More than 100 years ago, a Bohemian diemaker named Anton J. Ruzicka made the transatlantic journey to America. He soon began to work in his trade in his adopted homeland, opening a small tool shop on the west side of Cleveland in 1922 — after changing his name to Rose to “sound more American.”

At its heart, A.J. Rose Manufacturing Co. is a family business. The company got its start in 1922, when Czech immigrant Anton J. Rose opened a small stamping shop in Cleveland. The company’s scope was broad at first, but eventually focused in on the automotive aftermarket, and then on serving original equipment manufacturers in that industry, said vice president of sales and marketing Terrence Sweeney. It was the company’s ability to create cost-saving designs for customers that led to its growth in that space, he said.