Midwest Enterprises has a proud history in the gutter business. Its founder, Jim Ealer Sr., started his own custom gutter company with one truck in 1973, and quickly became one of the largest installers in the St. Louis area.
By 1983 he saw the need for an effective gutter screen and started developing E-Z-LOCK, which was patented in 1986. In 1997, Ealer decided that together with his five children, he would focus on the gutter protection portion of the business, and founded Midwest Enterprises.