2021 was a record-breaking year for Thern, Inc. We set several new sales records, surpassed our annual revenue goals, and sustained superb customer satisfaction. The company truly flourished. But it’s not all about the numbers; 2021 was a year of company achievements in many other ways.
Four Categories of Company Achievements
Nonstop Innovation
2021 was a year of continued innovation at Thern. We introduced new products from the hitch-mount davit crane base to the swivel base for the capstan winch, and our engineering team was hard at work developing new products for upcoming product launches in 2022.
“The expanded sales of the Thern Liberty® Series swivel capstan winch opened up a whole new market for Thern in 2021, the installation and maintenance of communication towers. The swivel capstan has already produced great revenue, especially for a new product.” —Tedd Morgan, President and CEO
“We saw a lot of customer interest in our newest standard crane, the Captain® 4000. This newer stationary davit crane is capable of lifting loads up to 5,000 pounds!” —Jeff Wilkowski, Senior Applications Engineer
Our innovation was not limited to product development. We found new ways of reaching our customers and succeeded in developing new markets for our products.
“A major accomplishment in 2021 was the launch and expansion of the online configurator for our davit cranes. Thern’s range of davit cranes is extensive, so the configurator makes it easier for our customers to determine the right crane for their application and generate a quote at their convenience.” —John Lund, Vice President, Sales and Marketing
“A customer needed a custom-designed system of winches to cover and retract tarps over material bunkers at a project site. Thern Engineering customized a roll drop winch design that is typically used in the theater market for this application. This was a huge accomplishment as it highlighted a number of Thern’s attributes: problem solving, good customer service, and going the extra mile to satisfy the customer.” —Mike Guenther, Inside Sales Manager
Introduced New Team Members
Thern managed to bring on several new team members despite a tight labor market. Without our exemplary employees in the shop and office, 2021 would not have been the record-breaking year that it was.
“We took creative action and did a few things to address the challenges we were facing, along with the rest of the country. We ended up with a positive outcome. We addressed the issues and pushed forward, and we weren’t as negatively impacted as we could have been had we sat back and done nothing.” —Tedd Morgan
“We were able to successfully recruit several new hires in this very hard market. We turned to our employees for help through a referral program. Thern is a fun place to work, so of course, our employees wanted to recommend it as a place of employment to their friends and family.” – Stephanie Hemker, Human Resources Manager
“We continued to foster professional growth and development through our intern programs in 2021. We give the real-life experience college cannot.” —John Lund
“We hired three new individuals on to our engineered solutions team to work on our custom equipment projects. They are a new and energetic team that already show a lot of promise.” —Jeff Wilkowski
Global Growth
Thern had a greater global impact than ever before in 2021. There was a significant improvement in the overall performance in our European and global sales. And by filling out our distribution network, Thern equipment can be sold pretty much anywhere on this Earth.
“We expanded our sales team to provide full coverage of all US regions. We now have great sales and service support for our customers no matter what state they live in.” —Tedd Morgan
“We had a major project in Uruguay for barge positioning systems. We may be a small business in southeastern Minnesota, but our products have a global impact.” —John Lund
“2021 has been the year that we have signed up and started cooperation with 13 dedicated new distribution partners across Europe that will be able to provide local support to Thern clients and contribute to future growth.” —Udo van der Veen, Sales Manager Europe
Had Fun
Yes, Thern employees managed to have fun in the year of 2021. Despite many challenges, it was an achievement to find these moments where we were able to enjoy ourselves.
“We were able to get together safely this past summer to do a fun car show. We had employees bring in their clunkers and brand-new cars. It was fun to see folks laughing and enjoying one another.” —Stephanie Hemker
“The Wastewater Sales Department attended WEFTEC this year in person! It was great to see everyone that was able to attend. We missed seeing everyone as we were unable to attend WEFTEC in 2020.” — Amy Oesau, Water/Wastewater Market Director
The year 2021 was truly a year full of company achievements for Thern! We continued to dream big, bring in new people, grow on a massive scale, and we even had a little fun doing it. We are certain that 2022 will be another outstanding year at Thern, Inc.