Industry & Services >> CEO Interviews >> October 30, 2000
At the age of 22, JOHN BUHLER purchased his first business, a gasoline
service station. In 1970, he bought Standard Gas Engine Works and sales
tripled within a year. Expanding the product line was the next natural
step. The company formed its Farm King division in 1973. In 1981, Mr.
Buhler purchased Allied Farm Equipment's Winnipeg plant. In the years
following, he became known as the 'turnaround king.' He acquired such
troubled companies as Standard Industries in 1983, as well as Morden
Fine Foods, Birchwood Furniture, Ideal Glass & Mirror, Greensteel
Industries and Craftech Manufacturing. Mr. Buhler amalgamated all these
companies in 1994 to form Buhler Industries, Inc., where he is Chairman,
President and CEO. The company was then listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (BUI). In Manitoba, the company is one of the largest employers
and is the third largest manufacturer of farm equipment in Canada. Mr.
Buhler oversees six highly modern manufacturing plants and six
distribution centers, totaling over 1.2 million square feet and
employing more than 1,000 people. He is an outspoken critic about the
government becoming involved in business and believes that the
government's role is to provide infrastructure that will allow
businesses to flourish and that any form of government grant should be
outlawed. Mr. Buhler was the recipient of the Manitoba Entrepreneur of
the Year Award in 1997 and was awarded Morden, Manitoba's Citizen of the
Year award in 1998. He recently made a $3.5 million donation toward
research in health care and continues to support several local
charities. Mr. Buhler is past President of Prairie Implement
Manufacturers Association, Regina and past Chairman of the Canadian Farm
Industrial Institute, Toronto. Profile
company?
Mr. Buhler: The company was started by my father-in-law in 1933 and just
plugged along. Actually it was doing very
