I Love These Towns!

After I’d talked about the great towns in the USA that I’ve found in our research, Curt Alexander approached me to brag about a neighboring town, “Snyder, NE (population 318) is like some of those towns that you talked about where there are more people working in it than there are residents. And, about 1/3 of the population is little old ladies, who don’t work.”

He went onto to tell me about Smeal Manufacturing (www.smeal.com) and various subsidiaries, one of which manufacturers fire trucks that are sold all over the world. I loved the story from their website.

“When Don Smeal opened his welding shop in 1955, his plan was to find a product that he could make and market from his hometown. In 1963 he was approached by the Rural Fire Board to repair a leak in the volunteer department’s fire truck. He told them to buy a new chassis and he would build a fire truck that would be like no other. He built an innovative fire truck like no one had ever seen. Soon other towns were calling Smeal to bid their fire trucks and thus began Smeal’s entry into the fire truck industry.”

Smeal and his family have grown their fire truck and water well service rig business all over the USA and to over 35 foreign countries. His Snyder, NE welding shop has grown to over 200,000 sf with hundreds of employees.

Another local manufacturer is Danko Emergency Equipment (www.danko.net) which was started in 1974. Daniel Kreikemeier and his 60 employees manufacturer a whole range of equipment. What a nice cluster in Snyder with Danko and Smeal!

And, not to stop yet….Omaha Steaks has their packaging operation in Snyder.

You can understand why I hope to visit Snyder the next time that I’m in NE.