes and industries around the world. We are launching a new series aptly named “Made Here in Clarksville.” Our first business in the series is Heritage Steel.
In an era when much of the cookware sold in American kitchens is produced overseas, a quiet resurgence of domestic manufacturing is unfolding in Clarksville, Tennessee. At the center of it is Heritage Steel, a family-owned company crafting high-performance stainless-steel cookware that blends modern engineering with old-school workmanship. We recently got a behind-the-scenes look at their operations.
Rather than outsourcing production, Heritage Steel has invested in building and growing its manufacturing operation right here in Clarksville, creating skilled jobs and reinforcing the city’s role as a hub for advanced manufacturing.
“We are proud to have been a part of the Clarksville community since 1983,” said Heritage Steel’s Vice President of Sales Bobby Griggs. “Our passion is to produce an exceptional quality product while creating a wonderful place to work. We have found that staff from this area have a sense of pride in producing world-class cookware that they would be proud for their friends and family to purchase for themselves.”
How it’s made at Heritage Steel
Inside the facility, sheets of steel are bonded into five-layer cookware. Every piece passes through multiple stages of forming, welding, polishing, and inspection – a process that relies as much on human expertise as on industrial machinery. Heritage Steel’s signature five-ply fully clad construction ensures heat moves evenly across the entire pan, not just the base, giving cooks precise control whether searing, simmering or sautéing. It’s a level of performance often found in restaurant kitchens, now found in kitchens across the country.
Rather than chasing disposable trends, Heritage Steel focuses on durability. Stainless steel cookware doesn’t peel, flake or wear out after a few years. With proper care, it can last a lifetime, reducing waste and long-term replacement costs, and it’s backed by a lifetime warranty, which is a promise few brands can confidently offer.
Supporting economy by keeping jobs local
But the company’s impact goes beyond cookware. By keeping production domestic, Heritage Steel supports a skilled workforce of machinists, welders, finishers, and quality technicians. These are careers that offer long-term stability in an industry that has disappeared from many American towns.
Each piece that ships from Clarksville sustains local jobs, preserves advanced manufacturing skills, and flows economic activity back into the community. It’s manufacturing with a multiplier effect, benefiting suppliers, logistics partners and small businesses across the region.
Heritage Steel isn’t just making cookware, it’s helping redefine what modern American manufacturing looks like.
It all starts in our community, where steel becomes a tool for everyday life, crafted with pride.
“There are so many incredible things made in Clarksville!” said Josh Ward, executive director of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Industrial Development Board. “Thanks to the Aspire Foundation for funding this project, we’re excited to give our community a behind-the-scenes look at the products manufactured right here at home, from cookware and Italian tile to washing machines. It’s all made here.”