Brandon’s Behlen Industries turns 50

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/05/2019 (2397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In 1969, a small company manufacturing grain bins and quonsets opened its doors for business in Brandon.

Now, 50 years later, Behlen Industries is a global powerhouse, manufacturing some of the biggest steel buildings on the planet.

“We’re really excited about the fact that we’ve achieved a milestone like this,” said Sean Lepper, the company’s vice-president and general manager.

“Fifty years is a long time for anything, whether it’s a marriage or a business,” he chuckled.

“So many people have worked here over the years and been involved with Behlen through the years. We just want to share that (milestone) with everybody.”

Behlen has grown from one small plant to a 250,000-square-foot operation in two buildings that is Canada’s largest manufacturer of steel building systems.

Known for tackling massive projects, the business, which employs 220 people, helps craft heavy structures for the oil and gas, mining, aviation industries and others.

In early March, Behlen announced it is constructing the largest known rigid-frame building to date — an airport hangar destined for Hamilton, Ont.

Spanning 85.3 metres, the aircraft hanger is not only the biggest rigid-frame building the company has worked on, it will also be the widest project of its kind.

A South Korean venue that last year hosted the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics curling competitors was also built by Behlen Industries 21 years ago.

The Gangneung Curling Centre was built around the time Behlen was moving into the international market.

It was initially constructed to host the 1999 Asian Winter Games and has since hosted several international competitions, including figure skating and speed skating.

Behlen also constructed the Peak2Peak inter-mountain gondola system used by athletes in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

In recent years, Behlen has completed numerous large arenas and sports facilities in communities around the world, including the Soccer Arena Enisey in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, boasting a 95.4-metre-wide frameless clear span and FIFA regulation-sized soccer field.

Behlen also produced several smaller community sports recreation complex buildings erected simultaneously across Russia in 2014, built to house basketball courts and all-purpose gymnasium space.

Lepper said Behlen is currently undertaking a number of projects, including a large warehousing facility being shipped to Algeria and a sawmill in British Columbia.

“We’re having a very strong year, right now,” he said. “Mining is very strong for us, at the moment, so we’re working on a lot of different mining projects.”

Behlen is under the umbrella of WGI Westman Group Inc., a group of companies composed of Behlen, Armtec, Artspan, Canada Culvert, Convey-All, Meridian Manufacturing Inc., U-Build and Westman Steel Industries.

The Westman Group operates manufacturing, sales and distribution facilities in 77 locations in Canada and the U.S., maintains dealer networks across North America and has a worldwide customer base.

WGI is growing all the time as it acquires more companies, Lepper said.

“It’s always an exciting time around WGI as they continue to grow and continue to be a profitable, privately owned business.”

The Brandon plant is continuing to hire people, Lepper added, “which is good for the local community. It’s all a very good story right now, which coincides nicely with the 50 years.”

In addition to tours of the plant this month by invitation only, Lepper said Behlen is bringing in dealers at the end of the month to join in the celebration.

» brobertson@brandonsun.com, with files from staff

» Twitter: @BudRobertson4