Our History

Clarence “Pete” Zimmerman started Zimmerman Paint Contractors Co. in 1958.  Pete was born in 1933 and grew up in the Gibsonburg-Woodville, Ohio area..  After graduation from Woodville High School in 1950, he worked on lake freighters for two years, then went into the barber business.

While cutting hair, he was told by a customer that he needed his parking lot striped. Chemi-Trol Chemical Co. of Gibsonburg, Ohio,  where Pete’s Father was employed, told him that he could borrow a striping machine.  After striping the lot, he decided to establish his own striping business.

In 1959, Pete purchased a new striping machine, a 1950 Studebaker, and a used two wheel trailer.  For the next ten years, he worked out of his garage in Fremont, Ohio. His business consisted of painting parking lots and striping two small towns in northwest Ohio.  In 1964 he bought a used 1950 Chevy truck. In 1969 Pete bought his first new truck and the company moved to a former dairy site on June Street, in Fremont.  The company was incorporated in 1981 and in 1988 his son Jack, now president , started working for  him in a full time capacity. In 1995 Zimmerman Paint Contractors Co. moved to its present location at 2710 Hayes Ave., Fremont, Ohio.