Building Something Together

A few years later in 1941, because of war priorities, materials and jobs were difficult to obtain and there was not enough work for Paul and Carl at the shop. Paul managed to find work in Minneapolis for Grayco Co. while Carl managed the shop. After working in Minneapolis for a few months, Paul was introduced to the Onan Company. Onan was making electrical generators for the war effort and was very busy. The company was buying steel rings for generators and asked Paul if he thought he could manufacture the rings in their Winsted shop. Excited about this new challenge, Paul took the print back to Winsted where he and Carl spent most of the night making a simple ring. The sample was submitted to Onan for approval the next day. Onan came back with an order for 50 more rings. This was the start of a new product for Carl and Paul, and the orders continued to roll in. Between 1941 and 1945, the Millerbernd Bros. built thousands of rings for Onan, Kohler Company, Kato Engineering, Jacobs Wind Electric, Wincharger, and more. The small company grew to 20 employees, four of whom were women.

Despite the war, business began to pick up. But when the war ended, so did the orders. Carl and Paul had to lay off all of their employees and didn’t have enough work for themselves. It was at this time Carl decided to buy into a concrete block plant, so he sold his shares to his brother Paul. Paul continued to build a few tanks and some farm machinery, but generally things were slow in the repair and welding business. One of the unusual orders was a request by the Holy Trinity pastor to fabricate a new cross for the local church. Paul delivered a stainless steel cross, which is still in service today.

Fortunately, more unique orders began to flow in. Local sports enthusiasts wanted a lighted baseball field and approached Paul about building lighting towers for the Winsted Baseball field. Paul took the job, and Winsted was one of the first towns to have a lighted baseball field. It wasn’t long before other towns wanted towers too. It was the beginning of a new product for Millerbernd Manufacturing Company; steel lighting structures. Enthused by this new product, Paul worked hard at promoting his company’s new capabilities. He hired a salesman and decided to dabble in advertising. People were hired and road crews were organized to go out and erect the new towers. In order to keep costs down, people from the town buying the towers would help in the assembly and erection. In the years to follow, Millerbernd fabricated and erected hundreds of baseball field towers, with many still in service.

While at a council meeting in 1949 to determine if a town was going to buy towers for their baseball fields, Paul learned this town had also received quotes for street lighting poles that would take 18 months to be delivered. He felt that there must be a real demand for lighting poles, so in the months following, he and his men designed and built a machine for forming tapered eight-sided pole shafts. The first machine was built but they were unable to get it to work properly. Taking another approach, they built a new machine. This machine formed the pole shafts in tapered halves. The two halves had to be welded together to make a complete pole shaft. The first complete job was for 27 poles in Winsted in 1951. By this time, the generator business had picked up again, and the Millerbernd Manufacturing Company product family now included steel rings for motors and generators, lighting towers for athletic fields, and now street lighting poles.

In 1969, High Rise Lighting was introduced in highway lighting. One of the first installations in the country was installed on Interstate Highway 90 in Worthington, MN. Millerbernd received an Engineering Excellence Award from the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers for the lighting design. The purpose of High Rise Lighting is to cut down on the number of poles along the highway, provide more even ground-level lighting, and get the pole further off the highway to minimize accidents.

The next generation of Millerbernd ownership begins when Paul passes the torch to his sons Dave and Steve, and their sister, Yvonne. Under their guidance, the manufacturing facility undergoes several expansions in both ring and pole business units, including an entirely new ring fabrication and machining facility. In conjunction, significant investments were made into new technologies, including the addition of several CNC and milling machines and larger hydraulic presses with 3,500 and 5,000 ton capabilities, some of the largest in the nation. These moves further put Millerbernd firmly on the map for prospective customers.

With the company experiencing unprecedented growth, Trevor Millerbernd takes the helm, marking the third generation of ownership. With a clear vision for the company’s potential, Trevor hits the ground running, racking up over 1 million airline miles traveling the country selling the company’s expansive capabilities. His efforts resulted in a manufacturing juggernaut, with Millerbernd expanding its reach for pole products from being DOT-approved in three states to 35.

Under the continued guidance of Trevor Millerbernd and his leadership team, Millerbernd Manufacturing continues to grow with tremendous success. The company’s intense focus and the skill and determination of its people have become key differentiators. As a result, Millerbernd is the recognized global leader in DOT infrastructure, ring and cylinder, and airfield ground lighting solutions.