G.L. Huyett opened a Technology Center in Sidney, Nebraska, a rural town of 6,675 population on the high plains of Western Nebraska.

Sidney is the former headquarters of Cabela’s Inc., which downsized in Sidney after it was acquired in 2017 by outdoor retail rival Bass Pro Shops.

Sarah Sinnett, a Sidney native and former portfolio manager for Bass Pro / Cabela’s who is now Huyett’s VP for technology and marketing, told KSID Radio that G.L. Huyett CEO Tim O’Keefe came to a  job fair to assess “what talent was out here, interest, it wasn’t a full commitment to come out here, at that time.”

“But he was blown away by the talent he met here, and the people, and just the overall community,” Sinnett explained.  

Sidney is 396 miles from G.L. Huyett’s Kansas headquarters.

Cabela’s once had 2,000 employees in Sidney. Some moved to the Bass Pro home of Springfield, MO.

City of Sidney economic development director Melissa Norgard, “had multiple conversations with both O’Keefe and Sinnett about their potential expansion to the Nebraska Panhandle over the past several months,” KSID reported.

Norgard gave O’Keefe a list of spaces to lease around Sidney, and G.L. Huyett found “a good fit in the privately-leased 9th Avenue building.”

Norgard told KSID reporter Dewayne Cook that she is glad to see the diversification in the local economy and “have 50 awesome employers with 100 people each, and some of these sprinkled in that have 5, 10, 15 employees. That’s what’s going to keep us moving forward.”

Sinnett told KSID that G.L. Huyett expects to grow over the next two years to add 15 to 20 jobs in the community.

Sinnett told the local radio station that what G.L.Huyett is “going to be doing is really expanding some of the technical components within the business. They really want to grow their e-commerce platform within the business, and then focus more on structured analytics and merchandising.”

G.L. Huyett chose Sidney “because of the presence of a large skilled workforce that is under-employed or unemployed and are wanting to stay in Sidney.”

Sinnett heads the Technology Center and joins G.L. Huyett’s executive committee. Sinnett’s experience includes project management, business strategy and talent management. She has a master’s in industrial and organizational psychology which emphasizes statistical analysis and data in driving organizational results.

G.L. Huyett also hired Alan Beard for the new role of e-commerce manager. Beard has an MBA and a master of arts in economics, plus an individual qualification certificate in Google Analytics and was most recently e-commerce manager at Great Plains Industries, a manufacturer of fuel management equipment. Beard will head G.L. Huyett’s continuing development of its e-commerce site. Beard has EDI interface experience – a fast-growing technology priority for distributors.

Charles “Chuck” Hoffman was hired as special projects administrator. Hoffman will initiate a data analytics function to leverage data to improve decision making at G.L. Huyett, including enhanced management of inventory and pricing management plus customer analytics to assist the sales team in improving the value proposition. Hoffman has an MBA and previously was a retail associate category manager for Bass / Cabela’s.

Future roles in Sidney could include digital marketing, product development and digital analytics. Huyett expects more B2B commerce in the industrial space, with e-commerce and technology solutions for more intelligent use of data in decision making and action.

G.L. Huyett was founded in 1899 by a German immigrant named Guy Lamson Huyett when he purchased the hardware stock of the old Globe department store and moved its contents into an old hotel in Minneapolis, KS. The company was incorporated in 1906. It has become one of the oldest continuously operating businesses in Kansas.

In 1912  G.L. Huyett moved to what became known as “the old tin shed” to be closer to the local rail spur.  

In 1930 Huyett sold the company to Henry Hahn and it was subsequently passed to his son, Louis Hahn in 1948. In 1980 it went to the husband / wife team of Bob and Dolly Hahn.  

Kansas City investment banker Tim O’Keeffe and Carol O’Keeffe acquired G.L. Huyett in 1992.  

Huyett began resourcing parts internationally and by 1998 opened a new 25,000-sq-ft building in a wheat field in the Minneapolis Industrial Park – with subsequent expansions now totals more than 80,000  sq ft. in Minneapolis, KS.

Huyett reached 100 employees in 2004 and now has 113.

Today G.L. Huyett  is a manufacturer, master distributor and importer and innovator of products and services geared for industrial distributors in the non-threaded fastener and power transmission sectors. Huyett has branches in Tennessee and Arizona, and is headquartered at Exit 49, Huyett Expressway, Minneapolis, KS 67467. Tel: 785 392-1000 Email: sales@Huyett.com Web: Huyett.com