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SBIC (South Burnett Importing Company) was the enterprise of Ludwig Rudolph STEHBENS. In 1905 Rudi, as he was known, with his wife, Amy (nee Melville) and family, moved from Bundaberg to Kingaroy. He established himself as a craftsman. He bought 4 allotments at the corner of Haley and Kingaroy Sts, built shops on the site and started his plumbing business.
In 1907, a visitor to Kingaroy stated that although the town is very prosperous, "the thick, black, sticking mud" of the main street is a real problem. In 1910, Rudi bought 80 acres of land on the corner of Kumbia and River Rds and built a house they called "Rose Villa". On the business side, he continued as an entrepreneur. In one of his premises he established a joinery works, which was managed by Harry Falkenbridge for many years. Harry and Rudi built the furniture for the Church of England and the Methodist Church in Kingaroy. In 1919, he bought shares in SBIC, which was then a general store. In 1921 he took over its operations in partnership with the Carrodus brothers, Andy and Claude, further developing it as a department store with ironmongery/hardware, and general store. For this family business, his daughter Elvina Stehbens was the excellent book-keeper, until her marriage in 1922, to Thomas Hunt when she moved to Sydney.
One boost to the Stehbens business, was the contract to supply material for the construction of the Kingaroy peanut silos by the Peanut Marketing Board.
SBIC was nearly destroyed by two events: an embezzlement and a fire. The embezzlement, by one of the partners, nearly bankrupted the firm, but the receiver allowed the business to trade itself out of difficulties, on the condition that Elvie Hunt return to Kingaroy to manage the business during the recovery period. Elvie and Tom returned in 1923 for 4 years.
SBIC later became STEHBENS BROTHERS and was operated by Rudi's sons, Lin & Fred Stehbens.
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