Webster City Iowa B and I businesses - what it means to be home grown

1. What does home
grown mean?
Webster City Area Economic
Development and Chamber of
Commerce

2. Homegrown:
• Free dictionary: Native or
characteristic to a region
• Webster City dictionary: business
started by one or two people and
grown into a competitive, trustworthy,
local large business.
• We are NOT average.

3. Peterson Construction
• 1957 – Peterson and Huisinga started this
little company. In 1979 Peterson bought
out Huisinga.
• Today – John’s sons Gerald and Joel have
joined the team and have grown to be a
large company – and have a sister
company K and H Corporation as well.

4. Average awaits sufficient
case study to prove that it’s
worth it, and is therefore
late to everything.

5. Mary Ann’s Specialty
Foods
• Started over 40 years ago
as a meat locker in
Klemme, Iowa.
• In 1993 they expanded to
Webster City.
• With the capacity to produce over
a half million pounds of product a
week, Mary Ann's has become a
company with a national customer
base, serving customers from New
York to Los Angeles.

6. Average has no courage.

7. McMurray Hatchery
• Murry McMurray started his chicken business in
1917, selling chickens in the bank lobby where he
worked.
• Today, 99% of their
business is done
through their catalog,
which serves the small
farm flock and the
hobbyist. They have a
26,000 square foot
hatchery and employ
many people.

8. Average businesses seeks to
be pretty good at
everything instead of being
the best in the world at a
few (or one).

9. Seneca Foundry
• W. A. McCollough and
Sons foundry changed
it's name to Seneca
Foundry in 1955. Robert
McCollough was the
manager and
grandson of W.A.
McCollough. Seneca
Foundry was small, cast
iron foundry for
agricultural OEM's and
municipal
governments.
• Today they are a
modern gray iron and
ductile iron castings
operation with 35,000
sq. ft. of manufacturing
space under their roof.

10. Average avoids any and all
risk, thereby avoiding both
adventure and failure (two
of the best teaching tools
the world has given us).

11. Storm Flying Service
• Storm Flying Service has been in the flying
business for over 44 years.

12. Average marketing seeks
attention like a high
schooler with low self-
esteem.

13. Swine Graphics
• Swine Graphics
Enterprises, L.P. has
been a vital part of the
Webster City business
community since
1980. By the time Swine
Graphics was
incorporated in 1986
the client base of
records users had
grown from 10 farms to
250 Midwestern farms.
• SGE now owns eight
sow farms. In the
grow/finishing area,
SGE owns 35% and
contracts 65% of the
finishers which produce
500,000 pigs a year.
SGE currently employs
180 employees in
Iowa.

14. Average service focuses on
mitigating complaints as
opposed to delivering
extraordinary.

15. Tasler, Inc.
• Tasler Inc. is celebrating
over 30 years in
production. Starting with
a small-antiquated
building with six
employees, the company
has grown to well over
200 employees and
600,000 square feet of
manufacturing and
warehousing.

16. Average finds comfort in
standing for absolutely
nothing in order to evade
any possible attack.

17. Van Diest Supply
• Bob Van Diest started
Van Diest Supply
Company in the fall of
1956. The business was
operated from a small
office in the Van Diest
home, and business was
often times transacted
over coffee around the
kitchen table. When Bob
was in the field farming,
his wife Mary would
answer the phone, take
orders and wait on
customers.
• Van Diest Supply
Company now
employs over 650
people, has 44
buildings at Webster
City, Iowa with
approximately 28 acres
under roof and 16
outlying distribution
centers located across
the Midwest.

18. Average never leads.

19. Vantec, Inc.
• In the early 1980’s, Bev and Willie Van Wyhe heard
that Webster City Rewind, a motor rewind
company, was selling their plastics operation. The
Van Wyhe’s recognized the opportunity and
purchased the company. At the time of
purchase, there were only two injection molding
machines and two employees.
• Today, Vantec, Inc. is
housed in a 145,000 sq. ft.
building and employs 150
people with various
aptitudes.

20. Average praises
incremental change because
it is afraid of revolution.

21. Webster City Custom
Meats
• Webster City Custom
Meats, Inc. (WCCM) was
formed January 9,
1973. WCCM operates a
meat processing facility
located in Webster City,
Iowa.
• In 1976, WCCM's
operation was expanded
from just a three-person
meat locker into a 15,000
square foot pork
processing facility.
• Their operations take place
in three separate buildings.
Their campus of buildings
consists of the 57,000 square
foot main plant, the 35,000
square foot warehouse and
the 9,000 square foot truck
garage. Currently,
• WCCM is expanding their
boning and sausage
operations, and updating
the inedible handling area,
as well as the ham defrosting
facility, ultimately adding
over 5,000 square feet to the
main plant facility.

22. Average people are
governed by fear, but
convince themselves its
prudence.

23. White Transfer and
Storage
• Art White started in business in 1900.
• White Transfer and Storage Company is an
industry leading 3rd Party Logistics (3PL)
and distribution provider located in the
Midwest . They are a family owned
company dedicated to total customer
satisfaction through a support system for
their customers. Through all aspects, White
Transfer can provide and support all
functions of your company's supply chain
management needs.
• With over 100 years of experience and 3
generations of families, White Transfer has
the ability to help customer's continued
success in existing and new markets.

24. Other Business and
Industry/Chamber Members
• Black Hills Energy
• Cropland
• Doolittle Oil Company, Inc.
• First State Bank
• Webster City Federal Savings Bank
• Tile Pros/TMI
• Trashman
• Webster City RV
There are over 160 Chamber members, many with similar stories – a desire to
start a business that caters to the customer and grows to suit the community,
state and country. For more information, please contact the Webster City Area
Chamber of Commerce at 515-832-2564 or email deb@visitwebstercityiowa.com

25. You want to know the secret of winning?
Calculate the expectations of those you
are serving, and exceed them. Every
single time.
Average is not inherited or thrust upon
us. It’s a decision, a choice we make.

26. Webster City Home Grown –
Far from average
AJ Leon shared the average quotes and you can find him at http://aj-
leon.com/pursuitofeverything/the-anatomy-of-average/