Manufacturing

Kandiyohi County has a strong agricultural and manufacturing foundation buoyed by an entrepreneurial spirit.  The largest specialties include food manufacturing, fabricated metal, plastics and rubber product manufacturing, nonmetallic mineral product manufacturing, printing and related support activities and chemical manufacturing, which is also one of the fastest growing sectors in the county.

Kandiyohi County has a high concentration of skilled production workers, including assemblers and fabricators, food processing workers and metal and plastic workers.  To get products to market, there are also nearly 2,000 transportation and material moving workers, including truck drivers and laborers. (source: DEED)

Our Manufacturing Statistics:

• 2,970 jobs in the county are in manufacturing

• Manufacturing is the third largest industry (13.4%) with 71 firms

• Average annual manufacturing wages are $40,612

• Manufacturing provided $133.6 million in gross sales in 2008 (source: Minnesota Department of Revenue)

• In contrast to other areas of the state where employers laid off -14.5% of their workforce during the 2007-2010 recession, Kandiyohi County lost just 123 manufacturing jobs, a -4.0% decline; much of that due to the county's strength in food manufacturing (source: DEED)

• The county's strength is in food manufacturing with 1,782 jobs at 10 manufacturers, accounting for 60.0% of total manufacturing employment

Some of our Nationally-Known Manufacturers:

• Concrete Products of New London, established in 1937, the company continues to manufacture concrete products, including its own patented retaining wall products, LondonStone, Rugged LondonStone and LondonLites

• Epitōpix discovers, develops, manufactures and sells veterinary vaccines based upon its proprietary SRP^® Technology

• Gurley's Foods (Willmar Cookie & Nut Co.) was started in 1953 in Willmar and is a full line processor of nuts, candies and confections for retail outlets for distribution across the country

• Jennie-O Foods began in the 1940s as a vision of Willmar entrepreneur Earl B. Olson and is now one of the world’s leading processors and marketers of turkey products; Jennie-O Turkey Store, Inc. processes over 1.2 billion pounds of turkey on an annual basis

• Maracom Corporation is a national specialty printer producing post cards, calendars and other printed products for commercial and promotional use

• Molenaar, LLC is a private manufacturer and national supplier of a variety of advertising specialties and custom promotional products

• Willmar Fabrication, one of three diverse companies that makes up Claussen Companies, specializes in steel fabrication, welding, paint and assembly and also provides access to custom rotationally molded plastic

• Willmar Poultry Company, in business for more than 60 years and a leader in its industry, produces about 45 million commercial eggs annually; its Willmar hatchery is the largest in the industry and typically delivers over 600,000 poults weekly to customers