Darrel & Carolyn Gillespie - Founders

Celebrating 35 years of Commitment to Our Community & Beyond 

Universal Machine & Tool Company was formed by Darrel and Carolyn Gillespie in 1988, initially as a small machine shop making repair parts for local industry. In 1991, the expanding business was relocated to the present location in Brookside Industrial Park in Kingsport, Tennessee. From a start with a small lathe and milling machine operated by Darrel in a garage, many pieces of larger and more sophisticated CNC machinery have been added. Today the original Brookside Lane building has been more than doubled in size to over 63,000 sq. ft., with 30 employees serving a large local and regional market.

Building on Darrel’s background in printing and bookbinding, Universal Machine first focused on producing machine parts for that industry. As our reputation grew, orders began to develop in other fields. Decades later our customer list now spans most major local industries. Darrel and Carolyn's commitment continues to result in growth, success and continual upgrades to our facility capabilities.

More than 30 years after our humble beginnings, UMT maintains its reputation as a precision machine shop, producing complex, critical tolerance parts in carbon steel, stainless steel and more exotic materials. We are a family owned and operated business built on the philosophy of high quality and low price, where you can still deal directly with the owner and receive exceptional customer service.