OUR FOUNDER

An Unlikely Success Story

​

Growing up in the coal camps of West Virginia in the 1930s and 1940s was not the most glamorous or ideal way to experience the American dream, but Davis Electric Company Founder Anthony (Tony) Tarley found something inside him that would drive him to a better life- his family.

​

His father passed at the young age of 50, like so many coal miners in the days before mine safety caught up to our current standards, leaving behind a young widow, ten children under the age of 18, and no money.  At once, Tony stepped into the working world at the ripe, hardened age of 13. Beginning as a block & brick mason helper, Tony eventually made his way to machinist school and later the U.S. Air Force.

​

During his time in the U.S. Air Force, Tony reached the rank of Sergeant and learned the Supply Chain skills that made his maintenance crews shine in airplane reliability ratings and downtime minimization that he carried into practice in later years.  We cannot verify that his methods were always by the book, but his planes were in the air more than any other crew...