Spanwell was started in 1987 as an industrial tool repair service for pneumatic tools and hoists. For years Richard and Celeste were a “two man band.” Richard picked up tools, brought them to his shop for repair, and delivered them the next week, while Celeste worked in her home office, (actually the laundry room), answering the phone, doing the accounting, and taking care of the couples’ two young sons. Opportunity knocked one day in 1994. Richard was on a tool run to Montana Power Company in Colstrip and had a conversation with one of the operators. The man asked if Richard could come up with a tool for extreme industrial cleaning.
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