Ed Ismert, Jr., started plumbing product manufacturer Sioux Chief in 1957 as a way to smooth the boom-bust housing cycle his plumbing wholesale supply company experienced. Nearly six decades later, Sioux Chief, still run by the Ismert family, continues to thrive as an American manufacturer of a wide variety of plumbing installation products. Sioux Chief now operates out of a 140-acre, nearly 400,000-sq.-ft. plant-warehouse south of Peculiar, Mo.