HISTORY OF VAVRINA INC.

During the summer (1978), the Federal government instituted a federal grain reserve program. There had been two back to back bumper crops and the current crop showed signs of record yields. Area farmers had been expanding and on farm grain storage was very limited. This particular summer was very wet and the need to irrigate was very limited. This left construction and service personnel without work. Seeing an opportunity to expand the high moisture storage business into conventional grain storage Ron and Randy joined forces with Butler^® Manufacturing to sell, install and service their grain storage and drying equipment.

Butler^® was the largest and oldest company manufacturing grain bins.

The affiliation of the companies worked well in meeting the large demand for these products. In just three short months, over three dozen grain bins were sold and erected.

The affiliation with Butler^® lead our company into a new direction. Not only was Butler^® the largest manufacturer of grain storage and drying equipment but they were also the largest manufacturer of pre-engineered steel buildings. Demand for grain storage also necessitated the need to build flat, grain storage buildings. This worked well with the personnel on the staff. They were skilled and trained construction people who were capable of installing these structures. This naturally lead to the installation of conventional farm equipment storage buildings as well as shops. Our reputation for selling quality structures and doing quality installation work grew and allowed us to expand this segment of the business. We found ourselves building mini storage structures, confined livestock facilities, convenience stores, car dealerships, school additions as well as farm buildings. In the process, we have earned numerous sales awards from Butler^® in selling and installing these buildings.

In 1986, Butler^® purchased Lester^® Building Systems, a post frame building manufacturer. Lester^® enjoyed an excellent reputation of manufacturing high quality and well constructed buildings throughout the entire Midwest area. Butler^® wanted to use its national dealer network to bring this company from a regional to a national building manufacturer. Today, Lester^® Building Systems is the second largest post frame building manufacturer in the country. Because of our association with Butler^®, and because it fit within our guidelines of quality, it was only natural for us to include this line of building products to our business. In fact, because of their wide adaptability, we currently sell more Lester buildings today than Butler^®. Our general manager, Randy Vavrina, even acts as a representative to the Lester^® Buildings dealer council offering his views and opinions how the Lester^® product can better serve the demands and needs of our customers.