Enterprise

started out with humble beginnings as a seed company in 1946 by August Sauer. He moved in a building from Sanborn which used to be a newspaper building. The newspaper was called the Enterprise.

The business was sold to Gordon Gray in 1947. The business cleaned seed and erected Stran steel buildings.

In 1953, the business was moved to a brick building that had previously housed Land O Lakes. This was the year that Ralph Pomeroy started working there. With the new building and Mr. Pomeroy, they started selling fertilizer, garden seed, chemicals, and started to erect 1,000 to 3,600 bushel grain bins. With all the research done, the exact date of the hiring of Anton Himmerick is unknown, but he was an important piece in the business puzzle.

Bob Burchill started working for the business in 1957 as a grunt man. His duties included sweeping floors, loading and unloading trucks, and anything he was told to do. Bob then went off to college and when he returned he was hired as a salesman. A manufacturing plant was built for Person Manufacturing. At this time, Enterprise Sales Company was incorporated. In 1962, Gordon Gray was the sole owner of the business and leased it to Ralph Pomeroy and Bob Burchill.

The Honda franchise was taken on in 1963 and still is a staple of the company today. They began erecting Butler bins this year also.

In 1964 they built the east warehouse because of increased business and the lack of storage space.

In 1966, they purchased Person Manufacturing where they began to make bumpers, tow hitches, fuel tanks, and field sprayers. Clarence Young was hired to run the plant along with Adolph Bruse as an assistant.

Danny Peltier was hired in 1967 to run the seed cleaning plant. This was a good hire according to everyone at Enterprise, because he is still working for the business today.

The partnership was formed between Gordon Gray, Ralph Pomeroy, and Bob Burchill in 1968. They then added on to the east warehouse with the lower addition. The three different corporations were dissolved into one then also. This eliminated Enterprise Seed and Enterprise Manufacturing.

The best year up to this point was in 1969 when they employed over 80 people alone on the crews and erected 855 grain bins.

The bosses got together and came up with a plan in 1970 to have a profit sharing plan for the employees. Butler Bins also came out with 44 inch rings this year.

1971 ended up being a bitter sweet year for the company as they built the new office building. But Ralph Pomeroy passed away before the construction was complete. Mel Karch was hired as a bike mechanic this year also.

Because of Ralph’s passing, a new ownership was formed between Bob and Gordon. Seeing that things were getting out of control, there was only one man that they could hire to straighten things out. That man was David Olstad. He at the time had been hired to sell Farmstead buildings.

With lots of work to do in both the shop and in the field, Scott Engler and Greg Burchill were hired to get things up to speed in 1974.

With a new steel crew formed, they hired Jeff Burchill to spearhead it in 1975. Jeff later became the company’s computer guru.

In 1977, Tod Rohde was the fastest nut spinner in the industry and he just happened to be on Larry Salberg’s crew.

The business expanded yet again in 1979 when they built the south warehouse. They expanded their construction opportunities to include bucket elevators and large commercial buildings. The Honda business was also booming at this time and they hired a third mechanic. This mechanic was John Sadek. John was also a bin builder and foreman.

Enterprise Sales earned an award for purchasing ten million dollars worth of steel in 1980. No other company had ever reached that milestone. They were also the largest Butler grain dealer in the United States at this time.

Bob Burchill bought out Gordon Gray in 1982 making Bob the sole owner of the company. It was at this time that Wayne Delmore was hired to help build the Wagon Wheel Inn. Wayne stayed on with the company for years.

Enterprise Sales was a fifteen million dollar award winner in 1983 being again the first company to reach this milestone. It was at this time they purchased the Panel-Seam machine. The first building that was built with this machine was for Al and Carol Umsted.

In 1984, the first panel seam roof was installed for Dahl’s Furniture. They installed over 19,000 square feet of roof that year.

In 1987 they started erecting Lester wood frame buildings. They hired two professional pole building builders. They figured they needed the experience of Randy Anderson and Dean Baasch.

In 1989, Gordon Gray passed away unexpectedly. They also received the twenty million dollar award this year, being again the first to achieve this.

Greg and Jeff Burchill purchased the business in 1997. Greg mainly worked with the design and construction side of things while Jeff ran the Honda portion of the business.

The business has expanded over the years to include seamless roofs which they started to install in 1983. They started installing renewable energy systems in homes, on farms, and for businesses in 2009.

Jeff Burchill passed away in 2021 leaving Greg as the sole owner of the business.

Greg started the ball rolling to sell and pass on the business to a couple of family members. Derek started working at the business recently and Brandon has been designing projects for years now.

I asked Greg what the favorite part of the job he liked after all these years and he told me “Designing things”.

Greg has designed custom buildings, businesses, churches, and multiple styles of grain systems. He found great pleasure in seeing the final product along with a satisfied customer.

-

Enterprise Sales and Agriculture:

www.enterprisesales.com Design/Build is a single point project delivery system that provides customization, speeds up the construction process and results in the best value for the customer. With our expert design services, Butler Manufacturing’s design flexibility and our vast sub contractor resources, we can deliver a top notch building for nearly any end use.

At The Bin Site

From concept to completion, we’re dedicated to providing the best products and service to our customers. We are focused on making your operation work the best for you - so you can focus on maximizing your yields.

From storage buildings to Mega Shops, Enterprise Sales is dedicated to delivering successful projects our customer’s are proud of.

Like many of the farm family run businesses, in our area. Enterprise Sales looks to promote Valley City, the community and offer their services to farm families surrounding it.