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Wenger brings music to the lives of people everywhere
from MADE-IN SoMinn 2021
by Kate Noet
The Austin High School band room includes a full suite of Wenger Corp. products, including platforms and risers. (Photo courtesy of Wenger Corp.)
By TOM NELSON
From its humble beginnings from the basement in a house in Owatonna, the Wenger Corp. has grown into an industry leader, producing innovative products for music education, the performing arts and athletics over the past 75 years.
The Wenger Corp., which celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2021, began in 1946, when local high school band director Harry Wenger saw a need to provide quality equipment and innovations to help music educators and students.
One of his first products created out of his basement workshop was a sousaphone chair, which helped support the weight of the heavy instrument. His invention soon gained the attention of other band directors when Harry and his wife, Ruth, traveled to state music conventions. The orders soon started coming in and his product line grew to include choral risers and staging systems.
The company then began selling its products through catalogs and direct mail, and by 1964 the Wenger catalog had grown to over 40 products and had celebrated its first $1 million year.
Of course, the growth meant that the company’s operation moved from the basement of Harry Wenger’s house to a rented facility in downtown Owatonna before creating a manufacturing facility in 1967 along I-35, where the Wenger Corp. is headquartered today.
The current facility has just over 400,000 square feet of manufacturing space along with the corporation’s offices.
“This building is primarily in three sections and it’s based on our growth as a company,” Wenger Corp. Vice President of Operations Jim Kingsley said. “The first section, the front part of the building, was built in 1967. We have another addition that was built in 1995, and later another addition that was built in 1998
