Sometimes a social media message turns into something much more meaningful.
Recently, Speedrack Products Group received a message from Caroline Konstant, granddaughter of Anthony (Tony) Konstant, who started Speedrack and helped pioneer the modern pallet racking industry. Caroline, an industrial engineer at L.L.Bean, reached out to ask if she could visit.
We were happy to welcome her, and what started as a request for a tour grew into a visit from Caroline and a team from L.L.Bean to our headquarters in Walker, Michigan.
Tony Konstant’s connection to material handling ran deep. After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering, he went on to invent the first pallet rack and eventually held more than 60 patents over the course of his career. He founded Speedrack before later starting Konstant Products.
For Caroline, the visit was a chance to see what the company her grandfather started looks like today. The group toured our manufacturing facility, met a few members of the Speedrack team, and learned about how the company has evolved over the years, including becoming 100% employee-owned in 2023.
But one of the most memorable parts of the visit came from Speedrack's past.
Greg Dunneback, Inside Sales Manager, uncovered an original Speedrack product brochure from 1976. Inside was a photo of A. N. Konstant, President. Having that piece of company history on hand when Tony’s granddaughter walked through the doors made for a special connection.
What began with a simple message on social media became a chance to bring together Speedrack’s past and present, and to spend some time with the family of the engineer who helped start it all.
More than 70 years later, it was pretty special to welcome a Konstant back to Speedrack.
