My Local Newspaper Has Imbedded Ad Copy Masquerading As A Story

What the hell is this? This is pathetic! This, uh, story was in the online version of the Lincoln Journal Star. Which is my local newspaper. Its an advertisement disguised as a story!! This is disgusting! The Fourth Estate at its finest!

Breeza has fans
BY RODD CAYTON/Lincoln Journal Star

UTICA — Mike Fehlhafer wants to clear the air about something: His Utica company, Breeza Fans USA, is there to do the customer’s bidding.

The company makes fans according to what the customer needs, (from six inches to seven feet in diameter), as well as when the customer needs them: maybe one, just in time, or maybe a regular shipment of a dozen or so.

Fair pricing, Fehlhafer said, is a key part of Breeza Fans’ customer satisfaction strategy.

“We need to make a living,” he said. “But we’re not out to take advantage of a customer who just needs one (item). We’ll give them the same treatment that we give someone who orders thousands.”

For that, he said, customers have rewarded the company with more business as they have grown.

Brad Carlton, president of Agri-Sales Inc. in Ceresco, said his company has been doing business with Breeza Fans for about four years. Agri-Sales makes swine confinement pens.

“They’re very personable, and willing to work with you,” Carlton said of Breeza employees. “They do a good job of getting a product out in a timely manner.”

Company controller Al Koski said Breeza is fortunate to have a work force that is conscientious about customer service.

Production manager Adam Simmerman said he’s lucky to have a job that provides a family atmosphere and allows him to work independently.

Inside sales manager Anthony Sheppard said he likes interacting with customers and “getting into something new on a daily basis.”

The company has made about $150,000 in capital investment since November, said Fehlhafer. That’s due to buying new machines that replace slower models — a direct response to business growth.

“Sometimes, you invest before you get the contract,” he said. “Sometimes, you get the contract, then you have to make the investment. Any solid businessperson knows … you’re going to have to gamble a little bit.”

Breeza Fans will soon get software that will allow designs to go straight from an engineering computer to a manufacturing machine.

Eighty percent of fans built by Breeza are used on gasoline or diesel engines for industrial applications, Fehlhafer said; that could be an irrigation motor, a generator, an oil exploration platform or another use.

“There’s hardly any industry we haven’t sent at least one or two to,” Fehlhafer said.

The fan begins with a casting of metal. They come in several sizes, and contain five or more knuckles, each of which locks with a plastic or aluminum blade.

Adjustments are made to give customers their preferred fan speed, noise level, horsepower direction and blade angle.

Computers have allowed Breeza Fans to come up with a rapid prototyping system. Using special software, Fehlhafer can build a virtual fan that does that the customer wants. He then e-mails a plan for the fan to the customer, who signs off on the design. It goes into production shortly thereafter.

Just about everything in the Breeza Fans building can be recycled, Fehlhafer said. The amount that the company sends to landfills each week can fit in a trash can the size of those used in many houses.

The “trash,” Fehlhafer said, is mostly potato chip sacks and similar detritus.

Breeza is currently buying its castings from England, Italy and Malaysia, but Fehlhafer said the company’s growth has generated a plan to move production of some of the castings to Nebraska. He said he expects that to happen later this year.

Five years ago, Fehlhafer said, he could’ve placed an order across the ocean and received his merchandise within 30 days. Post 9/11, he said, customs checks and other delays have made it more difficult to count on overseas shipments and meet the customers’ needs.

Breeza Fans also is interested in meeting Utica’s needs. Several employees volunteer with the fire department, and they’re also involved in church groups and local organizations’ boards.

Fehlhafer said it’s his way of giving back to the community.

“I may not give them $10 million in cash,” he said. “But I’ll be the first one there to help work.”

Reach Rodd Cayton at 473-7107 or rcayton@journalstar.com.

Breeza Fans USA, division of Design Industrial Radiators, Inc.



Address: 301 U.S. 34, Utica.

Telephone number: (402) 534-2015

Web address: www.breezafansusa.com

Chief executive on site, title: Mike Fehlhafer, president/general manager

Number of local employees: 10.

Annual revenues: $1.3 million.

Products, services: Manufacturer of industrial fans, fan guards, fan spacers and related mounting structures; 3-D modeling, engineering and design consulting for air movement applications.

Company history: Founded in 1989 by Fehlhafer. Initial focus was radiator design for stationary engine cooling applications. Air movement played a key factor in the cooling design, and in 1993, the company established a relationship with the London Fan Co., later establishing the Breeza Fans division. Industrial fans eventually became the company’s primary business. In 1997 and 1998, the company added fan guards and fan spacers, respectively to its product. A plant expansion came along in 1999, including a CNC mill. The September 11 terrorist attacks cut sales and production practically in half, and the company responded by developing a new marketing strategy and adding new capabilities and software. Since 2005, the company has added new CNC mills, to meet sales demand and reduce production costs by cutting machining time.