General A & E was founded in 1954 by John Baker Sr. who worked for Dumont Laboratories, who helped popularize television, as a purchasing agent. Not satisfied with the performance of most suppliers he decided to go out on his own. His first two customers were Robinson Aviation and Curtis Wright Electronics, so we became General Aviation & Electronics.
Starting in a small Quonset hut the company progressed by doing business with larger companies like Western Electric (the manufacturing arm of the Bell System), IBM and the Government working on projects like the USS Nautilus and the Patriot Missile programs. After his untimely passing in 1963, Mrs. Bella Baker, his wife, took over the management of the business until 1979 growing the business and moving into larger quarters at 30 Jersey Place, Hackensack, N.J. In 1979 John Baker Jr. took over and in 1985 doubled the building’s size and added automation, ISO 9001 and AS 9100 credentials.
The firm now sells to both large companies in the aerospace and electronics industry like Honeywell, Tyco and Sikorsky, who require large investments in documentation and accreditation as well as medium and smaller sized firms needing special attention to a variety of details. The Company actually keeps records on the split between aerospace business and smaller firms and always wants to be in both markets since we want to be competitive as well as capable. In order to meet delivery commitments the company offers in house welding, spot welding, plating, assembly and silk screening.
