MFMA
Hall of Fame
 Carl
Abendroth
Carl Abendroth was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin on February 14,
1925. He grew up in Rhinelander although he attended
high school at Northwestern Military and Naval Academy in Lake Geneva,
Wisconsin. Throughout
his youth he worked part-time at the Robbins mill in
Rhinelander, learning every production position from the ground up.
Carl was the third generation
Abendroth, following his father Walter and Grandfather
Albert's footsteps.
After high school Carl worked full-time
at the mill in Rhinelander until January 1944. He started
college at Valpariso University
but
took a reprieve in 1945 to serve in the Army for
2 years in Japan. He returned to school and graduated
in 1950 with a degree
in Business
Administration.
Carl returned home, now in Reed City,
Michigan. The Rhinelander plant was destroyed by
fire in 1948 and the Abendroth family had purchased
a plant in Reed City from E.L. Bruce Company. Interestingly,
this was the same plant that Albert built with William
Horner in 1891.
Applying his plant production experience
with his business training, Carl quickly moved into
the company sales area with great passion
building customer and architect relationships. He
was taking a new approach by selling to the floor contractor
directly and showing architects
the value of specifying systems for sport floors
with
much success. This eventually changed the selling
approach by all the other maple
mills. Carl brought in new customers and developed
loyalties between the contractor and company that
lasts to this day. From 1955 through
1962 this approach was successful enough to challenge
the full-time production capabilities for Robbins
with plants in Reed City and Ishpeming,
Michigan and White Lake, Wisconsin.
Shortly after
marriage in 1951, Carl was appointed the hardwood
flooring representative to the Office of Price Stabilization
in Washington DC under the recommendation of Lloyd Claudy the Secretary
Manager of the MFMA. He filled that position for
one year until the
OSP began
to be phased out late in 1952.
During his time in
the industry Carl was involved in the MFMA. In
1955 he was the Chairman of the Advertising Committee
and remained in that position for ten years. The
Advertising Committee marketed
the MFMA to the architectural community, developing
trade magazine advertising and utilizing press releases.
They also made personal
visits to many architects around the country.
Carl
served as the President of the MFMA for five years
starting in 1965. During his tenure the association
was effective and harmonious
and many other associations looked to the MFMA as
a model for success. Promotion and cooperation for
the betterment of
an industry was the
focus and the mission. He also served on the Board
of Directors and Chairman of the Wood Promotion Committee
for the National Lumber Manufacturers
Association from 1967 through 1971.
He remained a
MFMA Board of Director until 1990. During the early
1980's the Forestry Division of the Department of Agriculture
was sponsoring trade missions abroad. Carl was involved
with the Board that put together trade mission plans
and gained approval for association
trips including one trip to Europe and three trips
to the Far East between 1982 and 1986. The MFMA had
made some in-roads establishing
recognition of the MFMA globally.
Carl's length of
service to MFMA ran from 1952 to 1990 ending after
37 years of association and industry advancements.
When
Walter Abendroth sold Robbins to E.L. Bruce Co. in
1962 Carl stayed on as Executive VP and when Cook Industries
added E.L. Bruce
to its conglomerate he became President of Robbins.
After the end-to-end hay-days, he was involved in
system development ranging from sleeper
and padded plywood systems to mechanically fastened
systems that came into the picture in the early 1960's.
In fact, development and testing
became a big part of business operations and was
the genesis of hybrid systems focusing on performance.
In the early 1970's
Carl oversaw
the expansion of product lines such as sheet goods,
poured urethane, synthetic grass and carpet in response
to customer and market demands.
Carl left Robbins in
1975 and started AGA Corporation with partners Bill
Gamble and Roy Ahonen. They set-up a plant in Amasa,
Michigan and joined the MFMA immediately. He continued with
system development and customer relations. In 1985
he sold the business to Connor Forest
Industries and stayed on as a consultant until 1990.
Carl
is retired and living in Sayner, Wisconsin with his
wife Suzanne and near his children and grandchildren.
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