Henkle Schueler, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, is indirectly tied to thousands of jobs in the area as well as other sites in several other states.
The company was started by George Henkle in 1935. Henkle, a Warren County native, had received a master’s degree in marketing from New York University and returned to the area to help farmers get loans from the government. Eventually, Henkle decided to sell land as well, setting up the original Henkle real estate office on the third floor of LCNB bank in downtown Lebanon.
“George was a real visionary about the area,” Schueler said of his mentor, who died in 2009. “He realized the area was going to become a booming community well before anybody else.”
When Henkle began planning his retirement in 1974, he took on Schueler as his understudy and eventual successor.
“He convinced me of his vision quickly and I could see he was on the right path,” Schueler said.
Under Schueler’s leadership, Henkle Schueler branched out into land development and construction by forming the Bunnel Hill Development Inc. and Bunnel Hill Construction. Since that time, Bunnel Hill has created 16 business parks in several states, including the 552 acre Lebanon Commerce Center, where Henkle Schueler has resided since 1990.
Among Henkle Schueler’s most famous contributions was the brokerage of the land deal that created the Kings Island Amusement Park. The company also developed the Beach Water Park and created a $50 million development, construction and management package for Mercy Regional Wellness Centers in Fairfield and Anderson Twp.
“George loved the area,” Schueler said. “We shared a spirit of giving back to the community.”
Henkle was a founder of the Area Progress Council and the Countryside YMCA. Schueler is president of the conservationist group Little Miami Inc., a recipient of the Warren County United Way Man of the Year and helped to create the football program at the College of Mount St. Joseph, which named its field after him in 2004.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4544 or jmcclelland@coxohio.com.
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