BUILDING ON A FAMILY TRADITION – A complete history of Badger Sheet Metal Works.

Badger Sheet Metal Works was founded in 1923 by Henry De Caster on the principles of providing customers with the utmost in quality and service.

That simple, but grand, proposal is still alive and well in Badger Sheet Metal Works as the company is now in its third generation of family ownership.

Originally located on Washington Street on the East side of historic Green Bay, Badger Sheet Metal Works quickly mustered a reputation for quality workmanship and putting the needs of the customer first. Initially the company provided furnace and sheet metal supplies to a mixture of local residences and businesses before thriving in a wide variety of sheet metal endeavors throughout the years.

As business boomed in the late 1920s for Henry De Caster, the company was moved into a larger building at 420 S. Broadway to accommodate the progress Badger Sheet Metal Works had earned in its early years.

As the buildings got bigger so did the company. Over the next three-quarters of a century, Badger Sheet Metal Works evolved into one of the Midwest’s premier metal fabricators.

While the projects acquired more technology decade after decade, the commitment to quality and the quaintness of a family-owned shop remained. That commitment to its past serves as the cornerstone to Badger Sheet Metal Works today. Furthermore, it’s the basis for the continued growth and success of its customers.

The Henry De Caster era lasted 25 years – from 1923 to 1948 – before he turned his vision and successes over to his son Bernarr De Caster, who then ran the company for 35 years until his passing in 1983.

During the Bernarr De Caster years – ’48 to ’83 – Badger Sheet Metal Works slowly steamed away from residential applications of the trade and moved to a more industrial and commercial devotion.

Following his father’s passing in 1983, Greg De Caster took over the family business, giving Badger Sheet Metal Works a third generation owner. Under Greg’s watch the company has grown to new heights – a growth that is steadfast today.

Besides abiding to the standard in the sheet metal trade that his grandfather and father established before him, Greg De Caster moved his family business into other aspects of the trade, first with buying the one of the first Laser CNC machine in the state in 1986, then adding two more divisions of Badger Sheet Metal Works; all while providing a safe working environment.

The Badger Sheet Metal Works safety program includes annual professional safety training, bi-weekly company wide safety meetings and team empowerment to encourage good safety practices.

During the last fourteen years Badger Sheet Metal Works has had only one loss time accident.   Prior to the fourteenth year, it went thirteen years without a loss time accident.  Badger Sheet Metal Works has saved financially as a result of a successful safety program.  These savings are shared with both the team, who is the primary facilitator of a successful safety program and with our customers through cost containment.

Badger Sheet Metal Works added its second division in 1999 when Badger Marine was founded. With the addition of the Marine shop – which specializes in arches and hardtops for yachts – another building was added to the company, giving Badger Sheet Metal Works over 100,000 square feet of work space.

A 62,000 square foot building that houses the Marine Division was added in December of 2003. Badger Marine is located at 2425 Hudson Rd. in Green Bay, about three miles from Badger Sheet Metal Works’ Broadway location.

With the success of the second division, Greg De Caster added yet another division of Badger Sheet Metal Works in 2004. Our newest division – VeriPure – has brought an exciting water purification and sanitizer product.

VeriPure will change the way you think about water by permitting clean water for your boat or RV. The VeriPure unit’s purification system was designed to not only purify your drinking water; it also doubles as a sanitizer. The VeriPure assembly plant and main offices are located at the Hudson Rd. location in Green Bay. To learn more about VeriPure please visit www.veripurewater.com or call toll free: 1-888-688-0303.

Also in 2004, Greg De Caster added a Flow Waterjet to the Badger Sheet Metal Works vast equipment list. Then in 2006, Greg De Caster made an investment in the company’s future again when he upgraded the company’s laser technology to a 3500 watt Rofin Diffusion-Cooled, Slab-Geometry system laser.

With all growth Badger Sheet Metal Works has incurred during the Greg De Caster era, the philosophy of providing “customer first” service is treated in the same manner that Henry De Caster envisioned it would be when he first opened the doors 83 years ago.

Today those family values instilled by Henry and Bernarr guide Greg De Caster in his diligence to further augment a family business into a trade leader for decades more.