Stories From Minnesota Businesses
On The World Stage
East-West Connections (formerly RABCC) fosters understanding and connections among the peoples of Minnesota, Russia and the Republics of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) through events, education and citizen diplomacy. As part of their international outreach series, they put on an informative webinar entitled, “Globally Connected: Stories from Minnesota Businesses on the World Stage.” This online discussion focused on the importance and impact of global connections on Minnesota’s economy and people, illustrated by three Minnesota businesses that have forged big roles on the world stage, Harmony Enterprises (Harmony, MN), East View (Minneapolis, MN), and Uponor (Apple Valley, MN).
The even took place on Thursday evening, February 15th and was generously sponsored by a variety of Minnesota based companies, including our friends at Global Minnesota.
Participating on the panel were Lane Powell, New Business Development Manager, Harmony Enterprises, Kent Lee, CEO, East View Informational Services, and John Schleiter, General Counsel, Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs, and Board Member at Uponor.
The webinar was moderated by Bernadine Joselyn and Todd Lefko from East West Connections.
Each panelist gave a 15 minute overview of their company’s role and engagement in global business. They focused on the following talking points:
- How did your business get started – Why In Minnesota?
- How did your global connections develop and why? How did your business make “the leap”?
- What is the nature of your international connections?
- What has helped or hindered your participation in the global marketplace?
- In your experience, what difference has it made to Minnesota and your community to be globally connected?
The valuable insights offered by the participants will provide other companies in Minnesota who may be considering entering the global marketplace a roadmap on how to begin and be successful in international commerce. Several student organizations were also invited to view the webinar.
See the entire webinar video here!
Harmony’s Global Connections
Harmony’s global connection is a wonderful story. Here is some of our experience in the global marketplace.
How did your business get started – Why In Minnesota?
Founded in 1962 in our 1000 person rural community of Harmony (SE MN Corner) as a way to provide employment to people in areas outside of the agricultural sector.
Harmony’s manufactured products have changed drastically over the years, but the company has always maintained its core focus of Career, Community, Culture, and Company.
Harmony has met the demand of marketplace, first with its Bikini Cane Chair, portable ice fishing houses, voting booths, and camper/van pop up tops & awnings.
In 1971, an Incineration ban in grocery stores prompted an Iowa based supermarket to contact us about ability to make a cardboard baler for them. Harmony started diversifying its product line until consolidating into just balers and trash compactors when the camper division was sold in 2010.
A 4th generation family-owned business, Harmony is currently 3rd largest manufacturer of waste & recycling equipment in the U.S., offering the widest range of over 40 solutions from customer facing trash compactors to full product destruction balers that will perforate, drain, and bale out of spec product up to 25,000 cans at a time.
We employ 75 employees with both production and office in one facility in Harmony, MN with a childcare center that serves our company and greater community adjacent to our shipping area. Approximately 75% of our business is domestic and 25% is global.
How did your global connections develop and why? How did your business make “the leap”?
Steve Cremer, CEO, Harmony Enterprises, Inc.
The first international sale came in 1989 when now CEO, Steve Cremer received a fax from a company in Taiwan who wanted to order a recycling baler. With some help from the Minnesota Trade Office, the sale was a success and the customer continued to buy products from Harmony.
Following that, Steve participated in several Trade missions to India and other countries in conjunction with the MN Trade Office.
In the late 2000’s Steve made a connection and built a relationship with Cypress in Toulouse, France, a sustainability sales & technical organization founded in 1997. Harmony acquired it in 2011 and still operates it today with a staff of 11 people.
What is the nature of your international connections?
Harmony serves over 90 Countries Worldwide – on every continent except Antarctica. Our subsidiary office in Toulouse provides both sales and service in France, Europe, and Northern Africa. Harmony Europe does mostly service in France, due to more strict regulations for scheduled equipment maintenance.
Harmony Europe distributes equipment from several providers. We have had several meaningful joint ventures with Harmony Europe, including our sales of our liquid extraction balers and SmartPack compactors with smart IoT technology.
Great example of this partnership was as the trash compactor provider for several consecutive years at the French Open. We created systems that gave janitorial staff real time dashboards in the locker rooms to know when trash needed to be emptied or serviced, saving them nearly 70% on labor & accessories managing customer facing waste.
More recently, we have been very active in Central and South America where recycling start ups are creating hubs in more rural areas, which makes it more cost effective for people to transport their recyclables for baling.
Much of this has stemmed from the Basel Convention which is focused on global reduction of plastic waste. The products they desire range from large automatic conveyor fed vertical and horizontal systems in larger cities to small 30” balers in remote areas that create manageable bales to transport to larger centers to be broken and re-made into more desirable mill-sized bales. The main commodity in these areas is PET bottles. Some of these countries include, Panama, Honduras, Chile, Jamaica, and Mexico.
What has helped or hindered your participation in the global marketplace?
Things that have helped our participation in the global marketplace include our participation in the global marketplace is our association and partnership with groups like the MN Trade Office and now Global MN. We value the ability to learn from others expertise in global business.
Our market niche of waste and recycling has been helpful, especially in emerging markets like Central America. Our wide range of solutions has allowed us to compete in diverse verticals from airports to restaurants to recycling centers and more.
The implementation of data driven solutions has also positioned us ahead of other companies. The use of global vendors such as Allen Bradley who can provide us with spare parts in most areas of the world.
Things that have hindered our participation in the global marketplace include our geographic location, especially related to shipping and freight costs. This would be much more cost effective if our production facility was located near a shipping port.
We are always looking to train service technicians outside of the U.S. to help them be knowledgeable with our equipment. Language and culture barriers make training difficult.
In addition, the ability to complete necessary site reviews or be given all of the correct info needed for delivery and installation can be challenging due to the logistics of getting boots on the ground in remote locations.
In your experience, what difference has it made to Minnesota and your community to be globally connected?
Being globally connected has made a “world” of difference to our business and community – pun intended. It has helped to build our brand as a growing company. It has helped us to reaffirm that sustainability is a global problem that requires a global solution. Being globally connected has helped to infuse our local economy with more dollars that are spent locally, while providing employment opportunities to people who might not otherwise have it.
Harmony is just one of many Minnesota companies who have been engaged and advanced international understanding. Being globally connected continues to put Minnesota at the front of states that seeks opportunities for growth, partnership, and mutual benefit with citizens around the world. Most importantly, for us, our participation in the global economy is helping to make the earth a more sustainable place for generations to come!
Contact Us Today To Learn More!
If you would like to learn more about Harmony Enterprises, our wide range of waste handling and recycling equipment, or how our participation in the global economy is helping to make the earth a more sustainable place for generations to come, please call us at (507) 886-6666 today!
