BUTLER BUILDERS INC.
VERO BEACH, FLORIDA

is a building-solutions company providing the design, manufacture, and marketing of metal building systems for commercial construction. Our systems play a part in buildings within the commercial, community, industrial, and agricultural markets. And with services such as BlueScope Construction, Butler goes beyond the manufacture of steel building systems by offering full-service turnkey construction solutions. Building a better stock tank by carefully constructing durable preassembled tanks from copper-bearing galvanized steel that wouldn't rust or leak was the idea Emanuel Norquist was perfecting when he met Charles Butler in Clay Center, Kansas. Butler was a risk taker and not one to let a good idea sit idle. When he saw Norquist's new steel stock tank, Butler also saw enormous untapped sales opportunity. These two friends believed the product had great market potential, and with an entrepreneurial will to win, they formed a common vision of what might be possible if a partnership were formed. Both Butler and Norquist had the courage to take economic risks in order to pursue their goal. Homes were sold and jobs were lost, but with the financial help of Charles' brother, Newton, Butler Manufacturing Company was launched in 1901. In 1909 Emanuel Norquist needed to shelter the Metz automobile he was about to finish assembling. His brother, Victor, decided to construct a small garage. Using the materials he knew best, he designed and built an all-steel framework to which were bolted corrugated galvanized-steel culvert sheets that gave the garage an arched roof and lasting strength. Butler Manufacturing Company recognized growing demand from the public for sturdy garages. So this design was modified to be more cost effective, and by 1910 the first Butler building was sold to corporate secretary Fred Rufi. That first building was used in central Kansas City for more than 45 years. When Butler introduced a sturdy two-car version of the garage, the market response was immediate, and Butler Manufacturing Company was in the building business for keeps. Throughout Butler Manufacturing Company's long history, many products have appeared and disappeared. Emanuel Norquist's mechanical aptitude and incessant tinkering were always directed toward making things better by making them simpler, less costly, and easier to handle. Charles Butler's intuitive sales and marketing abilities were equally directed toward knowing exactly what the customer needed, then satisfying that need with personal service. This combination worked excellently for selling grain bins, and would prove itself again in selling pre-engineered metal buildings. A few ideas, however, did not turn out as successfully. In 1927, as Charles Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic, Butler Manufacturing Company was not immune to the widespread enthusiasm over airplanes. Even Butler's skills and experience, combined with the collaborative efforts of many famous aviators and a sturdy, well-built line of airplanes, could not overcome the national financial disaster of October 29, 1929-"Black Tuesday." But caution, wisdom, and careful management have kept Butler Manufacturing Company strong through hard times and a few ill-fated ventures. Butler Manufacturing Company introduced its first galvanized steel grain bin in 1907. By 1938 research had proven the superiority of these bins over wooden ones, and the next year the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its intention to receive bids on delivering 30,666 steel bins needed to store excess grain from a bumper crop. This order was one and a half times more bins than had been produced the previous year by the entire industry. Guaranteed bids had to be submitted within 30 days and delivered within just 60 days of receiving an order. Butler took on the challenge and, against phenomenal odds, refurbished an abandoned plant in Galesburg, Illinois, supplied it with machinery, staffed it, and mass-produced 14,500 steel bins in 59 days, plus another 6,000 bins in just 15 days. The seemingly unachievable became achievable through Norquist's clear vision, the company's adventurous commitment, and the efforts of hundreds of motivated people. The event was a spark that began to shape what Butler Manufacturing is today. In 1939 Wilbur Larkin was chief engineer in the Butler Farm Equipment Division, and his brother Kenneth Larkin was a civil engineer with Burns & McDonnell, a consulting and engineering firm in Kansas City. They doubted the assumption that a rigid frame design could not be pre-engineered. The rigid frame concept was not new, but its application to pre-engineered buildings had not been considered feasible because of the complicated stress calculations required. But working together, the Larkins began to shape an industry with a quality pre-engineered building design that provided more usable interior space, looked better, used less steel, and could be fabricated and erected faster and with fewer people. By 1940 Butler Manufacturing Company had a complete line of rigid frame buildings ready for the market. R. Buckminster Fuller had gained international fame for his futuristic strategies and his concept of "maximum dynamic utility." Fuller found inspiration in the design of Butler Manufacturing Company's mass-produced grain bins. In their design he saw low-cost, easy-to-make, fast, demountable, and movable housing for military troops and their families. The mutual admiration and enthusiasm between Buckminster Fuller and Emanuel Norquist propelled the project through design, testing, government approval, and production tooling in a matter of months. The project was ready for action when the reins were suddenly yanked. Steel remained on allocation, and the government could not reasonably divert enough to support large contracts on these novel houses. A few hundred were put to use by the Army for medical operating rooms and Signal Corps housing, but orders were meager. However, through its connections with Mr. Fuller, Butler Manufacturing Company gained the confidence to push the rigid frame design to the limit, launching pre-engineered building systems into worldwide acceptance and favor.