Heroes of Industry and Technology

In 1993, Michael J. Manatt oversaw the development of equipment that would revolutionize the highway construction industry.

In 1921 seven of the top ten finishers at the Indianapolis 500 drove Duesenbergs, leading onlookers to remark “It’s a doozy!” The Iowa craftsmen built the finest automobiles of the era, leading everyone from Clark Gable to the Duke of Windsor clamoring to get their hands on a ‘doozy.’

The sky is blue, grass is green and school buses are yellow, but it wasn’t always that way - for school buses, at least. In 1939 Grinnell resident Dr. Frank Cyr became the father of the yellow school bus when he convened a national council that declared yellow as the standard color for school buses.

This engineer modernized traffic safety with state-of-the-art software that identifies and analyzes crashes that occur along Iowa’s roadways.

In 1921 seven of the top ten finishers at the Indianapolis 500 drove Duesenbergs, leading onlookers to remark “It’s a doozy!” The Iowa craftsmen built the finest automobiles of the era, leading everyone from Clark Gable to the Duke of Windsor clamoring to get their hands on a ‘doozy.’

The Civil War general from Council Bluffs left behind an impressive legacy. Dodge was a pivotal force in building the transcontinental railroad, the chief engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad and a savvy politician who represented Iowa as a republican congressman.

Nicknamed the “Birdman of the Prairie” by his home town friends from Grinnell, Billy Cornelius Robinson began his career in aviation early in high school.  Billy built his first glider from scraps found at the Fix-It-Shop where he worked after school.  

Born in Vermont in 1846, Henry Spaulding built his first buggy at the age of 19 in Chelsea, Vermont.  Hooking two buggies together, Henry set out to sell them.  This was the origin of what became known as the trailing system.

At the age of 19, Jim, a Cedar Rapids, IA native, worked with a team of Honeywell engineers to design and package the Stabilization and Control System for the command capsule of NASA’s Apollo program (1965-1966).

Lorenzo Coffin took on the American Railroad insdustry promoting safety issues the railroad companies ignored. His most notable work was designing the train car coupler

Paul Crouse was a relentless worker for safety in the trucking industry as one of the developers of the No Passing Sign on the left side of the highways.A trucking industry pioneer and a founder of he Iowa Motor Truck Association, Crouse began his career in 1929 haulding eggs and butter to Sioux City. By 1982 Crouse Cartage Company had become the largest Iowa-based trucking company and also had the greatest number of Allied Van Lines brances in the nation. 

Manatt's Inc. began in 1958 following successfull years as individual companies operated by brothers Junie, Carl and Merlin that dated back to 1947. Merlin worked hand in hand with his employees to develop methods still used today in their business to install sub-drain along state and county roads allowing road beds to drain better. One of those employees, Jack Gustafson who began working for the company in 1957, nominated Merlin as a Heroe of Industry and Technology More

John Ruan—started Ruan Transportation Management System from nothing during the Great Depression. For a country that depends so heavily on trucks to keep its businesses moving, it is fitting that the trucking magnate moved his first load of gravel on July 4, 1932. His first truck was purchased with money gained from the sale of his family’s car. Within months, he had turned that More

The Michigan-based company that makes regular overseas military deliveries held a “Support the Troops” donation drive and was overwhelmed at the response, said Cindy Goodboo, special project mail coordinator. Company employees donated time, sundries and money to make the drive successful. And to assist his team in supporting deployed service members, Conrad Kalitta, company owner, matched every dollar his em More

In 1913 at the age of 23 Mr. Zelle recognized a business opportunity; organizing a company that would lease trucks to contractors who were constructing Minnesota highways and other local wholesale and manufacturing firms.  Once the company was doing well he and a partner started the Red Bus Line in 1918 to capitalize on Minnesotans'’ desire to increase their mobility.