Byron L. Godbersen (1925 - 2003) was founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Midwest Industries of Ida Grove. He attained national and international recognition for his many innovations relat-ing to farm and marine equipment. Godbersen's legacy includes a long list of awards and projects that led to the betterment of Ida Grove.

Godbersen perfected what would be called the Midwest Bolster Hoist with Godbersen POWR-LINK in Russell Coil's shop in Ida Grove. The hoist was the first product manufactured by Midwest Industries, which received its corporate charter March, 10 1954. Byron and his late brother Harold founded Midwest. Harold sold his share of Midwest to Byron in 1964.

Midwest's farm line continued to grow during the late 1950s into the 1960s. Over the years, the farm line included names such as "Husky Hauler," "Lift Harrow," "Planter Harrow," "Unbaler," "Boom Fork," "Coverall," "Buster Bars" and "Freedom Hitch."

In 1959, Godbersen developed a boat hoist, which led to Midwest's ShoreStation equipment line. In addition to the boat hoist, the company's marine division eventually produced docks and dock equipment, marine hangers and ShoreShade (a large shade umbrella). The ShoreLand'r boat trailer line first appeared in 1971 and has expanded to include snowmobile, personal water vehicle and utility trailers.

Today, most of the manufacturing done by Midwest is marine related. The firm employs more than 300 people and has 17 independently owned distributorships across the United States and Canada. ShoreLand'r ships to dealers in 32 countries throughout the world.

In 1976, Godbersen's enjoyment of flying led to Byron Originals. The firm's initial purpose was the development of large-scale remote controlled model air-planes. The first model kit was marketed in 1979. An offshoot of the remote airplane line was Aviation Expo, which was a model airplane show started in 1981. The Expo, dubbed "The World's Most Unique Aviation Event," drew over 50,000 model airplane enthusiasts to Ida Grove annually until 1991 when it was sold to a group based in Ankeny.

In 1987, Byron Originals was spun off as a separate company. Godbersen's son, Bruce, is the current president of the company, which has been transformed over the years and today is primarily an injection and rotational molding company. In addition, Byron Originals, Inc. is the world's largest producer of fuel for the modeling industry.

Godbersen's awards include being named Iowa and National Small Businessman of the Year for 1973, Kiwanis Citizenship Award (1973), Governors Award and the first ever Albert Gallatin Award (sponsored by the Zurich-American Insurance Companies).

In 1996, Godbersen was inducted into the Iowa Inventors Hall of Fame and named Inventor of the Year. He holds patents on more than 50 inventions, which is more than any other person in the state.

In 1999, the National Marine Manufacture's Association awarded Godbersen the Alan J. Freedman Award for his lifelong contributions to the marine industry. Over the years, Midwest Industries has been recognized with a variety of awards. The company, which produced its one millionth boat trailer in May 1998, received the National Association of Manufacturers Award for Work Force Excellence; Existing Industry Economic Impact Award; Iowa Governor's Quality Recognition Award and was recognized by the Iowa/Illinois Safety Council in June of 1998 for having worked one million man hours without a lost workday due to an accident.

Midwest earned "Class A" status in manufacturing resource planning in September of 1992. Less than 1 percent of all manufacturers at the national level have earned "Class A" status.

Read more about Byron Godbersen and the castles of Ida Grove.