History

Beginning as West Hartford Printing and Lithographic Company in 1934, Beekley Corporation is now a world leading supplier of niche medical and hospitality products.  Throughout our history, the key to our growth and longevity has been a focus on specialization, innovation and adaptability.

Founder F. Cheney Beekley recognized early on that his company's best opportunity for success was through specialization and he gradually became the only printer in the Greater Hartford Area devoted to wholly supplying business forms to factories.  This specialization led to the development of new processes and equipment that enabled his small company to improve production and cut expenses.  The company not only survived throughout the 10 year period that encompassed the latter half of the great depression and second world war, but grew and began national distribution in the post-war years.

Under the leadership of son W. Mason Beekley in the early 1960's, the company underwent another transformation and growth phase by specializing even further.  Sensing an opportunity to fulfill an unspoken need for specialized paper products in its hospital market, Beekley, operating under the name Beekley Hospital Systems, became the leading manufacturer of hospital charting sheets that helped save time, improve data presentation, and protect against financial losses.  KwikChart, a multi-part, multi-color coded form that combined the functions of requisitioning, charting, and charging became the most widely used method of displaying laboratory results in the US and Canada.  This increased market penetration and rapid growth that led the company to move in 1974 to a new, larger facility in Farmington to allow for expansion.

During the 1980's, Beekley entered a decade of dramatic change and growth.  The company was officially renamed Beekley Corporation and relocated to a new, specially built headquarters in Bristol, CT.  Sensing the advent of the information age and the eventual demise of paper based systems, they began to look at new opportunities within healthcare and potential new markets.

SuperTag, introduced in 1982, was an innovative proprietary luggage tag that offered the hospitality industry a new way to improve baggage check-in times.  Sold today under the name of FastTag, SuperTag's success led to the creation of the Prestige Lane Hospitality Brands, a division of Beekley Corporation with an expanded product line designed to drive increased revenues and reduce costs at hotel properties while enhancing the guest experience.

In 1984, Beekley Corporation introduced X-SPOT - the first ever professional skin marker for diagnostic imaging.  The X-SPOT replaced a variety of makeshift methods for communicating an area of concern on film and quickly became a staple in radiology departments across the country.

The X-SPOT's success led Beekley to develop additional modality-specific skin markers for radiological imaging and radiation therapy - most notably the Beekley Skin Marking System for Mammography which first introduced the concept of specific shapes for identifying specific areas of interest on the breast for clearer communication between technologist and interpreting physician.  This division, now operating as Beekley Medical, is wholly devoted to developing simple, low cost, disposable medical products that help improve communication, productivity and patient care.

Finding its niche in hospitality systems and medical devices, Beekley Corporation experienced significant growth under the leadership of President & CEO Ayn S. LaPlant and relocated in 2009 to the specially constructed Beekley Growth & Innovation Center in Bristol, CT.

Today, Beekley Corporation continues to build upon its market leadership while seeking new opportunities to make a difference in people's lives through WMB Enterprises, Beekley's joint ventures and product acquisitions division.