Behlen Grain Systems • 800-553-5520 • http://www.behlengrainsystems.com
Columbus, NE-based Behlen Mfg. Co. is a family-owned company. It began back in 1936 when founder Walter D. Behlen opened up shop in his garage. The company got its start by producing steel toe caps for work shoes and clamps for wooden egg crates. It didn’t take long for Behlen to earn a reputation for manufacturing innovative, quality farm products.
According to Phil Raimondo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, “We’ve always been good at metal fabrication. What started as corn cribs and dehydrators evolved into grain bins and dryers, which then developed into the broadly diversified product lines we offer today.”
In 1950, Behlen expanded its products by designing a self-framing steel building system known as S-Span. This building type would become a prominent concept for storing grain for farm and commercial applications.
In 1969, the company was sold to the Wickes Corporation, and in 1982, TR Raimondo, current Chairman Emeritus and Coach, joined the company. Two years later, TR led a management buyout and returned the company to local ownership that remains in place today.
“Wickes hired my dad in 1982,” says Phil Raimondo. “He and three partners purchased Behlen in 1984. Last year we celebrated our 35th anniversary of the return to local ownership.”
Behlen consists of three diverse business units:
“Behlen places a high value on its employees and the contributions they bring to the company,” says Phil Raimondo. “Our company vision statement reads: ‘Where Teamwork and Change Make Customers and Employees Better Off. We actually refer to our employees as ‘Partners in Progress’ because we want them to be involved.”
He says Behlen developed a profit-sharing program to foster engagement, continuous improvement, and a growing understanding of the business challenge. This has been a key to the success of Behlen. He stated further that his father, TR, eliminated time clocks to emphasize the importance of mutual trust and respect in the company.
The investment in Behlen Partners in Progress has paid off in loyalty. Raimondo says there are more than 150 former and current Partners in Progress who are members of the 40-year club. There are ten members in the 50-year club. And the company recently celebrated its first Partner in Progress with 60 years of service. “There are not many companies that can say that,” he notes. “We’re very gratified by the extent of their loyalty and commitment.”
Behlen also provides its Partners in Progress a gain-sharing program within each department to reinforce a basic company commitment that Partners in Progress will be better off when they help their company to be better off. “One of our favorite statements is, ‘We don’t want our people to leave their brains at the door’ – we want them to bring them in to work,” Raimondo says.
“When Behlen has gone through tough times and recessionary periods, it’s been our Partners in Progress who have refused to let us fail,” Raimondo adds.
Innovation has been another key to the success of Behlen over the years. “for example, in our early days,” explains Raimondo, “the Behlen family designed and built an ingenious automated mesh panel welding line that is still in use today.” In that same spirit of innovation, Behlen in 2008 became the first company in the industry to design and build a 131-foot-diameter, 1-million bushel, corrugated grain bin with a clear-span roof. It made history again in 2011 with a 157-foot-diameter, 1.5 million-bushel bin.
While the company has diversified over the years into other industries and market segments, grain storage systems continue to be a mainstay at Behlen. Its pre-engineered flat storage buildings have provided low cost-per-bushel solutions for customers since the 1950s. Today, these buildings are custom-designed per project with dimensions and capacities specific to each customer. The largest Behlen grain storage building constructed to date stores more than 6 million bushels. Since these buildings are pre-engineered, they can be designed not only for bulk commodity storage but for warehouse, office, and many other end uses.
Behlen also offers temporary storage systems as another cost-effective alternative for short-term grain storage. Commercial temporary storage systems, Raimondo says, provide flexibility for grain storage facilities and add to profitability by maximizing the amount of grain received at harvest with lower investment costs.
Behlen is proud of its heritage and roots in agriculture and looks forward to continued growth and service to the industry.
Reprinted from GRAIN JOURNAL January/February 2020 Issue
