Guest Speaker: Dave Juday

 

IDEAL Industries is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding; David Juday's grandfather, J. Walter Becker, founded the company in 1916 to build an abrasive stone for maintenance of electric motors...and since then, the company has continued to make innovative technology for the general marketplace.

 

Juday says IDEAL was chosen as the name because Becker had tried several businesses before founding the company, and believed that having an ideal set of relationships between himself, customers, employees and the community would ensure a successful business.

 

IDEAL became successful in the community, managing to not only survive the Great Depression but to encourage companies to retool...in anticipation of the Depression's end.  The company still functioned during World War II, not only helping the war effort but for creating wet cell batteries when dry cells were being sent overseas.

 

Today, IDEAL is continuing to enlarge and expand its product line; most recently, the company entered into a sponsorship agreement with the Chicago Cubs, which will involve the installation of an innovative remote lighting control system.  And IDEAL is adding to its current plant, hoping to expand space and potentially add more product lines.