Harmony Celebrates Founder’s Day
Harmony Enterprises is proud to celebrate our Founder’s Day on March 12th! Locally known as HECO, Harmony Enterprises was founded in 1962 by several resident businessmen who had a vision to diversify the local economy, providing meaningful employment in areas other than agriculture. Wally Piehn, George Frogner, Archie Halvorson, Carl Lind, and Merlin Hoiness held their first Board of Directors meeting on March 12, 1962. At this meeting, Merlin Hoiness demonstrated the bikini cane chair and a model of a portable shelter that could be used as a fishing shelter or beach cabana. After incorporation, shares of stock were sold to the local population. In late August 1963, Al Cremer was hired as manager and became President in 1965. Al was the first of four generations serving as President in the family-owned business, followed by Don Cremer, Steve Cremer, and current President, Ramon Hernandez.
Honoring Our Past
Celebrating our Founder’s Day causes us reflect on the innovation, sacrifice, and dedication of our founders and former employees. While our product line has changed to match market demand during the past 60 years, our steadfast core focus has always been career, community, culture, and company. Its part of our core values and who we are as a company. This principle not only has had a large positive impact on our local economy, it has helped to attract and retain talented employees, bringing their families to the Harmony area to live, work, and play.
These talented employees have helped us to grow into one of the largest manufacturers of recycling balers and trash compactors in the United States! We are proud to offer the widest range of waste handling and recycling solutions available on the market. While most manufactures only offer a handful of pigeonholed solutions, Harmony offer over 40 long lasting machines to help businesses reduce waste and increase their bottom line.
As we celebrate our Founder’s Day, we also recognize the vision of our current CEO, Steve Cremer, and his wife, Umbelina, recipients of a RAEDI entrepreneur lifetime achievement award. In 1989, Steve put Harmony on the global stage with trade shows and sales in Asia, followed by the acquisition of Cypress Environmental (Harmony Europe) in 2011. Being globally connected continues to put both Harmony Enterprises and Minnesota at the front of states that seeks opportunities for growth, partnership, and mutual benefit with citizens around the world.
Then, in 2016, Steve and Umbelina met the challenges of child care shortages in our community by opening Harmony Kids Learning Center to our employees and extended community. Not only have they brought 4-Star Parent Aware childcare to Harmony, they have continued to provide employment opportunities for teachers, teacher aides, cooks, custodial staff, and more!
Building The Future
Not only do we celebrate our Founder’s Day to honor the past, we use it to look to how Harmony will shape the future of sustainability on a global scale. Sustainability is a global problem that requires innovative, big thinking strategies. Harmony is poised to lead the charge with smart, data driven solutions for cleaner, more human-centric spaces.
We are excited to be releasing new products in the coming year. From new customer facing solutions that improve the restaurant, shopping, and traveling experience, to automated systems that increase efficiencies and meet the demand that customers all over the world have for increased recycling and less waste, we can’t wait to see what the next 60 years brings!
We’re purposefully coinciding our EOS quarterly planning meeting with this year’s Founder’s Day to help us create action plans to remain laser focused on our annual and long term goals. Through consistent improvement, in line with our ISO standards, we will continue to provide long lasting solutions to satisfied customers all over the world.
Contact Harmony Today!
If you would like to learn more about our long lasting balers, compactors, or full product destruction equipment, our company history, or current employment opportunities, please call us at (507) 886-6666, or fill out this simple form today!
