|
1932 |
Broan-Nu
Tone, LLC got its start when Henry L. Broan
created a kitchen fan called the Motordor® Fan
that provided quiet and efficient kitchen
ventilation. Broan started his company modestly
by selling the fans by day, build what was
ordered that night for delivery the next day.
Broan named his first company the Midwest Mfg.
Company. |
|
1936 |
Broan's
competitor and eventual partner, J. Ralph
Corbett developed a musical door chime that
replaced the obnoxious buzzer-type door chimes
of the time. His development launched what is
today known as NuTone, Inc. |
|
1940s |
Broan
was forced to reduce the Midwest Mfg. Co. size
during World War II as materials used to make
the products were being diverted to the war
effort. |
|
1945 |
After
the war Broan and his wife Edna focused their
attention back on the Midwest Mfg. Company when
they purchased a building in downtown Milwaukee
and formed a limited partnership. |
|
1946 |
Broan
changed the status of the company to a
corporation and Midwest Mfg. Co. officially
became Broan Manufacturing Co., Inc. |
|
1954
|
Henry
Broan sends his son Jack to the National
Association of Home Builders (NAHB) in Chicago
to learn everything he could about range hood
competitors, to help grow that product line. |
|
1956 |
With
the continued growth of the business Broan moves
its headquarters to Hartford, Wisconsin into a
new 20,000-square-foot facility. |
|
mid-1950's |
Broan,
NuTone Tradewind, Fasco, and Prine, got together
and founded the Home Ventilating Institute to
help consumers compare ventilating products. The
group was concerned about the lack of
standardization in testing and certification of
the ventilation products available. |
|
1956 |
Edna
Broan becomes one of the only female company
presidents, when her husband Henry dies of a
heart attack at the age of 56. At the time the
company has 49 employees with $1 million in
annual sales. Edna runs Broan until 1967. |
|
1958 |
Broan
product line included range hoods, heaters,
fans, lights and a newly launched ductless
ventilation system that included a converter to
process odors and smoke through a charcoal
filter. |
|
1967 |
Thirteen
years after helping his parent's company by
gathering information at the NAHB Jack Broan was
named president and remained in that position
until 1978. |
|
1972 |
Broan
sells its 1,000,000th range hood but holds less
than 10% market share in the range hood and bath
fan business. By 2006 today that market share
has grown to nearly 90%. |
|
1974 |
This
is a year of expansion for the company as
consumers have money to spend and are looking
for more choices, so Broan also introduced its
"Millionair Line" of bathroom fans and
heaters, with 21 completely new designs. Trash
compactors are also added to the Broan line-up
and the Nautilus branded label. |
|
1975 |
Broan
recognized the buying shift from local specialty
stores to large home centers targeted the new
home center market and began selling to Lowe's
among others. |
|
1976 |
Sears
awards Broan a contract for their range hood
business, which would account for 20% of
Broan's range hood production. |
|
1981 |
After
49 years of being a family owned business Broan
Mfg. Co., Inc. was acquired by Nortek, Inc., a
Providence, R.I. conglomerate and became the
lead company of Nortek's Residential Building
Products Group. |
|
1980s |
As
a subsidiary of Nortek, Broan expanded through
acquisition and gains new product lines,
including medicine cabinets and intercoms. |
|
1989 |
Broan
Manufacturing Co., Inc., buys the residential
air-comfort business of Aubrey Manufacturing,
Inc. |
|
1992 |
Spending
over $15 million on automation Broan designed
one of the U.S. range hood industry's first
fully-automated hood lines. |
|
1995 |
Heat
recovery ventilators are added to the product
offerings, through the acquisition of Venmar
Ventilation Inc., and Rangaire LP. This purchase
also brought the Whirlpool private label
business. The Best acquisition, Broan's first
European company moved it into the luxury range
hood market. |
|
1998 |
The
two small mid-western companies who were
competitors since the 1930's joined to become
NuTone, Broan-NuTone LLC. |
|
2001 |
With
the dawn of the New Millennium, the 24,000 sq.
ft. expansion and 26,000 sq. ft. remodeling of
the Broan-NuTone Headquarters in Hartford was
celebrated a major re-model and 24,000 sq. ft.
expansion in preparation of their 70th
Anniversary. In July 2007. |
|
2004 |
Global
expansion is the focus with the establishment of
Broan-NuTone (HK) LTD in Hong Kong to support
global raw material procurement efforts. |
|
2005 |
Manufacturing
capabilities were achieved in China with the
creation of Broan Building Products (Huizhou)
Co., Ltd. The company manufactured ceiling fans,
bath fan upgrade kits, bulb heaters, decorative
fan lights and 660 series fans for export back
to the U.S.. |
|
2006 |
Manufacturing
footprint was established in Poland for the Best
brand's economical range hood production. |
|
2007 |
Further
U.S. expansion was achieved through the
acquisition of the Hartcraft building and
Zephyr, which manufactured luxury end kitchen
ventilation products. Today Broan-NuTone LLC has
facilities in 8 countries and employs 3,246
people. |
