Three Northwest Iowa businesses will be honored
By Russ Oechslin, Journal Correspondent | Posted: Thursday, December 04, 2008
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- Three Northwest Iowa businesses are among eight that will be recognized tonight for their contributions in diversifying and developing Iowa's economy.
The awards will be presented by the Iowa Area Development Group -- a consortium of the state's rural electric cooperatives and member municipal electric utilities -- at an annual meeting of the Iowa Association of Electrical Cooperatives in West Des Moines.
The three Northwest Iowa companies are Dakota Pack Inc., Estherville; Roorda Dairy LLC, Paullina; and Van Ess Dairy LLC, Sanborn.
IADG president Rand Fisher said the awards "chronicle the courage of people who have transformed organizations, created new products and industries, enriched families and communities and strengthened our local and state economies."
Dakota Pack is a full-service provider of pork products, specializing in wholesale, retail and specialty cuts of pork. In addition to owning and managing a slaughter and packing facility, the company has partnered with a group of pork producers in central Iowa to form Blue Water Free Range Pork, a fully integrated provider of free-range antibiotic-free pork for specialty markets.
Doug Skinner, is president of Dakota Pack.
In recognizing two similar dairy operations, Fisher noted, "When it comes to economic impact, few things are more valuable to a rural community than the presence of dairy farms.
"Independent studies from state universities in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa place the economic impact of between $13,000 and $17,000 for each dairy cow."
A family-owned business, Roorda Dairy began operations near Paullina earlier this year. The Roorda family came to the United States from Holland in 1948 and began a family dairy operation in the state of Washington. The family moved its dairy operations to Idaho in 1990.
In 2007, John and Larry Roorda began construction of a 4,000-head dairy to milk 3,300 cows three times each day near Paullina. Their nephews Brian, Lance and Scott started milking cows at the new facility earlier this year. The dairy produces approximately 30,000 gallons of milk each day.
Neighbors in Idaho also became neighbors in Iowa, as Van Ess Dairy LLC, also moved from Idaho to Northwest Iowa earlier this year and built a state-of-the-art facility that is environmentally friendly.
Like the Roorda dairy, the Van Ess facility also milks 3,300 cows. The Van Ess family includes Harvey and Lisa, their sons Joshua, Jeremy and his wife Patricia, Chad and his wife Kymlee, Tyler, and Todd, and a recent grandson, Cameron.
"The total number of dairy cows and the number of dairy herds in Iowa have declined since 1960," Fisher said. "But the dairy industry has been changing and IADG and its economic development partners have been working diligently to market both dairy production and processing. There is no reason our state can't climb into the top 10 dairying states," he added.
The awards will be presented by the Iowa Area Development Group -- a consortium of the state's rural electric cooperatives and member municipal electric utilities -- at an annual meeting of the Iowa Association of Electrical Cooperatives in West Des Moines.
The three Northwest Iowa companies are Dakota Pack Inc., Estherville; Roorda Dairy LLC, Paullina; and Van Ess Dairy LLC, Sanborn.
IADG president Rand Fisher said the awards "chronicle the courage of people who have transformed organizations, created new products and industries, enriched families and communities and strengthened our local and state economies."
Dakota Pack is a full-service provider of pork products, specializing in wholesale, retail and specialty cuts of pork. In addition to owning and managing a slaughter and packing facility, the company has partnered with a group of pork producers in central Iowa to form Blue Water Free Range Pork, a fully integrated provider of free-range antibiotic-free pork for specialty markets.
Doug Skinner, is president of Dakota Pack.
In recognizing two similar dairy operations, Fisher noted, "When it comes to economic impact, few things are more valuable to a rural community than the presence of dairy farms.
"Independent studies from state universities in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa place the economic impact of between $13,000 and $17,000 for each dairy cow."
A family-owned business, Roorda Dairy began operations near Paullina earlier this year. The Roorda family came to the United States from Holland in 1948 and began a family dairy operation in the state of Washington. The family moved its dairy operations to Idaho in 1990.
In 2007, John and Larry Roorda began construction of a 4,000-head dairy to milk 3,300 cows three times each day near Paullina. Their nephews Brian, Lance and Scott started milking cows at the new facility earlier this year. The dairy produces approximately 30,000 gallons of milk each day.
Neighbors in Idaho also became neighbors in Iowa, as Van Ess Dairy LLC, also moved from Idaho to Northwest Iowa earlier this year and built a state-of-the-art facility that is environmentally friendly.
Like the Roorda dairy, the Van Ess facility also milks 3,300 cows. The Van Ess family includes Harvey and Lisa, their sons Joshua, Jeremy and his wife Patricia, Chad and his wife Kymlee, Tyler, and Todd, and a recent grandson, Cameron.
"The total number of dairy cows and the number of dairy herds in Iowa have declined since 1960," Fisher said. "But the dairy industry has been changing and IADG and its economic development partners have been working diligently to market both dairy production and processing. There is no reason our state can't climb into the top 10 dairying states," he added.
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