CE Tools products are breaking into big box stores, building from a small-town blueprint
CE Tools' hydrophobic chalk and snap-back line are already on big-box shelves — and the Lemckes have a lot more ideas where those came from.
We spent a Friday with the Contractor Engineered Tools (CE Tools Inc.) team in Pulaski to figure out what makes the company such a regional phenomenon. It took no longer than five minutes to understand why.
The headquarters is a beautiful storefront, and for a company with branding like Tough Towels and Manly Pink, the well-manicured building hides a working factory. It used to house a historic auto dealership, then the Pulaski Citizen newspaper, and now it is writing a new sort of history, one that could put Pulaski on the map in a big way.
At the front, offices line the halls. At the back is an efficient, self-engineered manufacturing system that bottles powdered chalk. CE Tools also runs a large inventory warehouse and on-site distribution.
We sat down with founder and CEO Dan Lemcke and his son, Tristan Lemcke, the company’s vice president, about how the family business has taken off through both sales and branding.
“We’re a physical company that is literally figuring out how to take an idea and turn it into a product on a shelf that people want,” Dan said.
CE Tools makes the SnapBack® Chalk Line with Releasable Tip; Hydrophobic Marking Chalk, in colors named Manly Pink, Baboon Butt Red, Blue it Up, and Mean Green; Red Edge Levels; Tough Towels; and Tough Wipes.
The SnapBack® Chalk Line and waterproof chalks came first.
Dan explained the labor and hours that traditional chalk line systems demand. Construction workers walk back and forth to hook their lines on the edge, sometimes on a home foundation and other times on a steep, slanted roof.
The SnapBack® Chalk Line hooks onto a side surface, allowing the worker to walk away and keep the line intact. Once they reach the other side and snap the line, they can release the hook and snap it back. Dan said they designed it specifically to cut construction workers’ steps in half.
The SnapBack chalk line pairs with CE Tools’ hydrophobic chalk. The company manufactures its proprietary chalk in bulk at another location and has it shipped to Pulaski 2000 pounds at a time. They hand-built a machine to load that loose powdered chalk into bottles.
With all the tool giants on the market, how does CE Tools stand out?
Consumers can already find these products in many retailers like Menards and Ace Hardware stores across the country, along with online retailers like HomeDepot.com and Amazon. But the upcoming deal occupying much of the Lemcke family’s time is one to put CE Tools products on the shelves of O’Reilly Auto Parts.
“If you walk down the aisles at Ace Hardware, our product packaging stands out with its colors and visuals. But at O’Reilly’s, everything is shiny, big, and has bold colors, so we needed to innovate our packaging to help it pop off the shelf,” Dan explained.
Tristan is the product engineer and in-house brand packaging expert. He won an international award for his packaging design for the SnapBack® Chalk Line, which lets consumers feel the rubber grip on the sides. He then turned to the boxes for the Tough Wipes and Tough Towels, adding a metallic layer to set them apart on the shelf.
“We want our packaging to really tell a story, compared to the traditional products,” Tristan said.
Dan added that branding and marketing matter almost as much as the product itself.
“Gorilla Glue is a great example of modern-day branding that works. You don’t hear about Elmer’s glue in construction anymore. For tough jobs, Gorilla,” Dan said. “It’s a brilliant branding that they’ve done. They started with glue and slowly, over time, have added products, once people know and trust their brand.”
Tough towles can withstand 260 pounds
The packaging draws curious customers, but so does the strength of what is inside the box. The Tough Towels earn their name. Grab both ends, pull as hard as you can, and the towel will not break or rip.
The same toughness holds for CE Tools’ Tough Wipes, made for messy jobsites like landscaping, painting, and mechanic work. One side has a soft texture; the other has scrubbing beads to help loosen trapped dirt and grime.
These products are among the first CE Tools has designed and engineered, but Dan and Tristan said they are just getting started.
“Before starting CE Tools, I spent about 25 years in construction. During that time, I wrote down so many ideas for tools and how to make them better and more efficient. One day, I looked at all the ideas and realized it could be an incredible company,” Dan said.
No stranger to entrepreneurial endeavors
Dan spent a quarter-century in construction, but he is also a serial entrepreneur and tinkerer. Starting at age 13, he ran a licensed lawn care business that served neighbors across his community. He later started an artistic carpentry business, making jewelry boxes, and eventually became a wood carver at Disney World.
Today, Dan operates CE Tools and a family-owned restaurant called StoryBrook Farms Eatery, which the family renovated after the neighborhood’s Long John Silver’s closed. The two buildings sit directly next door to one another.
“I came from very humble beginnings, grew up poor. And CE Tools stands out to me as a business that could be a legacy. It’s something that could be handed down for generations,” he said.
Putting Pulaski on the map
CE Tools is one of the few companies in Southern Middle Tennessee to make such an early splash across the state, region, and country. Its products sit on big-box shelves and are selling fast.
CE Tools has already secured outside investment and pitched at major statewide startup stages, including the PYA Ballard Innovation Award (2026) and the Innovation Night at the Park showcase, and has attended conferences and trade shows across the country.
But one of the most interesting things about the Lemcke family is that they are not originally from Pulaski. They lived outside Nashville and saw Pulaski as a town where they could grow a footprint, build their businesses, and make a difference.
Shelley Sarmiento, executive director of the NOVA Entrepreneur Center in Pulaski, said Dan, his wife, Laurie, and Tristan are building something special in a small town.
“They are an anomaly here, an inspiration to so many other small business owners and entrepreneurs in this area,” she said.
Looking at the footprint of CE Tools HQ and StoryBrook Farms Eatery side by side, the Lemckes haven’t just built businesses on College Street — they’ve rebuilt the localized look and feel of the block. And they’ve given Pulaski something new to be proud of.
The next generation of tools, engineered by contractors in Pulaski, Tennessee.
Learn more about CE Tools here.
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