Buhler Industries Inc. was established in 1969 when John Buhler purchased "Standard Gas Engine Works", which was founded in 1932. The company produced the Farm King line of grain augers, snowblowers, mowers and compact implements. Buhler Industries expanded in 1982 with the purchase of the Allied line of front-end loaders and the company began trading on the TSE in 1994, at which time all products were marketed under the "Buhler" brand name.
The company acquired the
Versatile Tractor division of
New Holland Ag
New Holland is a global full-line agricultural machinery manufacturer. New Holland agricultural products include tractors, combine harvesters, balers, forage harvesters, self-propelled sprayers, haying tools, seeding equipment, hobby tractors, ...
in the year 2000. Buhler purchased the Versatile tractor plant with a $32-million government loan.
According to labour historian Doug Smith, Buhler "provoked a strike by demanding a gutting of benefits and seniority provisions in the union contract".
The result was a prolonged strike that almost crippled the plant. However, the union took Buhler to the Manitoba Labour Board charging bargaining in bad faith and won a $6-million dollar settlement.
Buhler pledged $5 million to build a performing arts centre in 2005 at the Morden Collegiate high school in
Morden, Manitoba
Morden is a city located in the Pembina Valley region of southern Manitoba, Canada near the United States border. It is about west of the neighbouring city of Winkler; together Morden and Winkler are often referred to as Manitoba's Twin Cities. ...
.
The donation was eventually withdrawn in the face of community opposition to the project and cost overruns.
In 2001, the company endured a strike, in which "Over 250 men, all of them with at least twenty years of experience, lost their jobs."
However, recent years have been marked by declining sales and slumping share prices: “Over the course of the last two years, annual sales have fallen by nearly 27 per cent, from $312 million in 2017 to $229.1 million for its year ending Sept. 30” In 2019, share prices declined by 19%.
In March 2014, there were calls for sanctions against several Russian members of Buhler's board of directors in connection to Vladamir Putin's actions in Crimea.
,
Yury Ryazanov and
Dmitry Udras
Dmitri (russian: Дми́трий); Church Slavic form: Dimitry or Dimitri (); ancient Russian forms: D'mitriy or Dmitr ( or ) is a male given name common in Orthodox Christian culture, the Russian version of Greek Demetrios (Δημήτριο ...
are connected to
Rostselmash Ltd. and are said to be members of Russia's Action Party.
According to media reports, a video has recently emerged from a rally in Moscow that shows Babkin publicly supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine.
In March 2014, the Ukrainian-Canadian Congress called for an investigation of the Russian members of Buhler's board of directors. No action was taken and no sanctions were placed on Buhler Industries or the board of directors.
John Buhler was made a Member of the Order of Canada (CM) in June 2012 with the citation: "For his contributions as an entrepreneur and philanthropist to education, health care and arts organizations in his province as an entrepreneur and philanthropist."
Buhler Industries Inc. operates a total of eight factories in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is headquartered in
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, Canada.
References
External links
Manitoba CTT siteOfficial Web site of Buhler Industries
{{Winnipeg Corporations
Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Manufacturing companies based in Winnipeg