40th Anniversary: The Braun Corporation celebrated its 40th anniversary with a company picnic at its Winamac headquarters Saturday, June 30. This photo from early years of the company - when it was located on South Monticello Street, next door to the Dairy Queen - shows some of Braun's early conversion vans. While the anniversary picnic is not open to the public, company founder Ralph Braun will sponsor a fireworks display for the community to enjoy late that evening

While Braun Corporation was officially founded in1972, Braun began designing mobility products long before. In 1963 he engineered a three-wheeled scooter as an alternative to his manual wheelchair. The scooter, which he called the Tri-Wheeler, attracted attention from individuals with disabilities, and Braun began working late hours after his day job filling these orders.

A few years later he engineered a hydraulic lift that allowed him to drive or ride a full-size van from his Tri-Wheeler. As interest from the disability community increased, so did orders for more scooters and lifts. Soon Braun made the decision to quit his full-time job and focus his efforts solely on his business.

Today Braun Corporation is the leading provider of wheelchair lifts and wheelchair accessible vehicles both domestically and internationally. When it was first founded, Braun had four full-time employees. Over the past 40 years that number has increased to nearly 850 employees in four states: Indiana, Michigan, Florida and Arizona.

Employees had the opportunity to celebrate how far the company has come over the past 40 years during the picnic. The celebration was held from 5 to 11 p.m. and included carnival rides, games, and food, as well as free entertainment and company tours.

While the picnic was not open to the public, Ralph Braun sponsored a fireworks display for the community to enjoy at the end of the night.