When Diane Endres Ballweg talks about Endres Manufacturing Company, she measures its legacy not just in steel beams and construction contracts, but in the community that grew alongside the business her grandfather started a century ago.
“We are trying to build Madison,” Endres Ballweg said in an interview for the 365 Amplified podcast.
Listen to the full interview:
Looking back
Endres Ballweg’s grandfather, Lawrence Endres, Sr, started the company as an agricultural equipment manufacturer in 1926. He held 17 patents for plows, discs and other farm equipment. His son, Larry, took over as mechanic manager at age 12 and as company president at 16 when his father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
The turning point that moved the company from farm equipment to construction was their first seven-figure job, helping to build the post office on Milwaukee street in the 1970s. Since then, the company has provided steel fabrication and other construction services for some of the city’s most recognizable landmarks: UW Hospital, Overture Center, Madison Youth Arts Center (MYArts), Camp Randall Stadium, and many more.
“Employees say that their wives complain when they drive by — they don’t concentrate on their driving,” she said. “They say, ‘Oh, we did that building, and we did that.'”
Over the last 100 years, the company has grown from two employees — Larry and his father — to roughly 120 today, a workforce that expanded two years ago when Endres acquired Skyline Steel in Arlington, Wisconsin. In the Madison area, Endres Ballweg noted, 96 percent of all businesses employ 100 people or fewer, placing her company among the region’s larger employers. And the generational continuity is itself rare.
“Less than 4% of all family businesses make it to the fourth generation,” she said. Her son, Sam Ballweg, is now president of the company.
The company added its philanthropic arm in 1996, with $3,000 in grants to community organizations. This year, it’ll be a million.
Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation announced on March 12 that it will award $250,000 per quarter, each installment representing one of the four generations of the Waunakee-based family business. The first round includes a nod to the company’s agricultural roots, $200,000 to Schumacher Farm County Park for its living history museum and agricultural education programs. The other major grant announced this month was $50,000 for the YMCA of Dane County toward a new facility being built in Fitchburg.
Beyond the family business, Endres Ballweg has built a career as an educator with an unusually wide range. A trained music teacher who has been involved with Madison’s arts community for decades, she also earned her pilot’s license about 30 years ago and founded an aviation program at Edgewood High School, where she taught for roughly 20 years. She led ground school classes during the week and took students flying on weekends in her own plane. Among her former aviation students: a commander in the Air Force and a lead commander for the Blue Angels. She retired from aviation teaching when COVID-19 ended the hands-on instruction that made the program work.
Looking ahead
The foundation’s second-quarter grants will be announced April 25 and will honor the legacy of Endres Ballweg’s father, who served 35 years in the Waunakee Volunteer Fire Department. Grants will go to the fire department for new equipment and building upgrades, and to Create Waunakee, a village arts and culture initiative.
In the third quarter, the foundation will sponsor the July 22 Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra Concert on the Square, a nod to Endres Ballweg’s own background as a longtime music teacher and arts advocate who chaired capital campaigns for the MYArts youth arts center and the Weisman building on the University of Wisconsin campus.
And in 2027, the foundation plans what Endres Ballweg calls “the Year of the Kids,” to coincide with the Chinese zodiac Year of the Goat, a nod to the live goats that have been a beloved fixture of the Endres property for years. All foundation grants in 2027 will be directed toward programs serving children, from scholarships and sports programs to mental health services. Applications open May 1 and November 1 through the foundation’s website.
“We really need to take care of our children,” Endres Ballweg said.
