Puck In the News: Puck Enterprises celebrates 45th anniversary with community event
By Sarah Storz, Carroll Times Herald
Reaching a large milestone, Puck Enterprises hosted a celebration at its main building, inviting everyone of all-ages.
On Friday, the farm equipment supplier hosted its 45th anniversary celebration from morning to evening. Based in Manning, Puck Enterprises manufactures and sells liquid transfer equipment.
During the event, attendees could visit with different vendors, go on tours of the facility and grab a meal from the various food trucks. Guests could also witness demonstrations from Dinges Fire Company and LightSpeed.
Going into the night, the Des Moines-based band Decoy entertained the crowd with live music.
In the middle of the celebration, Puck Enterprises also hosted a panel featuring a group of its leaders, with Eric Nelson, COO of Puck Enterprises, leading the discussion.
Ben Puck, the founder of Puck Enterprises, said it’s a wonderful opportunity to be at the celebration of the family business.
“Never thought that when I was 21-years that this would get this far,” Ben Puck said. “But you gotta start sometime.”
Answering a question on self-reflection, Nelson asked Ben Puck if he would do anything differently throughout the journey.
In short, Ben Puck said “No.”
“In my mind, it’s like a work of art and I think there’s a lot of canvas you have to paint,” Ben Puck said.
Nelson also asked Jeremy Puck, Ben Puck’s son and CEO of Puck Enterprises, about future business goals for the company. While he said he doesn’t have a specific desire to fulfill, Jeremy Puck shared an optimistic view on the company’s future.
“I think the future is very bright, I think we’ve learned things over the last, at least, 15, 20 years of moving hose around and pumping water that we can take into these new industries” Jeremy Puck said. “And I think that’s going to create balance for this business and growth for this business, and hopefully bring better products out into the world for other people to run their own businesses and find their own success.”
Jeremy Puck also praised his team at Puck Enterprises, highlighting how they help the business continue to grow.
“I think we’ve got a great team of people that we’ve assembled,” Jeremy Puck said. “We continue to add components into our business to vertically grow within so that we can look into ourselves if we need to make changes quickly or redevelop or address any issues.”
Venturing into other markets, Jeremy Puck said it’s exciting to see the crossover come into play as they develop firefighting equipment.
“It’s rewarding to be able to apply something that you’ve learned your entire life into something new and make a very positive and meaningful impact right away,” Jeremy Puck said. “So that’s what got me the most excited about the fire business, and then the overall scope and size of that market, I think that will propel us into the future and I’m really looking forward to where it’s going to take us.”
Nelson also asked about their favorite community impact they’ve left for Manning. Ben Puck said he’s happy to see Puck Enterprises offer job opportunities to those who wish to continue living in the city.
“I think that the neatest thing that we’ve done for the community is not only help secure its future, but to be able to invite the people who want to come back to Manning a place and a home,” Ben Puck said.
Nelson also asked Jeremy Puck about his core business values that have guided his decisions at Puck Enterprises.
“I think it’s all the values that I was raised with and how we’ve never said ‘I can’t’ or ‘I won’t’ or ‘I don’t know how to,’ you just figure it out,” Jeremy Puck said in response. “I think that it’s more of an attitude or mentality for me that just says, ‘As long as you surround yourself with good people and you never give up, you hopefully will never find the other side of it.’”
