Congratulations to Behler-Young

100 Years in the Trades: Celebrating Behler-Young
From Lance Robinson, CEO of SolderWeld

There are milestones in business, and then there are milestones that make you stop for a
minute and really think about what it took to get there.

One hundred years is one of those.

This year, Behler-Young is celebrating its 100th anniversary. And as someone who has spent a
good part of my life in and around the trades, I have an incredible amount of respect for what
that number represents. Because, it occurs to me, that you don't stay in business for a century by accident.

You don't do it with one great product, one great year, or one great marketing campaign. You do
it by showing up. You take care of your customers. You take care of your employees. You adapt
when the industry changes. You keep your word. And then you do it again tomorrow.
Behler-Young has been doing exactly that since 1926.

I had to look into the history.  
Wayne "Brig" Young and John E. Behler started Behler-Young in downtown Grand Rapids,
Michigan, at a time when the HVAC industry looked almost nothing like it does today.
Coal was still a major source of heating. Their business dealt in sheet metal, ductwork, grilles,
registers, insulation, gutters and other metal products. 

But the part of their story that really got my attention had nothing to do with technology. 

It was about people.

Not long after Behler-Young opened its doors, the Great Depression hit.  There were seven employees depending on that company to make a living. Doug Young has shared that during those difficult years, the company would take the receipts it had and divide the money among those seven employees so everyone had enough to take something home.

I mean, think about that for a second! When there wasn't enough to go around, they made sure
everybody got something! To me, that tells you more about a company than any mission statement ever could.

It's been 100 years! Behler-Young is still family-owned and has reached its fourth generation. Today, the company has grown to 20 locations, nearly 300 team members and a presence throughout Michigan and northwest Ohio.

That's pretty impressive. But what impresses me more is that the philosophy behind the company
doesn't appear to have gotten lost somewhere along the way. Doug Young summed it up
simply, "It's always about the team and how we work together” and I love that.
Businesses grow. Warehouses get bigger. Product lines expand. Technology changes.
Leadership changes, but if you're fortunate enough to build something that lasts, eventually you realize that the
business was never really the building or the inventory.
It's the people.
And one of the things I admire about Behler-Young is that after 100 years, they're still investing
in them. They provide technical expertise and training opportunities to help contractors improve
their businesses and stay current in an industry that never stops changing.

They're investing in people who haven't even entered the field yet. Through the Larry Mullins
Memorial HVAC Scholarship, Behler-Young awarded twenty $1,000 scholarships in 2025 to
Michigan-area students pursuing HVAC careers.
That's how you build an industry. You don't guard what you know.You teach it. You give
somebody an opportunity. You help the next tech become better than the last one.

A good supply house becomes part of your team. It's where you go when you need a part, sure,
but it's also where somebody answers the weird question. It’s a place where you learn about
something new. Where relationships get built over years, sometimes decades.
Behler-Young seems to understand that distinction exceptionally well.
Many of its customer relationships have crossed generations. And its centennial isn't simply
being treated as a birthday party for the company. Behler-Young has spent 2026 celebrating
with the employees, customers, manufacturers and communities that helped build it.
That says something.

I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of incredible people through this industry. That's probably
my favorite part of what I do. The products are important. Innovation is important. Growing
businesses is important. But the trades have always been about people teaching people.
Somebody taught you. Somebody gave you a shot. Somebody answered the dumb question.
Somebody showed you the trick that wasn't in the manual. And eventually, if we're doing this
right, we turn around and do the same thing for somebody coming up behind us.
Behler-Young has been doing that in one form or another for 100 years.
Four generations. Thousands of contractors. Countless technicians. Entire communities.
And an industry that has transformed around them while they've continued to evolve with it.
That's something worth celebrating.

To the Young family, the Behler-Young team—past and present—and every employee,
contractor, customer and partner who has played a role in this century-long story:

Congratulations on 100 years!
From all of us at SolderWeld, thank you for your commitment to this industry, your investment in
the people who make it run, and the example you've set for what it means to build a business
that lasts.

Here's to the next hundred!
— Lance Robinson
CEO, SolderWeld