The 2026 edition of the ID “Watch List” concludes with Ohio Power Tool, a Columbus provider of power tools — of course — as well as fasteners, safety products and accessories.
The company, founded as a tool repair shop more than 40 years ago, continues to provide those services but has expanded to become a complete tool and supply distributor with vendor-managed inventory, safety training capabilities, mobile boot truck programs and other services.
OPT also says it is rapidly growing, albeit not by making acquisitions or adding new branches: the company has doubled both its warehousing and its regional delivery capacity just in the past two years.
See all the companies profiled in this year’s Watch List in the latest edition of Industrial Distribution magazine.
Ohio Power Tool
Nominated by: NetPlus Alliance
Top executive(s): Jay Amstutz, president
Headquarters: Columbus, Ohio
Year founded: 1983
Website: ohiopowertool.com
Number of locations: 1
Key product categories: Power tools, accessories, anchors and fasteners, boots and safety, rental, repairs
Total employee headcount: 52
Total SKU count: 20,000
Company commentary: Ohio Power Tool was founded as a tool repair shop in 1983, and while we continue to service tools as a small part of our current operations, our focus has grown to supporting larger construction projects with all their specific needs, including onsite vendor-managed inventory solutions, mobile boot truck programs and safety training, as well as all the tools and construction supplies we have always delivered.
Recent awards: 2025 NetPlus Distributor of Year, Tier 2
Do you offer an e-commerce platform? When was it established? We have been in e-commerce since 2000. At one point, it made up nearly 70% of our overall business, but with aggressive growth in our local sales, that mix is now back down below 50% overall. Long-term, as more competitors come online, we believe e-commerce will be more of a tool to support local and regional operations. We have always worked to interlace the functionality and technology of the web to support all our customers.
Ohio Power Tool
Additional comments: We think this is a very exciting time for our industry; we are optimistic about the growth of infrastructure, manufacturing, technology and energy in 2026.
This article originally appeared in the January/February issue of Industrial Distribution magazine. Sign up here to subscribe to ID’s Today in Industrial Distribution daily newsletter.
