© 2024 Iowa Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Unverferth adds jobs in a drought year

Pat Blank

Farm equipment maker Unverferth Manufacturing Incorporated is taking a leap of faith by adding jobs with the help of a 600 thousand dollar boost from the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

The Shell Rock plant is Butler County’s largest employer with 425 current jobs. The state money will be used to build a  6 million dollar expansion and create 75 jobs over three years.

Butler County Development Director Jeff Kolb says, “I met with them a couple of months ago, and they weren’t sure they wanted to move forward with the plan, but they felt they could find the right people for the job, so they pulled the trigger on it.”  He says, “You know we’re experiencing a very serious drought this year but eventually that will go away, and there will always be a demand for their product, they see that, they look long range.”

The new positions will pay above the county’s average wage of $ 15 dollars an hour.

Unverferth has operated in rural Shell Rock for 20 years after acquiring the property from Brent Industries. The company makes products for grain handling, tillage, hay transport and spraying.

Construction on the  81,000 square foot addition is underway and is expected to be complete in March of 2013.

Pat Blank is the host of All Things Considered