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June 19, 2009
By BILL SHEA, Messenger staff writer
A $3.1 million project announced Thursday by C&S Products Co. Inc. will enable the Fort Dodge maker of wild bird feed to expand its merchandise line and hire five new employees. ‘‘It’s an exciting time with C&S Products,’’ said Tim O’Tool, the company’s vice president of operations.
About 30 people gathered at the company’s headquarters, 1528 Cardinal Ave., to hear O’Tool outline the three-phase project. It includes these steps:
• Installation of two new dry blending systems at the main plant on Cardinal Avenue
• Creation of a new fully automated packaging line specifically designed for what the company
calls its Delight products.
• Addition of a new processing and unloading facility with a climate-controlled storage area
O’Tool said the new packaging line will increase the company’s output capacity by 30 percent.
‘‘As a family-owned corporation in Iowa, which is where our roots are and will remain, the modernization upgrades allows us to move the company into the next phase of its life and will create greater opportunity to future expansions of innovative products in our wild bird product market as well as other pet-related industries,’’ O’Tool said.
Five new jobs will be created. According to O’Tool, those positions will be skilled jobs in the processing, manufacturing and warehousing departments. Information on the wages for the new positions wasn’t released. ‘‘We do not measure our success by the numbers of employees, but rather by the quality and security of the positions we provide,’’ O’Tool said.
He said the project will begin immediately and continue over three years. ‘‘We’ve got some great news today,’’ Mayor Terry Lutz said about the plan.
The state and city governments provided some financial aid to assist the company. Bob Bocken, the Fort Dodge man who is chairman of the Iowa Economic Development Board, said the state is loaning the company $200,000. He said half of that amount is a forgivable loan that the company will not have to pay back. The state board approved that loan Thursday morning.
The city government plans to loan the company $350,000, according to Dennis Plautz, the city’s director of business affairs and community growth. That money would come from a tax increment finance account, not the general fund that pays for services such as police and fire protection. Plautz said $175,000 of that loan will be forgivable.
He said the company’s leaders have agreed to have its property along Cardinal Avenue, which is north of the city, annexed into Fort Dodge. The annexation, he said, will not include any other companies along that road. The current city limits are just south and east of the area to be annexed. Plautz said the property tax revenue generated by the annexed area will be placed in the general fund, instead of a tax increment financing account.
C&S Products Co. Inc. was established in Fort Dodge in 1986 by Kevin and Karen Alstott. Kevin Alstott is the chief executive officer; Karen Alstott is the president. They were not at Thursday’s announcement.
Plautz said the company they started is the ‘‘premier, leading bird seed company in the United States.’’ ‘‘This expansion is a testament to the ownership’s vision of the future of C&S,’’ O’Tool said. ‘‘The Alstotts have been committed to providing opportunities to their employees for the past 23 years and this further shows their loyalty to Fort Dodge in making it C&S’s home. This expansion is also testament to the staff of C&S. It’s their relentless day-in and day-out dedication and pursuit of excellence that has made C&S what it is today.’’
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