In the 1950s, the West Salem Industrial Foundation, which later became known as the West Salem Development Association, began a drive to attract new industry to the West Salem-Bone Gap area. A sum of $12,000 was reached initially. The plan was to pay $10,000 to an agency to find a tenant for an as yet unbuilt industrial building. Howard Gaither, Arthur McDowell, and John Beehn were instrumental in the process of seeking a manufacturing business for the community. Late in 1954 an oral agreement was reached with the firm Potter and Brumfield. Under it Gaither, McDowell, and Beehn would invest cash and Harry Clemmons would invest his machinery (he owned Kleen Pak Manufacturing) in a new company known as Kleen-Pak Corporation. Howard Gaither, one of the founding fathers of Kleen-Pak/Champion, served as company president from 1955 to 1981 and Harry Clemmons served as Vice President before selling his stake in the company.