History   Established in 1917 Shields, Harper & Co., a California corporation, was established in 1917. The company began by selling hoses to Standard Oil of California (now Chevron). Throughout the ensuing decades the company added many products and services including tanks, dispensers, nozzles, valves, fittings and in recent years to include payment systems, POS, software for facility management and security, along with field service technicians and software installers. The company also offers technical services such as CAD drawings and environmental analysis. The company moved to its current Oakland, California headquarters in 1948. It presently has six of its own branches covering the western U.S. with 12 other shipping locations through two affiliates in the east and midwest. Employees Own the Company Shields, Harper was closely held from 1917 through 1959 when it was acquired by the Symington Wayne Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange traded manufacturer of dispensers. In 1968 Wayne was acquired by Dresser Industries. Shields, Harper became a division of Dresser. In 1970 Dresser sold all of its distribution operations including the Shields, Harper division to two of its employees. The company became an ESOP (employee owned company) in 1992. More than 80% of the company's employees own stock in the company. Serving the Entire Industry Shields, Harper continues to be a leader serving every facet of the petroleum handling industry. Its integrated systems are installed in airports, fleets, commercial and retail sites throughout its market area. Contractors, architects, designers and engineers depend upon the expertise of Shields, Harper's well-trained and technical staff to help them specify equipment and design systems appropriate for the highly regulated areas in which they operate.