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Lewyn Machinery


In 1952, in his mother-in-law’s basement, Bert Lewyn founded the Bert Lewyn Company (eventually to be re-named Lewyn Machinery Company).  Bert tirelessly devoted nearly forty years and the full attention of his professional life to developing Lewyn Machinery, which would eventually go onto become one of the largest woodworking machinery importers in the US.
Bert working at his desk. He initially founded Lewyn Machinery as a home business, driving 200,000 miles a year, cold-calling customers all throughout the American South. He would go on to hire his first employee in 1961. The facade of Lewyn Machinery Co, Inc, offices located on South Atlanta Road. Bert in a moment of laughter, pictured here with some examples of the machinery sold, imported, and serviced by Lewyn Machinery. Bert on the showroom floor with a client, giving a demonstration. Machinery on the showroom floor. Having spent almost two decades representing machinery manufacturers throughout the American Southeast, in the early 1970s he broke with tradition and began importing machinery from overseas, including from Germany and Japan. Lewyn Machinery would eventually become one of the nation's premier importers and distributors of woodworking machinery. In 1978, Bert (bottom-right) was one of seven leaders in the North American woodworking industry who came together to found WMIA (the Woodworking Machinery Industry Association). In 1980, these leaders organized and launched the World Woodworking Expo, a trade show created to showcase its members and their imported woodworking machinery. A mailer advertising the 20th year of Lewyn Machinery. "Your gold mine for greater profit...greater productivity...thru better equipment." Ten years later, a mailer advertising the new expanded facilities of Lewyn Machinery on South Atlanta Rd. in Smyrna, GA. In 1982 Lewyn Machinery celebrated 30 years of successful business and expansion. Four years later, Bert would sell the company to Koch Machinery (Koch Maschinen), the German manufacturer whose products Lewyn Machinery began importing and distributing in 1976. Bert would continue to consult with Koch until his retirement in 1991. Bert with former US President Jimmy Carter. Known contemporarily for his work building homes and furniture through Habitat for Humanity, here President Carter can be seen visiting a woodworking industry trade show, which Bert helped organize as a founder of WMIA.