Business View Magazine | June 2019

380 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JUNE 2019 Simply the best STIEBEL ELTRON S tiebel Eltron recently threw a big party in Germany to celebrate what would have been its founder, Dr. Theodore Stiebel’s, 125th birthday - an amazing event for a company that continues to reach milestones in water heater innovation. It all began in 1924, when Dr. Stiebel started a business to manufacture his revolutionary immersion water heaters. More than 90 years later, the family-owned company is a household name in Europe, known for the engineering and manufacturing excellence of products such as tankless electric water heaters, solar thermal equipment, and heat pump water heaters. The company’s long- time philosophy “make it right, then keep making it better” still holds true, and is the reason that clients, suppliers, employees, and industry friends around the globe describe Stiebel Eltron as “simply the best.” The company employs approximately 3,000 people worldwide, with manufacturing plants in Holzminden, Germany; Eschwege, Germany; Slovakia, Thailand, and China. Western Hemisphere operations are based in West Hatfield, Massachusetts, where Stiebel Eltron maintains a sales, service, distribution, and spare parts facility. The company has been in North America since 1980, and currently has 30 employees in the U.S. division. In a recent conversation with Business View Magazine, Frank Stiebel - President & Co-owner of Stiebel Eltron, and Chris Wetherby, the company’s Head of Solar Renewables, brought us up to speed on what’s new and notable in the water heating industry. The following is an edited transcript of that interview.