Our History
Our Story: Swagelok North Texas History
The origin of Swagelok North Texas dates all the way back to 1957 when the Swagelok distributorship, then named Texas Valve & Fitting Co. (TVFC), opened for business. It began when Thomas A. Read, one of the original Swagelok distributors in Houston, encouraged his brother George to go to Dallas and sell Swagelok products. George did just that, and registered the business name: “Texas Valve & Fitting Co.”George Read successfully introduced Swagelok products, including the revolutionary two-ferrule compression fitting, to prospective customers across the metroplex. After years of working from his home, Mr. Read opened the first TVFC office in Dallas and assembled a team of dedicated salesmen that would carry Swagelok's tradition of quality and service for decades to come.
With 37 years as the distributor principal at TVFC, Mr. Read retired in 1994 and Sales Manager JW Crane was named TVFC's second distributor principal. Mr. Crane focused on extensive product knowledge and local inventory increases to help expand the business out of the original location, to a larger facility in Dallas that could accommodate the growing needs of customers. During Mr. Crane's tenure, the distributorship earned the business of one of the largest semiconductor facilities in the nation, under the leadership of a salesman named Ben Williams. Ben started with TVFC in 1979, and by 1996 was promoted to Sales Manager. Ben's innate ability to connect with customers and excel in business management, combined with his vast knowledge of Swagelok offerings, positioned him to be the ideal choice as Mr. Crane's successor in 2008.
With new leadership came new offerings at TVFC, including its third and current office location in Allen, Texas, as well as the introduction to Swagelok's Custom Solutions department to offer customers in-house, customized fabrication capabilities and turn-key assembly applications. Ben Williams retired in 2020, paving the way for the next distributor principal, Mike Merkel; in October of 2020, TVFC was rebranded to Swagelok North Texas to better align with the global brand recognition of the Swagelok name. Mike was with Swagelok for more than a decade in various leadership roles, including Regional Director at Swagelok Corporate in Ohio. His focus was on developing his team and providing customers world class service and lifelong partnerships that Swagelok and specifically, this distributorship offers now and into the future.
Jason Bloom joined Texas Valve & Fitting Co (now Swagelok North Texas) in 2010 as a Customer Service Representative. Within his first year, he was promoted to Director of Operations, where he led key initiatives to strenghten the organization's operational excellence, including integrating the quality management system, standardizing processes, developing talent and leading to the implementation of SAP.
In 2022, Jason was named Director of Sales, where he led the organization's commercial transformation and helped drive significant year-over-year growth through a refined go-to-market strategy and customer-focused approach.
In 2024, Jason joined Swagelok's corporate organization in Cleveland, Ohio, gaining valuable experience in the manufacturing and global distributor network while broadening his understanding of the business. He returned to North Texas in 2026 as Distributor Principal, where he now leads the organization with a focus on world-class customer service, operational excellence and long-term growth.