Local company increases footprint in Spencer

(Photo by Russ Mitchell) Maurer Manufacturing owners recently purchased property, including the former Shopper's Supply warehouse in Spencer's industrial park. The acquisition will allow the company to own the entire side of the block seen here. [Order this photo]

The company is acquiring the former Shopper's Supply warehouse, which is north of the current three-lot, 18-acre Maurer site. About 90 employees work at the Spencer plant.

Maurer Manufacturing General Manager Chris Tostenrud said the property acquisition will help maintain current workforce levels. When Demco, a sister company in Boyden, needed more storage room for grain-handling equipment, the company transferred production of gravity-flow wagons to Spencer.

"Spencer, for the good part of 2009, built the gravity-flow wagons," Tostenrud said. "They were branded 'Demco' and Spencer is going to continue to do that in 2010 also."

The newly acquired industrial park lot and Shopper's Supply building will be used for "possible expansion and a place to store the finished project," according to the Maurer general manager.

"We'll build product and it gets picked up at certain times," Tostenrud said. "You need to have a place to put it until your customer comes and gets it. We were, borderline, running out of some grass this year."

She added: "With this property available for sale, it just was a natural fit for us. We own street-corner-to-street-corner on that side of the block now."

The company plans to take the warehouse space dedicated at Maurer's main plant and move that storage to the former Shopper's building. They'll then use the space at Maurer's main plant as production space.

The former Shopper's Supply building is about three times larger than the current Maurer plant.

The company is also leasing two hangars formerly occupied by Great Lakes Aviation, where product and raw materials are kept. Some storage at the Northwest Iowa Regional Airport is still going to be needed.

"As a company, we believe in Spencer; we want to stay in Spencer, otherwise, we wouldn't be buying more dirt in Spencer," Tostenrud said.

Tostenrud said the agricultural machinery industry has remained steady for the most part.

"We have not laid people off," Tostenrud said. "I think we are one of the few employers in town that did not have a layoff of people. We've maintained our employment levels, we've had some individuals that we've brought on, through the temp agencies, and we've made offers of full-time employment to them."

The company makes trailers, extensions, augers and other equipment for the farm industry. Maurer Manufacturing has been in the city since 1995, including a change of ownership in 2000.