ABOUT THE BIHL GROUP
The long history of the Bihl Group is marked by hard work. It all started in 1969, when the patriarch José Almiro Bihl, then 19 years old, started working as a meat and sausage seller and distributor in the state of Paraná. Two years later, in 1971, he inaugurated his first company: Frigo Bihl, located in the municipality of Jacupiranga (SP). Initially with 30 employees, the business specialized in the sale of sausages and meat. In 1973, José Almiro married Dirce Simioni Bihl, who became an important support in the financial management of the family business. Until 1983, Frigo Bihl began to strengthen itself economically and count on important customers, such as Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio, Camargo Corrêa and Mendes Júnior.
With a lot of effort, José Almiro Bihl and his wife, Dirce Simione Bihl, began in 1984 the works for the construction of a large refrigerator in the municipality of Araputanga (MT): the Frigoara. The unit starts operating in 1986, employing 500 employees from the western region of Mato Grosso and consolidating the policy of prioritizing and strengthening the economy of developing regions. In 1988, the sons Paulo Roberto Bihl, Márcio M. Bihl and José Ricardo started to help in the business, passing through all the operational, administrative and commercial functions of the family companies. In 1994, the group began to identify itself as the Bihl Family, with a staff of 1,200 employees. In 2000, the activities of Curtume Araputanga S/A (Curtuara) began,
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
Developing industry in this period in Mato Grosso was not an easy task. Cities were served by thermoelectric plants with energy rationing. Faced with this energy deficiency, it was necessary to build a new model of entrepreneurship, diversifying activity that could add value to what already existed. It sought approval, invested and took, on its own, 25 kilometers of the energy line from the substation in the municipality of Quatro Marcos to Araputanga, benefiting the entire region. In 2000, it also invested in the construction of a Small Hydroelectric Power Plant, on the Jaurú River, the first built by a private company, thus strengthening the energy system to serve industrial projects and making the surplus available for the interconnected system.