Bob Endries was selling hoods, fenders and other car parts for a distributor to auto body shops but wasn’t comfortable with the company’s ethics.  

Limited by territories and other rules, Endries looked for a product he could sell.  In 1970 he started his own company selling bolts and clips to body shops.

After five years of selling to body shops, Endries found automotive equipment manufacturers as a potential market.  Plus automotive was an industry he already understood.

Endries International Inc. opened 50 years ago in Brillion, WI, 25 miles south of Green Bay.  

Bob’s son Steve had a role from the beginning – even as a six-year-old.  As a boy, he took on tasks such as making boxes and sweeping floors.  He advanced to order pulling, packaging and mowing the grass.

Steve Endries joined the company full-time at age 18 as a salesperson.  But by age 23 he figured out he should go to college and learn about business.

Today, Endries has 825 employees across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Asian Pacific and

China.  The headquarters in Brillion (population 3,107) has 400 employees.  Endries also has a separate plating company.

More than 100 of the Endries employees have been with the company 25 years.

What is the key to the company’s longevity?  “Treat others the way you want to be treated,” Endries responded.  A one word description of the company could be “decency,” Endries said.  Others are “honest, ethical, innovative, and creative”

Endries emphasizes the company’s global footprint and engineering services.

He also cited Endries’ “Pulse” VMI program with dual RFID tags for “helping us win business.”

Another factor in Endries’ success has been “selective, strategic acquisitions” over the decades.

Endries had planned several 50th anniversary events including bringing in the entire sales staff from around the world in May and an open house in conjunction with a June community event.  The coronavirus nixed those plans.

“Maybe autumn,” Endries suggested hopefully for an anniversary celebration.

Many Endries International employees are able to work from home, Endries said.  As of mid May, there were no confirmed cases in the county.

“February seems like a year ago,” Endries said of the quarantine thus far.

Endries International was acquired in 2005 by Ferguson, which sold the company to Nautic Partners LLC in partnership with management in 2017.

Endries International is headquartered at 714 W. Ryan St., Brillion, WI 54110-1045.  Tel: 920 756-5351  Web: Endries.com