Kohler is in the business of keeping things clean – with style A COLLEGE professor once told us that all of civilization started with the toilet. By no longer leaving their human waste in the ground, humans moved up a class above animals. By doing so, they liberated themselves from certain diseases: the decreasing mortality rate and the release from the burden of mere survival enabled humans to begin the very important business of building the rest of the world.
David Kohler, chair and CEO of Kohler Co., then runs a company that does not just make toilets — through a line stretching back to the 1800s, it could be argued that the Kohlers are helping to maintain civilization, one fl ush at a time. The company is still owned and operated by the family — a release says that Mr.
Kohler’s father Herbert Kohler and his aunt Ruth, both deceased, bought out 300 shareholders to consolidate ownership in their branch of the family. The company is headquartered in a town named after the company in Wisconsin, and aside from toilets, they make other bathroom fixtures too — also furniture and tiles. And the family has interests in energy through engines and generators.
On the note about toilets helping build civilization, Mr. Kohler told BusinessWorld , “I think it’s a really good point. The mission of our company is to help people live gracious, healthy, and sustainable lives.
” The company was co-founded in 1873 by Mr. Kohler’s Austrian ancestor John Michael Kohler (Mr. Ko.