Henke has a long and established history in the snow removal business. The company was founded in 1916 by Jesse R. Royer. Mr. Royer, a former mayor of Janesville, IA, founded Royer Manufacturing Company in Janesville. The company originally manufactured small, horse-drawn graders, which were sold to local townships.
By the early 1920s, Mr. Royer had begun development of a motorized grader with a tractor pushing a blade. Around 1925, the product was developed and began to sell commercially. This was the first motorized snow removal system to be manufactured in the United States. Mr. Royer’s focus turned to snow plows. He devised a plow designed to be pushed by a tractor and used on main highways. The product line consisted of plows that could be used on trucks ranging from 1 _ tons to ten tons. By 1946, a large percentage of the plows used in Iowa were Royer plows. Royer Manufacturing also developed a power sweeper that removed sleet and ice from the pavement. During World War II, Royer’s manufacturing efforts were focused on producing an engine support, called the “grouser”, and a machine gun part for the Army’s M4 tank. Royer produced about 150,000 combined units during the war years.
In September 1946, Martin Henke assumed control of Royer Mfg. Co., and changed the company’s name to Henke Manufacturing Company. The company was sold to Edward Green in 1967. Mr. Green developed a close working relationship with the John Deere Company during his tenure and Henke Manufacturing became a key supplier of snow removal attachments for Deere equipment. In 1978, Henke was moved from Janesville, IA to a new facility in Waverly, IA. Mr. Green died in 1982 and his son, Michael, assumed control. In 1992, Henke filed for bankruptcy.
In 1993, a group of investors, led by Jeff Casale and Fred Braun, purchased Henke out of bankruptcy and moved the operation to Leavenworth. The “new” Henke consisted of a few engineering drawings, some old manufacturing equipment, one employee from the Iowa operation, and a lot of determination to succeed. Henke’s first full year revenue in Leavenworth was $850,000. Mr. Casale left Henke in 1993. From this bleak rebirth, Henke has succeeded and prospered.
Henke currently has 70,000 square feet of manufacturing space at its Leavenworth headquarters. We have approximately 70 hard working employees.
Henke Manufacturing • 3070 Wilson • Leavenworth, KS 66048 • Toll Free 888-682-9010 • Fax 913-682-0300
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