Five make up Hall's first class

COLUMBUS - Five Columbus-area business leaders are being inducted into the newly created Columbus Area Business Hall of Fame.

Phil Hockenberger Sr., Harold Kramer and Walt, Gilbert and Mike Behlen are the inaugural inductees. All are being honored posthumously.

The Columbus Business Hall of Fame was esta-blished by the Columbus

S-150 Committee and will be overseen in future years by the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

Hockenberger was a Columbus native who was a civic leader for more than 60 years. He was instrumental in the promotion of the Loup Public Power District in 1932. He promoted the consumer Public Power District, now Nebraska Public Power District, in 1938.

He was one of the initial promoters of a proposed aluminum extrusion plant in Columbus in 1943. When the idea was abandoned, he conceived the idea of constructing an industrial site to bring industry to Columbus. The first 12 acres were sold to the Behlen family for construction of the Behlen Manufacturing Company.

Several other companies followed in quick succession. The first national company recruited was the Becton Dickinson company.

In 1930 Hockenberger promoted a new viaduct over the railroad on 33rd Avenue, eliminating the branch tracks that used to run on what is now known as Howard Boulevard. He also was instrumental in getting Highway 30 to go around Columbus via 33rd Avenue and east on 23rd street before the north side of the city was developed.

Kramer was a general manager of the Loup Power District who achieved national recognition for his state and national public power leadership.

Kramer first became active in Nebraska's public power systems in 1932 when he assisted in bringing about the passage of the Nebraska law that permitted the establishment of public power districts. An owner of a coal company and active member of many civic enterprises, Kramer became the secretary and general manager of the Loup River hydro system when it came into existence.

He was one of the prime movers in combining the Tri-County, Platte Valley and Loup districts into the Nebraska Public Power System. On a national scale, Kramer became one of the principal organizers of the American Public Power Association and served as its first general manager. Harold Kramer died in 1949 at the age of 56.

The Behlens were three brothers who took a business from the garage of the family home to become one of Columbus' premier employers. It all began when Walt Behlen literally stuck his toe into a new marketplace. Production of steel toe caps for industrial wooden-soled shoes was the first step down the road of success for Behlen Mfg. Co. in the early years.

New products and innovations would follow as Walt was joined in the business by his brothers, Gilbert and Mike Behlen. With the success of toe caps and reusable egg case lid clamps, Behlen was a full-time manufacturer by 1943. The business expanded to a building in. downtown Columbus. By 1946, the manufacturer was feeling growing pains at its downtown facility. Behlen built a 200-foot by 200-foot plant on an industrial site on the east edge of Columbus.

Behlen's innovations continued into the 1950s with the introduction of what was known at the time as a “honeycomb” building. Built from rolled steel panels that served as both the structural component and skin of the building, the need for interior framing was eliminated. Using the new building concept, the company expanded with a 40,000-square-foot addition to the existing plant.

The frameless design gained nationwide notice when a Behlen building survived an atomic bomb blast during government tests at Yucca Flats, Nev., in 1955. The brothers expanded the plant again in 1956 and grew the firm to a world-wide manufacturer before selling the company to the Wickes Corp. in 1969. (The company was returned to local ownership under the leadership of Tony Raimondo in 1984.)

The Behlen family has invested in their hometown and state many times. Among the many contributions to Nebraska, the brothers contributed more than $500,000 to the Columbus Family Y and the Columbus Hospital, as well as their donations to the University of Nebraska - the Behlen Observatory in Mead and the Behlen Laboratory of Physics on the Lincoln Campus.

Walt Behlen's creativity and innovation is also shown in the listing of Walt and Ruby's home on the National Register of Historic Places due to its unique use of Behlen Mfg. products in a residential setting, Walt was elected to the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans in. 1968.

Walt, Mike, and Gib were elected to the Nebraska Business Hall of Fame in 2004.

The Columbus Business Hall of Fame honors business leaders who have made a significant contribution to the Columbus area economy through;

n Innovation or invention that has altered the way of doing business or made a significant impact on a particular industry.

n Created or developed a business that has generated significant community wealth -Supported or assisted other businesses to become successful.

n Was/is a person of high business integrity.

n Was/is a significant stakeholder in the area, representing a person who has shown a genuine concern the area's economy and its people.

The induction will take place at a dinner at the New World Inn on Oct. 17. The event will feature family members of the honored business leaders. Keynote speaker for the banquet is Orvel Ray Wilson, a business marketing expert, author of best-selling business books and a global speaker.

The Hall of Fame induction will be done in conjunction with annual Small & Large Business of the Year Awards presented by The Columbus Telegram, previously known as the Power & Progress Awards. The banquet is sponsored by BankFirst.