Aiming to be ‘more personal': Engstrom family keeps wheels turning in Moline

For the last 132 years the Mutual Wheel Company has been a mainstay of Moline. And for the last 85 years, a member of the Engstrom family has made sure that legacy continues.

Now leading the business are Daniel Engstrom and his sister Monica Van Vooren, the fourth generation of the Engstrom family to run the Mutual Wheel Company. 

It all started in 1893 when 11 carriage manufacturers in the Quad-Cities decided to form a company to rival the American Wheel Trust, which controlled wheel production and prices at the time. They decided to call it the Mutual Wheel Company, according to its website, and they opened the doors at 729 Third Avenue in Moline.

With the initial $40,000 investment, the manufacturers joined forces with the goal of producing 30,000 sets of wheels per year. Just seven years after it began, the company had grown to employing between 500 and 600 people and advertised it was the largest manufacturer of vehicle wheels in the world, with 100,000 sets flying out the doors annually.

The company plugged along, and by the 1930s, transitioned into making wooden wheels for the numerous car manufacturers that began to crop up in Moline at the time. But, with the demand for steel wheels and The Great Depression causing a financial crisis for the company, Mutual Wheel decided to make a big transition.

In 1932, Mutual Wheel stopped producing wooden wheels and instead transformed itself into an automotive and truck parts distribution center with drive-in service, at the directive of Elmer Engstrom, who joined the company as a time keeper in 1917. Engstrom eventually worked his way up the ladder to general manager before purchasing the company in partnership with George Wood in 1940, according to the company's website.

This started the first generation of the Engstrom family that continues to lead the company to this day.

The transition proved to be smart as military spending, specifically related to the Rock Island Arsenal, was good for business during World War II, as parts and materials became a priority for the U.S. government.

Elmer Engstrom and his wife, Helen, went on to become the sole owners of the company in 1948 when they bought out George Wood's shares. 

Upon Elmer's death, he left the company to his wife, Helen, who brought in their son Don and his wife June, marking the second generation, in 1951. The company continued to grow in both reputation as a wholesale distributor for parts and in size with the addition of new service stalls and a massive warehouse.

In the mid 1950s the company began branching out to other markets with a Mutual Wheel branch in Monmouth, Illinois. The growth continued with branches in Dubuque, East Peoria and Milan through the late '70s.

By 1980 the company was in transition again, changing to a central warehouse concept with Moline expanding to a 50,000 square foot building to provide branch locations with parts. In 1989 the third generation of Engstroms — Dave, Rich and Bob — joined the company under the conjoined "office of the president."

The fourth generation of Engstrom's joined the fold in 2014 with Bob's children, Daniel Engstrom and Monica Van Vooren, now acting as co-vice-presidents of the company. Daniel has been with the company for 15 years, but it feels more like a lifetime, he said.

Working for Mutual Wheel was always an option, but never a requirement, he said. Personally, Daniel viewed it as a privilege to carry on a legacy started by his grandfather so long ago.

"I love the fact that it has my family's name and it has that family element to it, so that was always something that I liked about it," he said. "My sister and I are the fourth generation, so even going from the first generation to second generation is high failure rate. To get where we are, it's pretty spectacular."

Being in a family business can have its own ups and downs, he said, but working with family means you always have someone in your corner who wants to see you succeed.

"The guidance that my uncles and my dad have (given) has been awesome to be able to have that resource here," he said. "They joke around that I can't wait until they're gone, but that's not true at all. They're definitely a nice crutch to be able to lean on with so much knowledge."

Part of that knowledge, he said, comes in the form of leading by example. Daniel said the company is fortunate to have had multiple employees who have been with Mutual Wheel for decades; a testament to the culture created by the Engstrom family over the years.

"I think it says a lot about family business in general, because we're not a big corporation where you're just a number," he said. "We try to be more personal."

Daniel said that extends to employees at the branch locations, too. Even though employees know where his office is and that he's only a phone call away, getting to stores and having a personal presence helps to show employees they aren't just a number, he said, but a member of the family.

"It definitely comes with some pressure, but we're really trying to build a good team," he said. "I'd say we're doing a good job of that but it's definitely something that we're just going to keep trying for."