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by Megan Naber, Behlen Manufacturing photos courtesy Behlen Manufacturing
Adaptability and enthusiasm keeps the Behlen Manufacturing Co. going strong. Creativity was the name of
were soon followed by an inventive idea that grew out of Walt’s experience as a railway express agent. He realized that the single-use lids on egg shipping cases were costly to egg producers, and so he came up with a practical solution – reusable egg case lid clamps. With the suc-
December 2019
the game in 1936, when Walt Behlen launched his new company in the garage behind the family home in Columbus, Nebraska. From the beginning, Walt put the emphasis on ideas – new ideas that would open the way to untapped markets.
Walt’s first successful product was not exactly earth shaking, but it did fit a very specialized need – steel toe caps for industrial wooden soled shoes. The shoes were used primarily in automobile factories to protect workers’ feet from acid and high temperature conditions. Toe caps
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