Made in the USA
Our company history · Established 1910
Newark Roots Generations Of Craftsmanship
From a 2,000-square-foot shop in Newark to our manufacturing home in Edison, New Jersey. This is the story of the people, places, and wire mesh work behind Newark Wire Works.
Where it began
A Wire Works Takes Root In Newark
Oscar Froelich established Newark Wire Works in 1910 in a 2,000-square-foot facility in Newark, New Jersey. His son, Oscar Jr., and son-in-law, Walter, joined him in the business.
Wire mesh fabrication was at the center of the company. Over the years, that work would include partitions, storage enclosures, window guards, and architectural panels—products made to fit the buildings and facilities that needed them.
Expanding the business
A New Owner A Larger Operation
George Klacik, owner of Eagle Wire and Brass, purchased Newark Wire Works in 1960. He combined the business with Industrial Wire Works and Acme Wire Works.
The company expanded into a 13,000-square-foot facility and continued manufacturing wire mesh products. It was a substantial step beyond the small Newark shop where the business had started.
The Spellman family
A Father And Son Carry The Business Forward
Joseph L. Spellman and his son, Joseph P. Spellman, acquired Newark Wire Works in 1982, beginning the Spellman family’s chapter in the company’s history.
After Joseph L. Spellman died in 1987, Joseph P. Spellman continued leading the company. In the years that followed, the family would move the business to Edison and welcome another generation into its day-to-day work.
A new home in New Jersey
From Newark To Edison
In 1999, Joseph P. Spellman and his wife, JoAnn, moved Newark Wire Works to Edison, New Jersey. The company kept its Newark name and its New Jersey manufacturing roots.
Edison remains our home today. It is where we manufacture standard products and custom wire mesh work for customers across the country.
2009 & 2024 · The next generation
The Whole Family Comes Together
Before joining Newark Wire Works in 2009, Michael and Chris Spellman spent summer breaks from high school and college working in the shop at their father JP’s direction. They learned the business from the ground up, including wire weaving, welding, fabrication, and working with machinery. Both developed an understanding of every part of the operation, then brought their individual strengths to it: Chris in machinery and manufacturing, and Michael in customer relationships, sales, and project leadership.
Meghan Richards joined the company in late 2024 and works in sales, quoting, project scheduling, and daily operations. Her arrival brought the whole family together in the business: Joseph P. and JoAnn Spellman and all three of their children, Michael, Chris, and Meghan. Parents, brothers, and sister now work together to run Newark Wire Works.
The family leadership team today
Joseph P. “JP” Spellman
President of Sales
Joseph P. Spellman, known as JP, is a Kean College graduate who began weaving wire as a teenager. His knowledge of NWW’s products starts with making them: understanding the material, working through fabrication details, and knowing what it takes to turn a drawing into finished work. Today, he brings that experience to sales, leads the company’s pricing models, and guides estimating for standard products and custom projects.
JP passed that hands-on foundation to his sons, Michael and Chris, having them work in the shop during summer breaks from high school and college. Those summers gave both brothers hands-on experience across the business, including wire weaving, welding, fabrication, and working with machinery. Michael credits that foundation as an important part of his development, and both brothers still draw on it in their work today.
JP remains the team’s go-to resource for complex product questions, construction details, and how a job should be priced and built. His experience connects generations of practical shop knowledge with the needs of today’s customers.
JoAnn Spellman
CEO & Head of Finance / Controller
A Fairleigh Dickinson University graduate, JoAnn is at the center of NWW’s day-to-day leadership, bringing together the people, priorities, and decisions that keep the company running. Her involvement reaches across nearly every part of the business, working closely with the family and team to keep operations coordinated and moving forward.
She leads the company’s financial management and oversees how money moves through the business. Beyond the numbers, JoAnn provides the continuity, follow-through, and practical oversight that hold the operation together. Her role connects the company’s financial health with the everyday needs of its people and projects.
Michael Spellman
Executive Vice President
Michael brings sales experience managing high-level university accounts at Xerox, a strength in building customer relationships and winning business, and deep expertise in technology. An Endicott College graduate, he combines those skills with the welding, fabrication, and machinery experience he gained during summers working at Newark Wire Works throughout high school and college.
