Published on: November 29, 2018 by Blair Haas
Max Haas founded Bud Industries in 1928 and created an industry legend
Tomorrow is an important date in the history of Electronic Enclosures. On November 30, 1928, Bud Radio, the predecessor of Bud Industries, was incorporated by my Grandfather, Max Haas. While I have written about our company’s history on many occasions, I want to honor my grandfather one more time by retelling his story as I think it is very meaningful today. His life is a true testament to perseverance and resilience and the value of immigrants in our economy. He was born in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, today is the Czech Republic and came to the United States in the early 1900’s as a boy, fortunately before there were immigration quotas. He eventually settled in Cleveland, Ohio, met and married my grandmother, and had his only child, my father, in 1918. In 1920, he and his partners founded Haas Electrical Sales, which by 1924 was noted by “Radio in the Home” magazine to be the largest radio parts distributor in the Cleveland area.
Alas, in 1926, his partners froze him out of the business and he was once again on his own with a wife and young son to support. He took a job with RCA selling their radio products to dealers throughout the Midwest, no easy job in those days before interstates. In the Fall of 1928, he met a man who had invented an antenna that you could attach to the back of your radio and eliminate the need to have a roof top antenna. As a salesman, he saw the potential and bought the rights to the product and realized he had found his next entrepreneurial opportunity.
He started Bud Radio, naming it after his son (my father) whose nickname was Bud, and the rest is history. A creative man, he held 3 patents, guided the company through the transition from antennas to HAM radio parts to enclosures, and founded several other businesses, some of which were combined to create todays Bud Industries .Through the years, his vision has led to the world renowned company we know today, has employed many thousands of people, some from 3 or more generations, and certainly left his mark on our community and industry. All of us salute his spirit which still guides us today.
