Many Holdrege High School graduates must move across the country or to a larger city to pursue their career aspirations.
But Roger Allmand, class of 1957, followed his passion right back to his hometown, where he helped build a multi-million dollar international manufacturing plant that provided jobs for hundreds of local residents and helped grow the community.
Roger followed in the footsteps of his father, Walt, who started Allmand Bros. with his brother, Les, in 1938 in a garage in Huntley, Nebraska. The two men developed an electric welder that became popular with area farmers because the countryside was finally receiving electrical power because of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. Allmand Bros. sold 15,000 electric farm welders over the first few decades of the business.
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Roger and Marlis Allmand |
Roger said his dad was the "single most impactful person" in his life. "He was always inventive and creative, and his brother, Les, was as well," Roger said. "He just enjoyed figuring out things and finding solutions to problems. He was predictable. He was honest, dependable, encouraging. He loved to create good things for people."
In 1944, the Holdrege Area Chamber of Commerce recruited Allmand Bros. to Holdrege.
"They gave us a building rent free for a year if we would move that big company, with about five employees, to Holdrege," Roger jokingly said.
Roger was 6 at the time and remembers being happy to ride his tricycle on Holdrege's paved sidewalks, which didn't exist in Huntley.
Roger started school in Holdrege at Lincoln Elementary and recalls an early interest in mechanics. "I was always interested in mechanical things, cars, boats, or planes," Roger said.
His dad started teaching him "how to work" at about age 10 at Allmand Bros. In high school, Roger worked at Allmand Bros. during the summers and learned welding, metal fabrication, and how to run machines and presses.
At Holdrege High School, Roger enjoyed music and was involved in band activities and especially enjoyed playing trombone in the stage band. He also participated in a "little basketball and track." He gravitated toward industrial arts and engineering-related classes.
After graduation, Roger attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for a year and then Kearney State College for a semester. He left college because he knew he wanted to join his dad at Allmand Bros. At about that same time, his dad was buying his brother Les' share of the business. "Therefore, it seemed appropriate for me to join the family business," Roger said. "And, it was more interesting than school to me."
In 1959, he married his high school sweetheart, Marlis, who graduated with the HHS class of 1956. He then started his full-time career as sales manager at Allmand Bros., which had about 15 employees.
Their hearts were in Holdrege, and they didn't consider living anywhere else. "We both enjoyed being around family and being around the community that we'd always been a part of and enjoyed, and we felt like it would be a good place to raise a family," Roger said.
Over the years, Roger shared his ideas and served as the only salesman initially at Allmand Bros. He earned his pilot's license and flew all over the country promoting Allmand Bros. products. He currently has more than 10,000 hours of flying time logged.
"In sales and marketing, I did a lot of traveling, including some international travels," Roger said. "So, in a sense, I got the best of both worlds. I got to live in and enjoy a small town and got to see a bit of the world as well."
Roger said that Allmand Bros., like many businesses, experienced good years and bad years with many mediocre cycles in between.
"It was kind of a crazy deal, a little business like that, you didn't know if we would be in existence in five years or not," Roger said. "I just kind of felt like we were this funny little company, we didn't really know any better, but we thought we had some products or ideas that might have some commercial value. So, we tried to learn to serve those markets well."
The portable lighting towers that Allmand Bros. developed became the company's best-selling product. Other main products included portable heaters and flashing arrow boards. The company mainly served the mining, oil, gas, and construction industries.
"Our biggest significant marketing effort for the last three or four decades was working with Caterpillar tractor dealers," Roger said. Caterpillar purchased Allmand Bros. light towers, portable heaters, and flashing arrow boards and helped the company become international. That side of the business grew significantly the last few years. Roger estimated international sales of Allmand products at 25 percent of total sales in the last decade. The company annually shipped products to more than 50 countries.
Roger moved from sales and marketing to president of the company and finally chairman of the board. During this time, Roger thrived on being an encourager to the more than 200 employees working at Allmand Bros.
Roger strived to create a culture of respect and value. "To me that's how you develop a business," Roger said. "You figure out opportunities for people to enjoy what they are doing and excel at it and do it in a loving and respectful manner. My goal is to encourage people to look at themselves as playing a role in helping us become who we want to become as a company. It isn't, I want you to weld this or do this accounting deal, it's come join us. Help us become something bigger and better than we could be on our own."
Roger and his family were often asked to consider selling the company that the family had built from the ground up. After much soul-searching, they decided to sell it to Briggs & Stratton in 2014.
Roger said the biggest asset at the time of the sale was the "Allmand" brand and relationships that had been established with people in the industry they served.
Since the sale of Allmand Bros., Roger has focused his time on a new venture called Legacy Purpose, LLC, where he helps entrepreneurs, various ministries, and individuals realize a life of purpose and value.
"I'm just trying to give others a glimpse of what I have found to be successful," Roger said. "It's encouraging people to live a life in order to leave a legacy of purpose and value. In other words, it's deciding what kind of life you want to live, what you want to accomplish, and how you are going to make the world a better place. We spend time talking with people about living life intentionally rather than by accident."
Roger and his staff (including a full-time general manager and a part-time marketing assistant, who is his granddaughter) don't publicize or advertise the business but certainly enjoy encouraging others.
"We just feel like the Lord will bring someone along every once in a while, and hopefully, we can be helpful," he said.
Roger and Marlis have two sons: Brad and his wife, Beth, who live in Holdrege and have three children and one grandchild; and Bart, and his wife, Amy, who reside near Franklin, Tenn.
Roger and Marlis and looking forward to attending his class's 60th high school reunion in Estes Park in 2017.
