SPENCER, Neb. (KOLN) - Huffy’s Airport Windsocks is a unique business found in downtown Spencer, and owners sell their products to a global market.
Greg Whisler manages the Seward airport with his wife, and also runs Whisler Aviation. Because pilots want to depart into the wind, he says windsocks are an important tool to help determine the direction of the wind.
“Without having any electronic instrument, we can look at a windsock and know we are between 3 and 15 knots of wind, and what direction it’s coming from, just by how the windsock is hanging,” Whisler said. Whisler has two windsocks at the Seward airport. He gets them from Huffy’s Airport Windsocks in Spencer.
You might not think of Spencer as a place to find a global leader in windsock production. But this family business now sells windsocks around the world.
“It started back in 1988 with my mother Karen and father Gary,” owner Mike Hoffman said. “He was a pilot, and we had a farm strip on our farm. They were having trouble having windsocks holding up.” Hoffman says his mom decided to take a windsock apart. His parents handed out an improved version to a couple of pilot friends. “(Those friends) called back and said that was the best windsock they ever had, because they would only last for 4 to 6 months at the time.”
Soon, the family had a contract with the state of Iowa, and the business grew.
“About 12 years ago, my wife and I moved back from Omaha and took the business over,” Hoffman said. Many people are surprised to find this kind of business in Spencer. “A lot of custom windsocks are made,” Hoffman said. “They want their logos on them, and they will hand them out to customers, and their customers will put them up. That’s a big part of our business is to silkscreen logos on windsocks.” The company also makes brackets to fly the windsocks. “They are a metal bracket with hoops, and they get painted or powder-coated, either way,” Hoffman said. “There are three different phases to it all, from the fabric and sewing, to screen printing and the welding.”
Huffy’s Windsocks does some of the work at the family farm, and some at the shop on main street. But the business is expanding to a bigger facility where most operations will be under one roof. “The sewing shop will have a bigger sewing area, the welding shop will be bigger, and the silk screen shop that is currently at the farm will be in another portion of this facility,” Hoffman said.
You might think there’s a limited market for windsocks. But, they are used in a variety of ways.
“You start thinking about, well, who needs windsocks?” Hoffman said. “It’s not just airports. It’s very diverse, from oil fields, to manufacturing facilities, cold storage, military, hospitals, off-shore drilling, they all need windsocks. It’s a real broad business.”
Owners say the business has a global footprint.
“Saudi Arabia, Dubai, lots of different customers in the Middle East or Australia, the Maldives, Ghana,” co-owner Jacky Hoffman said. “I’ve sometimes had to google to find out where some of these places are from. When the people call, there is a language barrier, and time difference barrier.” Owners are proud to maintain their small town roots. “Mike grew up grommeting on stumps on a log,” Jacky Hoffman said. “Our kids have been involved, and people appreciate that. We take a lot of pride in answering the phone, helping our customers out and I think in general people appreciate that we are knowledgeable about our product and they tell their family and friends about us.”
