In 1896, the enterprising father and son team of A.J. and George A. Briggs partnered with S.A. Buffington, a Chicago Lawyer, to establish Chicago Telephone Supply Company (later to become CTS).  Working out of a small building near downtown Chicago, their telephones were sold through local supply houses, jobbers and mail order. Within a year, the Briggs family bought out Buffington’s interest and took over all operations of the company. In less than 6 years, this small company had grown to encompass a workforce of 250 employees.

In 1902, in need of more, yet less expensive manufacturing space, the company found suitable facilities in Elkhart, Indiana, about 100 miles east of Chicago. Chicago Telephone Supply Company was lured to this northern Indiana city by the incentives of a new building on a railroad spur, in exchange for a multi-year wage pay-out to stimulate the local economy.