Pioneer

Pioneer was founded in 1946 by Herman A. Shields, in his hometown of Meridian, Mississippi to service the needs of clutch remanufacturers. Mr. Shields had a simple goal: Supply the needed, hard-to-find parts for these businesses. For over 30 years under the guidance of the Shields family, our growth was based upon the twin cornerstones of customer service and the reputation of the "Source for hard-to-find parts. Today, these two principles remain as the foundation of Pioneer, Inc. In 1979, Pioneer was purchased by The Barnes Group (Bristol, Connecticut) and the company became known as Pioneer/Barnes. During the Barnes Group's ownership, Pioneer's product lines were dramatically expanded and we built our current corporate headquarters and warehouse-distribution center in the Sonny A. Montgomery Industrial Park in Meridian. Pioneer became a subsidiary of UIS, Inc. (a New Jersey-based holding company) in 1993. As a member of the UIS family, we continued our growth of product lines and product tooling. To further enhance our reputation as the "One Stop Source" for automotive parts. In 2003, The Carlyle Group purchased the automotive assets of U.I.S., including Pioneer, Inc. Following the purchase, United Components, Inc. was formed to manage the acquired assets. As a part of United Components, Inc., Pioneer is a part of one of North America's largest and most diversified companies servicing the replacement parts market.