KINGSLEY, Iowa – Expansion completed in 2010 in the Kingsley business district along with the strong agriculture economy, have benefited the community, resulting in some cases in added staff.
A major investment of $1.8 million by the Farmers Co-Operative Elevator in the new fertilizer plant, one of the most modern in the region, was in full operation in October 2010, says general manager Chris Pedersen.
The plant’s dual functions are blending dry fertilizer for farm application and also dispensing liquid fertilizers. Equipped with the newest, most efficient technology in storage, weighing, and blending, it has proven the promised efficiency and speed.
“On the dry fertilizer side,” Pedersen explains, “we moved 50 percent more tonnage this fall than we have ever done, and our efficiency was at least 300 percent faster. Twenty-four tons can be mixed in eight minutes, previously taking 45 minutes. Unloading capability is now 200 tons per hour compared to 25 tons per hour previously”
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This year, the Farmers Co-Operative expects to upgrade application equipment, and add part-time jobs, production jobs and another salesman. Future plans call for the old fertilizer plant and elevator to be torn down-in later in 2011 or 2012, as well as to increase gain storage capacity and make the drying more efficient. “We have grown for the last eight years,” Pedersen said, “and will continue to do so.”
A strong agricultural economy is helping to drive growth at the co-op and other businesses in Kingsley.
At Titan Machinery, a Case/IH dealer, a very good year with above-average yields for crop farmers resulted in heavy equipment sales fall 2010 for the Kingsley site, said store manager Doug Vondrak.
Vondrak felt fortunate to have ordered as much equipment as he did and said, “We have pretty much sold out of our combines. We had a good run on tillage equipment.”
He feels the “farm economy will be good again this year.” The company, with production of Tier-4 equipment with emission controls, which will slow down availability, is encouraging pre-sales, to sell ahead of the sale, for the farmer to come in in advance and look at what they may be purchasing. Tier-4 tractors will be available in 2011 and Tier-4 combines in 2012.
Vondrak sees the demand for equipment to be high again and believes that “by the middle of summer our total product will be sold out.
The Kingsley site has added staff member, and is always looking “We are always looking for good help; good technicians are always in demand as well as good sales people.”
The Jim Harvey Agency Inc. completed a 1050-square-foot, 42-foot by 25-foot addition in spring 2010, providing much needed space, according to Harvey.
Bob Bird, agency president, said, “The construction/expansion project made for a challenging office environment for our staff and our customers. The end result is everything we had hoped it would be. Our expansion doubled the size of our office, and we completely remodeled our existing office space as well, making for a much more comfortable and professional atmosphere for our clients.
“We also added a much-needed conference room. This allows us to meet with our customers and company reps in a more private setting. It truly has enhanced our ability to provide improved service and also allows for future growth.”
Kingsley Dental Clinic, owned by Drs. Karl and Sara Koelling, DDS, established a satellite clinic in Marcus, a new building which opened in 2010 in the Marcus Business Park. The office in Marcus is open Tuesday and Wednesday and in Kingsley on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in Kingsley.
An expansion on the part of the city of Kingsley was the new city maintenance building on East 1st Street. The 60-foot by 100-foot metal building featuring a heated floor was completed in spring 2010, replacing an 80-year-old building on Main Street.
Just as other Farmers Co-Op and Titan Machinery have added staff, the two banks in town, the Kingsley State Bank and the United Bank of Iowa, have done so or have plans to do so.
The United Bank of Iowa has 23 locations. In Kingsley, the bank’s 3500-square-foot foot building sits along the increasingly crowded Highway 140 frontage road. Ken Hogrefe, vice-president and office manager, says staff will be added in loans, and he sees the bank as becoming more aggressive in “going out and seeing more people.”
The Kingsley State Bank with added two sites, at LeMars and Sergeant Bluff, has added four staff personnel at the three sites in addition to a promotion and a full compliance officer. “Growth in the secondary housing market,” CEO Robert Phelps, says, has prompted the added personnel, “and the government compliance regulations.”
F.S. Repair, approaching 50 years in business, has added three employees in the last 12 to 18 months and has picked up a few new customers though having “to go out farther,” says one of the owners, Craig Sitzmann. “One of our best years in business was last year,” he said.
Fire in downtown Kingsley last February destroyed the Kraft Kleaners building, which housed a dry cleaning, laundromat, tux rental, and commercial laundry business. Peg Kraft-Knudsen, who has run the business since 1947, decided to rebuild and has kept the commercial laundry business functioning through Life Skills personnel at LeMars. She says, “Progress is being made, but it has not been determined when the business will open.”
