Robert Jordan was a tinsmith, who was born and raised in Virginia in the post Reconstruction era. He came north and took a job with a metal shop in Kennebunk, Maine in the late 1800's. He married the boss' daughter and after briefly living in Vermont, the Jordan family settled in Biddeford, Maine around 1910 where Mr. Jordan established a small tinsmith business. He was a true artisan, and with a special love of working with copper. He fabricated everything from copper tea kettles to the cross still standing on the top of the largest Catholic church in Biddeford. He worked alone until he took on his youngest daughter's new husband, Joe Haley, as an apprentice in the late 1920's. Working together, they formed Jordan and Haley. The business grew slowly at times, and suffered during the years of the depression and World War II. They installed heating systems throughout the local area, while still creating custom metal fabrication. The business grew steadily along with the rest of the country after World War II. By the 1950's, Mr. Jordan was getting ready to retire and Joe Haley welcomed his son, Tom, into the family business.

Tom came into the business after working for Lennox Industries, one of the largest furnace manufacturers in the country, in Syracuse, New York. With his young enthusiasm and the booming national economy of the 1950's, Joe and Tom changed the company name to Haley's Metal Shop, moved into a large manufacturing facility outside of town, and expanded the business to include the new technology of air conditioning. Their workforce grew along with their experience levels and product lines. As Joe was starting to think about retirement, he died suddenly, leaving Tom to run the business alone. With the help of good workers, many of whom became like family, Tom continued to increase the sales and scope of Haley's Metal Shop. Through the 1960's and 70's, Tom dealt with recessions, oil embargos, labor law changes, and environmental issues as the company doubled in size. Tom had two children who had gone away to college, and although he had always hoped he could work with another generation of Haleys in his family business, he never talked to his children for fear of pressuring them. In 1979, his daughter Joyce came into the business after graduating from Florida State University on what she thought was a temporary basis. In 1983, his son Brian, who had been working for York Industries, in Houston, Texas, moved back to Maine to join the family business and welcome his first child.

Brian became a licensed professional engineer (P.E.) in both Maine and New Hampshire and Joyce, with her public relations background, worked towards improving the financial and management operations of the company. A truly unusual charactistic of this family business is that the three family members admired, respected, and genuinely liked each other. They worked with Tom on a daily basis until his retirement in 1997. Currently, Joyce and Brian manage the business together with the help of loyal staff and co-workers who have continued the tradition of becoming like members of the Haley family.