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December 2006
KEDA - Business Update
2006 Business Briefing
What an exciting year for businesses in Koochiching County! The following is a highlight of a few of Koochiching County's "movers and shakers" during 2006:
Page & Hill Forest Products of Big Falls, Minnesota was awarded a $300,000 grant through USDA Rural Development's Value-Added Producer Grant Program. Grants may be used for planning activities and for working capital for marketing value-added agricultural products and for farm-based renewable energy. Eligible applicants are independent producers, farmer and rancher cooperatives, agricultural producer groups, and majority-controlled producer-based business ventures.
Page & Hill will use the grant for working capital expenses associated with marketing their new waterborne Chemolite lumber preservative treatment of a variety of northern Minnesota wood species to keep up with the increase in demand. Page & Hill has been in business for nearly a century and under the ownership of the Hufnagle family since 1968.
Rich Hufnagle, and his brother Aaron, who currently run the family-owned business, are excited about the opportunities that the grant will provide. Although full use of the grant has not yet been finalized, the grant will be used for both operational expenses (wages and raw materials) as well as marketing efforts to increase their presence in the industry. "[The grant] is really going to give our marketing a shot in the arm," said Aaron Hufnagle.
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Al Shannon, President of Shannon's Inc. received a national award of Trane/PHCC HVAC Contractor of the Year from the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association. Shannon's Inc. is the first Minnesota-based company to be honored with the award. Al has been working since he was 8 years old along side his dad, Len Shannon. Earlier this year Shannon also won a statewide HVAC Contractor of the Year award from the Minnesota Association of PHCC. Shannon's Inc is a full service residential and commercial contractor with offices with over 100 employees providing plumbing, heating and cooling services to Northern Minnesota with two offices, located in International Falls and Bemidji.
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Northland Distributing and Manufacturing, Inc. are taking advantage of their location and turning the cold into gold. Northland Distributing, a family-owned and operated business, has been helping heat homes and businesses since 1998. Beginning as a distributor of outdoor wood boilers, and encouraged by tremendous sales growth, Northland Distributing decided to supplement their existing suppliers and manufacture their own boilers, to help keep up with the fast-growing demand.
With assistance from the City of International Falls, and KEDA, Northland Distributing's current expansion includes a new showroom as well as a new manufacturing facility. They also expect to also expand their workforce from 15 up to 35 employees by June 2007. Northland Distributing's new expansion will also receive the tax benefits of being located in one of Koochiching County's JOBZ zones. "This is one of the most significant new manufacturing projects in Koochiching County," said KEDA Director, Paul Nevanen.
This expansion will support the company's plan to globalize as well. Products and pilot stoves are arriving from China, and the company is working to establish itself in New Zealand, Ireland and possibly Germany in the future. Keith and Brenda Horne, owners of Northland Distributing and Manufacturing, see this only as the beginning. Keith's long-term goal is to add 40 to 60 additional employees over the next few years that will support an expanded and diversified product line. Northland Distributing currently sells fireplaces, plumbing and heating supplies in addition to their wide selection of outdoor boilers.
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