Sprunger, FCC (Adams) LLC given top Chamber awards

Authored by Jim Langham on Jan 18, 2012

The late Delbert Sprunger has been selected as the recipient of this year's, "Lifetime Achievement Award," by the Berne Chamber of Commerce. In addition, FCC (Adams) LLC has been selected as this the 2011 Business of the Year.
Sprunger served the Berne community in a variety of ways. He also served the nation as a member of the United States Navy during World War II.
Along with his wife, Irene, Delbert owned Musik Haus in Berne and was well known for his ability to tune pianos. He also served his community as former president of the Mennonite Choral Society, former chairperson of the Swiss Days Committee, committee chair for the Boy Scouts, former president of high school music boosters, member of the South Adams Arts Council and former president and executive manager of Berne Chamber of Commerce.
"Delbert was born the fourth child of Clarence and Loraine Habegger Sprunger," said Floyd Liechty in making his presentation speech on Tuesday evening. "As a young child, Delbert would always visit their next door neighbor, Mrs. Hami Pete (Abraham) Sprunger. It was there that he learned to speak Swiss, which would pay great dividends in the future.
"His father and uncle owned the Jefferson Garage car dealership on the corner of Jefferson and Water Streets. As Delbert grew older, he worked at the garage. Later, he began taking notice of a fair young maiden by the name of Ida Irene Zuercher, a daughter of a direct Swiss descendant couple who owned an accordion factory located close to where Berne Ready Mix is today," continued Liechty.
Delbert married Irene, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Chrigel Zuercher, in 1946. They eventually gave birth to a son, Erick (Rick), who currently resides in California with his wife, Mary Jane.
"Their knowledge and formal ties to our mother country, Switzerland, became invaluable over their many years of assistance," said Liechty. "During the Sesquicentennial celebration, it was their work, efforts and knowledge that brought the Swiss dignitaries to our community."
Over the years, the Sprungers developed close friendships with many other direct Swiss descendants in other communities. Two of those people were Verna and Fred Brawand, who were instrumental in the Sprungers' eventual membership in the Cincinnati Area Swiss Club. Because of their contacts, that club became one of the numerous donors to the Swiss Clock Tower.
For many years, Delbert and Irene served key positions with the Berne Chamber of Commerce. During that time, the Sprungers continued to push for a permanent home for the Chamber, which was meeting in the back of the Palmer House at the time.
"Our first home was the former Dr. Kruse office on Hendricks Street, followed by the near Bixler's Insurance on Main Street, and our beautiful home in the former Berne Lumber building," said Liechty. "This is a reality today, in a big way, because of the dreams and visions of Delbert and Irene."
As their health deteriorated in recent years, they often said that they were staying around to help take care of the other. In doing so, they were able to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary in 2006. Irene eventually passed away in 2009 and last year, Delbert joined his wife in Heaven.
"Thank you Uncle Delbert (and Aunt Irene) Sprunger for your vision, and never ending gifts of community service making Berne a better place to live," noted Liechty in his presentation. "My father-in-law, Logan Sprunger, will be accepting this award in behalf of the Sprungers, their son, Rick, and daughter-in-law, Mary Jane."
In accepting the award, Sprunger read a letter from Eric in California.
"I am so thankful for this great honor being given to my parents," said Sprunger.
"What a wonderful memory for the lifetime achievement award. The two of them were never completed without the other. They were partners in all things in life and were a great complement to each other.
"They did it to make Berne a better place to live," continued Sprunger, reading the letter. "They were completely overwhelmed when anyone would give them praise. They felt that they were just doing their jobs. If my mom and dad were alive today, they would say that there are many other people more deserving than them. They never thought of it as though what they accomplished would have a lifetime effect on their beloved Swiss community."
Sprunger and his wife will be returning to Berne in July to serve as grand marshal for the Swiss Days parade.
FCC (Adams) LLC, is the recipient of the 2011 Business of the Year Award. The company established in Berne in May of 2003 at 936 E. Parr Road. Their principle productions are automotive clutch components parts and automotive clutch assembly.
The company, which began mass production in 2005 with 37 employees, completed a die cast expansion project that increased their workforce to 53 in May of 2005. Then, in 2010, they expanded their warehouse and added 86 new jobs to the Berne workforce. This past year, FCC experienced another growth expansion with factory expansion as well as additional parking to accommodate nearly 45 new positions that were created.
The growing business has received several awards for its commitment to producing quality products, including the 2007 Ford Silver Award, 2010 Recognition of Achievement Durability and Reliability, the 2010 Ford Aligned Business Framework nominated supplier by Ford Motor Company as a long term strategic supplier and the World Excellence Recognition of Achievement for the development and launch of the 2010 Super Duty 6-Speed Transmission Clutch Assembly.
Mark Settlemyre, chairman of the Chamber's Economic Development Committee, presented the business award to FCC. Prior to the presentation, Settlemyre noted that the company has 22 factories in nine countries.
"We were very fortunate in 2003 in convincing them to land here on a 40 acre site," said Settlemyre. "That year (2003) was a year of a lot of rain. Construction was supposed to start on July 12, but it never got started until Sept. 15."
Settlemyre said that the company, which began with 37 associates and a payroll of 1.8 million dollars, now boasts 185 associates and a payroll of 6.6 million dollars, with a total investment of 81.5 million dollars.
"Coming to Berne has been very, very exciting to us," said company official Elizabeth Daniels. "The people of this community have been very good to us. We look forward to future expansions. With the help of the community, we are going to be able to continue."

share


You need to be logged in to post comments on this article.