ENTREPRENEURS — Jeff and Nancy Buxton held a Socket Up and a banner promoting the product. -- Christopher Dacanay

BERGHOLZ — Jeff and Nancy Buxton have always had a “do-it-ourselves” attitude for projects they undertook.

Tinkering with vehicles and crafts since he was young, Jeff was eager to work hard and make ends meet, getting a job in the sawmill at Denoon Lumber in Bergholz in 1976, while he was in high school. He married his high school sweetheart, Nancy, in 1983 and the couple raised two daughters and twin boys.

While raising their kids, the Buxtons also raised businesses, founding Jeffro’s Pizza on Third Street in Bergholz in a former hardware store and constructing an addition to the building that would become their current home. They opened another pizza shop in Richmond, which they later sold.

Jeffro’s Pizza has now been open for more than 35 years, and Jeff Buxton still works at Denoon. He said that his aptitude for repairing things has earned him a reputation as the local go-to individual for equipment problems, from hydraulics to electrical.

“I always felt God gave me my eyes, my hands, my brain, and when I can do it (myself), I do it,” Buxton said.

Although they never specifically thought about it, the Buxtons always harbored an enterprising spirit. Thus, it should come as no surprise that their next big undertaking aspires to get a patented product that Buxton developed onto shelves.

The product is called Socket Up, and it’s a socket organizer with a magnetic base. Designed and manufactured in Ohio, Socket Up is Buxton’s creation, meant to make organizing sockets a breeze for most anyone.

About 20 years ago, Buxton found himself frequently having to re-organize his sockets — tools that attach to a ratchet to tighten or loosen nuts and bolts — after his sons would finish using them. With his eyesight not what it once was, organizing the sockets of various dimensions and specifications became a frustrating ordeal. That’s when inspiration struck.

Buxton crafted a rail with a number of buds that were fitted to certain sizes of sockets and exclusive to all others. The buds were labeled, so it’s easy to tell exactly which type of socket one is picking up from or placing down on the rail.

At first, it was just for Buxton to use, but he was encouraged to develop the idea after one of his sons saw the creation and said, “That’s the coolest thing I’ve seen. You need to patent that,” Buxton recalled.

That creation became the basic idea for Socket Up, an organizer so intuitive that even the children or the blind can use it, simply by trying a socket on each bud until it fits just right.

What sets Socket Up apart from other organizers — and what earned it its patent — is the fact that sockets are organized face down, rather than with the driver side down like other organizers. That means ratchets, with their socket attachments, can be hung on the rail for storage.

Socket Up comes in two varieties, fitting either metric or SAE sockets, which are differentiated by color. Among those types, Socket Up further organizes based on interior point number, and only the exact type of socket will fit its designated bud, meaning they’ll never be out of order.

With a magnetic base for convenient mounting during a project, Socket Up is the preferred method of organization over a cluttered toolbox, which can easily be knocked over, Buxton said.

It wasn’t until 2016 that Buxton began seeking a patent. Despite an initial attorney’s lack of success to that end, Buxton didn’t give up and hired another patent attorney, who successfully helped him obtain a utility patent on Jan. 23, 2018.

Originally known as Socket Rocket before trademark issues required a name change, Socket Up’s utility patent garnered attention from companies wishing to enter a licensing agreement, Buxton recalled.

Buxton himself contacted a specific publicly traded automotive products manufacturer, representatives from which “fell in love” with Socket Up. The company and the Buxtons entered into licensing agreement negotiations, but the COVID-19 pandemic stretched the process out.

After “a lot of feet dragging,” the Buxtons decided it would be best to continue the venture on their own, Nancy Buxton recalled.

They began speaking with Sare Plastics Inc. in Alliance, which offered mentorship and helped create the prototypes and subsequent final mold in 2022. With Sare making the rails, the Buxtons and their daughters take care of ancillary touch-ups and packaging, and the daughters also helped with marketing and developing socketup.com.

To help get the word out, Jeff Buxton entered this year’s second-annual Shark Tub, a business pitch competition in New Philadelphia that’s modeled after the reality television show “Shark Tank.”

Visitors to the April 23 competition could purchase fake money and give it to the business display they liked most, with the top two earners getting to pitch their business idea to a panel of judges. Out of around 15 entrants, Socket Up earned the third most money, and did not qualify for the final round — Socket Up also came in second in a separate judges’ pick.

Although a win would’ve been nice, Jeff Buxton said, “What was more important to me than winning anything was the people we got to meet.” Buxton said he entered the competition to gain connections that could help further the business.

That mission was accomplished, Buxton said, noting that he gained some valuable takeaways that he plans to follow up with soon. Overall, he said, Shark Tub was a positive experience, and he’d certainly do it again.

Now, the Buxtons are working to boost their marketing and get Socket Up into stores. The product is available for purchase at socketup.com and demonstrations at Brace Equipment and Red Line Machine in Carrollton and Murph’s RV in Richmond. Information is available on YouTube and Facebook, where Buxton hosts “Socket Up Saturday” and provides updates and information about the product.

Socket Up goes for $26.99 for a two pack online, with free shipping for orders more than $40. Buxton said purchases have already been made from coast to coast in the U.S.

Challenges abounded in Socket Up’s creation, the Buxtons recalled, but if they could get through those, they are certain they can get through whatever challenges stand in front of Socket Up becoming a household name.