Institute for Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial Education Partner
The UCCEO team recently drove down to Wolf Lake to visit with Mr. Cody Levan, General Manager and co-owner of Schaefer Enterprises of Wolf Lake. Started in 1967, brothers Jerry & Eugene Schaefer purchased “Wilson Farm Implements” and renamed it “Schaefer Farm Implements”. The brothers soon realized that there was a better business for selling parts than selling new equipment and eventually, Schaefer Enterprises was born.
UCCEO team member and Shawnee High School Senior, Cole Pender, shared this:
“On Thursday, we met at Schaefer Enterprises. Schaefers is a scrapyard, not a junkyard, that sells parts off of heavy machinery. This was a really cool visit because not many people know how big Schaefers really is or even know of Schaefers. Schaefers started in 1967 in Wolf Lake by Mr. Jerry Schaefer and is now run by Mr. Cody Levan, general manager and co-owner.
One thing I thought was really interesting is that they ship worldwide, which is crazy to me because I have lived in Wolf Lake all my life and never knew that! I would’ve never thought that and I know a lot of people wouldn't either. Schaefers is a multi million dollar company, which is also super cool because it is in such a small community and nobody would ever guess that because of its location. They have around 130000 parts in inventory and have purchased around 210 machines this year. It takes around 4 days to completely strip and tear down a machine for parts to sell.
My biggest takeaway from this visit is to always plan for the future because the new machines now will break down in 10 years and dealerships won't have the parts for them but Schaefers will because they are buying new machines to part out and sell almost everyday.”
We were AMAZED at the sheer amount of inventory they had. Cody took us all over the grounds and it was a sight to behold. He shared that originally, Jerry used to say their inventory system was “GCP” which stands for “Go Check Pile”. If that didn’t work, then “GCOP”, “Go Check Other Pile”, which literally made us laugh out loud! You can’t truly appreciate it until you see the amount of piles there are to check! They have since implemented a more efficient and organized system and it is honestly amazing to see and hear about it. Their team of employees was literally buzzing around taking care of the business at hand and it was so interesting and awe inspiring to see the activity and tasks unfold in front of us.
Schaefer Enterprises is one of the original investors in the Union County CEO Program. Jerry and Eugene were both very community minded and we are grateful that the current owners want to continue. Thank you Cody, for an AWESOME visit and your continued support of the UCCEO program!
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