Rooted in innovation.
The Rauch Foundation was founded in 1961 by Philip Rauch Jr. and Louis Rauch, but its roots go back to their father, Philip Rauch Sr., and his extraordinary success as an entrepreneurial automotive engineer. He invented the hose clamp and in 1913 started the Ideal Corporation to manufacture stainless steel hose clamps for the automotive and aircraft industries.
Ideal supplied the hose clamps for Charles Lindbergh’s airplane "Spirit of St. Louis" for his 1927 solo flight from Long Island to Paris. During World War II, Ideal expanded production of its hose clamps for aircraft, tanks, trains, and ships. By 1953, every car in the Indianapolis 500 was equipped with Ideal hose clamps. The clamps went on to become ubiquitous in American households – used in refrigerators, air conditioning units, washing machines, garden hoses, boats, and plumbing fixtures.
From that success, the Rauch Foundation evolved to create its own legacy in the fields of children and families, the environment, and regional leadership. That legacy continues to grow, as the Foundation extends its own impact, just as the Ideal Corporation did before it.