Reprinted from The Catalyst – By Dawson Brunswick (Columbus Chamber President) & KC Belitz (Previous Columbus Chamber President) – Date: December, 2021
Remembering Phil Raimondo
As we close out manufacturing month, I, along with the entire team at the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, want to acknowledge the impact and contributions that Phil Raimondo had, not only at Behlen Mfg. Co., but to the local and state manufacturing community, especially the Columbus area.
While I only had a few months to get to know Phil, I quickly realized he was a pillar in the Columbus area. This was especially demonstrated at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, where he helped lead the manufacturing community throughout Nebraska on weekly Zoom calls by sharing best practices and the procedures they had put in place at Behlen to protect their Partner in Progress (employees). Behlen Mfg. Co. also stepped in to help employ those that other employers furloughed through the uncertainty of the pandemic.
It is also important to note that through Phil’s leadership, Behlen has been committed to supporting the community through various programs (too many to list all), such as Drive For Five, United Way, STEM Education, the Quality of Life initiative, Dream It. Do It., Red Cross, American Cancer Society, Go Red For Women, Habitat for Humanity, and most recently, the Cattleman’s Ball and Kramer Education Center.
In June 2021, Behlen celebrated their 85th anniversary, where KC Belitz was the emcee. KC, a longtime friend and colleague of Phil and previous chamber president, also shared the following comments:
“Phil was proud to be a manufacturer. By definition, that means he like making, creating, building things. That describes a lot of manufacturers. What made Phil unique was how he took that desire to “build” and applied it across his life.
Phil was truly interested in building people and building his community, just as much as he was interested in building grain bins, gates, and steel buildings. He invested in the Behlen Mfg. Partners in Progress personally and through his corporate decision-making. He was always so proud when he talked about how much Profit Sharing the employees earned during any given year!
He was equally invested in building his community. When it would’ve been easier to say “no,” Phil said “yes” to Columbus. He and his family invested in the Quality of Life Centers and the Columbus Area Future Fund campaign as lead donors. They invested in schools. They supported almost every cause in our community.
Just as important as the financial investments, Phil invested his own time in community projects. He certainly could’ve sent others to be campaign chair for United Way or serve on the Chamber committee to build workforce recruitment incentives, but instead, he did it himself and spent hours of his time as a result. But by doing so, he built a stronger community in his adopted hometown.”
Phil led a successful company and took that responsibility very seriously. He was a proud manufacturer. But he also saw that company as a vehicle to build people and build community, and in that, he was a unique leader and a unique human being.”
Phil was a great person, a leader in every sense of the word. The Chamber team is grateful for the time we had with him and his commitment to the Columbus community.