At NWW, Michael works in sales and quoting and leads project management, technology, marketing, and strategy. He personally built the company’s website, its internal operating system, NWW OS, and its customer portal. His understanding of both customer needs and shop-floor work shapes how he guides projects and develops tools for the company’s future.
Chris Spellman
Executive Plant Manager
Chris graduated from St. Bonaventure University and studied at Teterboro School of Aeronautics. He leads NWW’s manufacturing facility, combining a strong aptitude for machinery with hands-on welding and fabrication experience. He turns quoted projects into finished products, coordinating the people, materials, and priorities that move each job through production.
Working directly with the manufacturing team, Chris turns drawings and project requirements into finished work. He coordinates the build, works through shop-floor challenges, and oversees workmanship throughout production. His hands-on leadership keeps projects moving and makes him essential to delivering on the commitments NWW makes to its customers.
Meghan Richards
Sales, Quoting & Project Scheduling
A Gettysburg College graduate, Meghan managed Fortune 500 accounts in sales and operations at AT&T before joining NWW. She brings that experience to quoting, scheduling, and customer follow-through, making sure requests receive attention and important details are not overlooked.
She tracks deadlines and coordinates with customers and the team from inquiry through completion, keeping projects moving and preventing requests from falling through the cracks. Outside NWW, Meghan runs Magnolia Creek Stables, a premier horse farm on more than 40 acres, offering quality boarding, jumper and dressage riding, and indoor and outdoor riding arenas.
Our work, across industries
From Museum Infrastructure To Gold Vaults
Over more than a century, Newark Wire Works has taken on projects in an extraordinary range of places. Museums, gold vaults, data centers, power plants, transit facilities, schools, industrial buildings, and residential properties all have different demands. Our work ranges from individual custom panels to complete enclosures built around the way a facility operates.
That variety is part of our experience. A project may call for controlled access around valuable assets, an enclosure around critical equipment, or mesh panels fitted to an unusual opening. We bring the same attention to the dimensions, materials, connections, and everyday use, whether the job is in a public building or behind the scenes in a restricted facility.
Museums & Places Of Remembrance
We have worked in many museums and cultural environments. Our projects include wire mesh caging in the subcellar around the equipment serving the reflecting pools at the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center. It is one example of the work we do out of public view to support places that matter.
Gold Vaults & Secure Facilities
Our experience includes projects in gold vaults and other facilities where protecting valuable assets and controlling access are central to the work. The enclosure layout, openings, hardware, and connections are reviewed for the requirements of each project.
Data Centers & Colocation
Data center caging is a major part of our business. We build wire mesh enclosures to separate customer equipment and establish controlled-access areas, coordinating cage layouts with equipment, aisles, floor conditions, and building services.
Industry & Infrastructure
Our work spans power plants, train stations, bus terminals, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and armories. These environments call for practical enclosures that fit the space, protect equipment or inventory, and support daily operations.
Schools & Public Buildings
Window guards, stair enclosures, rooftop playground protection, and architectural mesh panels are part of our work in schools and public facilities. Every building brings its own openings, access needs, and connection details.
Residential & Commercial Spaces
From tenant storage lockers in apartments and condominiums to railing infill and custom partitions in commercial buildings, we help make useful spaces out of the dimensions and conditions on site.
We have worked in a wide range of environments, and many jobs start with a condition that does not appear in a catalog. Send the plans, photographs, or requirements. We can work through the mesh, framing, access, finish, and fabrication details with your team.
Talk with us about your project →American manufacturing, today
Still Making Wire Mesh Products In New Jersey
Today, Newark Wire Works manufactures wire partitions, tenant storage lockers, railing infill, and custom mesh products in our 30,000-square-foot Edison facility.
We remain a family-owned American manufacturer, serving customers across the country. Bring us a new project or an existing installation, and we can help work through the product and fabrication details.
Meet Newark Wire Works today →Let’s Build The Next Project
Talk with our team about your plans, or learn about bringing Newark Wire Works products to your customers.