progress BUSINESS & INDUSTRY PART 3: B
Submitted photo This Titan front-loading refuse truck is the model that will be built in Charles City at Curbtender’s new production facility in the Southwest Development Park. Production was expected to begin this month with the fi rst truck coming off the assembly line soon.
Curbtender prepares to launch production in Charles City
By Bob Steenson bsteenson@charlescitypress.com
A major new manufacturer is prepar- ing to begin operations in Charles City, bringing new jobs and economic growth to the community. Curbtender LLC, a Cedar Falls-based manufacturer of refuse collection vehi- cles, purchased a production facility in the city’s Southwest Development Park and is on track to soon begin assembling front-loading garbage trucks. The company initially announced that it would create 20 new jobs at the Charles City facility, but has since re- vised its projections upward. Curbtender CEO Kevin Watje, speak- ing at the January meeting of the Charles City Area Development Corp., said he now expects the plant to employ between 50 and 60 workers in the coming months, with further potential for growth as the company ramps up production. The CCADC, at its February meeting, agreed to award Curbtender a $20,000 capital fund forgivable loan contingent on creating at least 50 jobs within 36 months, paying an average wage of at least the current Charles City laborshed manufac- turing average of $22.58 per hour. The Southwest Bypass TIF District, at its February meeting, agreed to a $62,500 forgivable loan requiring at least 50 new jobs at a wage rate of at least $22.58 an hour. Just as with the CCADC loan, there are repayment requirements for fewer than 50 jobs or lower wages or lower av- erage wages than $22.50. Curbtender has been a recognized name in waste collection vehicle manufacturing for more than 50 years, originally oper- ating under the name Wayne Engineering before Watje and his business partners acquired the company out of bankruptcy two decades ago, the company said. Since then, the company has expanded signi fi cantly, seeing a 500% increase in
Press photo by Bob Steenson The former Winnebago van RV assembly building in the Southwest Industrial Park is being made ready to build front-load re- fuse hauling trucks for Curbtender, a Cedar Falls-based company that plans to hire 50 or more employees in Charles City in at least the next couple of years.
revenue since 2018. Curbtender specializes in manufac- turing a variety of equipment, includ- ing street sweepers, leaf loaders, roll-off hoists and landscape bodies, but it has found that its best strategy is to focus each of its production facilities on specif- ic product lines, the company said. “We’ve learned that we are most suc- cessful when we concentrate on manu- facturing one or two products per facility instead of trying to produce everything at every location,” Watje said. IN CHARLES CITY, THE FOCUS WILL BE exclusively on producing front-load- ing garbage trucks – the type used to lift dumpsters from the front and empty them over the cab into the truck’s storage com- partment. These trucks are currently being built at the company’s headquarters in Cedar Falls, but space limitations there have
made expansion necessary. The decision to establish a plant in Charles City was driven by multiple fac- tors, including the availability of an ex- isting facility, the town’s workforce and its location. “We’re very fortunate to fi nd this building,” Watje said. “We’re very ex- cited about it because we’ve got a lot of great candidates (for) employees.” Curbtender acquired the former Win- nebago Industries assembly building at 1200 11th Street. Winnebago had announced last year in July that it was closing its Class B moto- rhome manufacturing facility in Charles City to concentrate manufacturing of the van-based recreational vehicles in Lake Mills. Winnebago continues to operate its larger Charles City Hardwoods facility just across the street from the building that has been sold to Curbtender in the
city’s Southwest Development Park. Watje emphasized that the company prefers expanding into smaller commu- nities, where it believes it can fi nd a reli- able workforce. “When we build new factories, or go to a different factory, let’s go to a place that’s smaller, preferably rural, because we think the rural work ethic is better,” he said. “The choices that people have there seem to align with us better.” This strategy has worked well for Curbtender in the past. The company’s expansion to Gothen- burg, Nebraska, in 2020, which focused on rear-loading refuse trucks, followed a similar model. Despite launching in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nebraska facility has grown to employ 55 workers in under fi ve years. CURBTENDER , turn to page B2
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