John C. and Kate Miller donate $250,000 to the
Wisconsin Agricultural Education Center in Honor of Miller Family Legacy
John C. and Kate Miller, the former owners of Miller-St. Nazianz, Inc. along with their children, Jeanne and John W., are pleased to be able to support the Wisconsin Agricultural Education Center with a gift of $250,000. In making this gift in honor of previous and subsequent generations of their family, they honor the debt they owe to those who came before and after them:
- John Miller I, a St. Nazianz tinsmith/blacksmith who started the business in 1899 as a hardware store in St. Nazianz.
- John Miller II, son of John Miller I, who added farm equipment to the store’s wares and who, with his father, became the local dealer for the McCormick Deering brand (later becoming International Harvester and then CaseIH.)
- Victor A. Miller, son of John Miller II, an attorney, and in 1947, founder of the company’s move into wholesaling farm equipment to dealers.
- C. J. Miller, son of John Miller II, who led the retail farm equipment business from 1945-1960 and was CEO of the wholesale business from 1960-1974, developing great growth in that latter business.
- John C. Miller, son of Victor A. Miller, an attorney, who led the retail and wholesale business and who subsequently added a manufacturing segment to the business, which initially produced MILLER PRO forage boxes and other products aimed at dairy farmers ultimately leading to the engineering, production and marketing of NITRO self-propelled sprayers aimed at the corn and soybean markets and which dominated the business in the 21st century. The retail business was sold in 1991 to allow the company to focus on manufacturing. He was CEO from 1974-2007.
- John W. Miller, son of John C. Miller, an attorney, who led the company from 2007-2014, and who drove the company’s growth from domestic sales to markets around the world and oversaw employment growth to almost 300 people.
“Kate and I are really pleased to contribute to building the Wisconsin Agricultural Education Center. Our family’s ag related business was located in the Manitowoc County village of Saint Nazianz for 115 years and we are proud that Manitowoc County was chosen as the location of the Center. It will be a great addition to the area.” -John C. Miller
Miller-St. Nazianz, Inc. was located in St. Nazianz, WI for 115 years and five generations of the Miller family. It started as a blacksmith/hardware store in a farming village and grew to sell its own manufactured products across the globe. In 2014 the company was sold to CNH Industrial, the global manufacturer of New Holland and CaseIH farm and construction equipment.