“It’s no wonder there’s been a lot of great economic development and success in the Le Mars area, because you’ve got a lot of great people working for you.” “Both the county and the city have extended open arms, welcomed us with open arms,” he said. Timmerman thanked both the city and the county for their availability and assistance with the planned ICON Ag facility. The city will also provide soil as needed for the ICON Ag project, borrowed from the Le Mars Industrial Park Second Addition. The $495,000 water and sewer projects will be paid for with Joint Urban Renewal dollars and will offer some of the needed utilities for ICON Ag’s relocation, as well as any future development in the area. The ICON Ag site is within Le Mars city limits, and earlier this summer, the Le Mars City Council approved adding water and sewer lines to serve that area. The industrial tax exemptions from both entities will start at 75 percent the first year and diminish by steps each year to 15 percent the final year. The collaboration among the City of Le Mars, Plymouth County and ICON Ag moved the project forward, she said.īoth the city and county are offering ICON Ag tax rebates for five years, starting June 2011. “Within Le Mars, there’s more food-grade industry, if we can get more light industrial out here it opens our chances to obtain all different types of businesses,” Westergard said. She shared Kass’ view that ICON Ag’s decision to move there might help get the ball rolling for other businesses to locate along Key Avenue, create jobs and grow the local business district. Plymouth County Economic Development Director Andrea Westergard said she and other county officials showed ICON Ag representatives the new site in 2009. “We can’t get big equipment and semis in there as easily as we’d like to, so we started our search,” Timmerman said. When ICON Ag bought that John Deere dealership, the existing site on 170th Street came with it, he said. The process of looking for a new site for ICON Ag started about two years ago - even before company officials bought the former Midwest Equipment business in Le Mars in 2008, Timmerman said. Timmerman said they’ll probably also hire an employee to deliver the oil. The company recently purchased a trailer to distribute the oil around the area. With the move, ICON Ag will also add larger-scale bulk oil distribution to its roster.īig bulk oil tanks will be installed at the Le Mars site. “Probably the first place we’ll add employees is to the service department,” Timmerman said, explaining that the larger shop will likely require hiring three or four people immediately. The new Le Mars site will initially employ 16 people. Ultimately, he said, the site may help grow ICON Ag’s business - including adding as many as 10 new employees.

“We really feel like this new facility is going to allow us to do a better job of meeting our customers’ needs and helping make our employees more efficient,” he said. The new building, about 40,000 square feet, will house an expanded showroom, a larger lot for equipment, and a bigger shop with an overhead hoist, according to an ICON Ag news release. The current lot is about 12.5 acres, and the new lot is about 15, Timmerman said. The site also offers more space than the current ICON Ag site north of Le Mars. “Right now we travel around to all the different locations, which isn’t always the most efficient,” he said. The new facility will be the business’ first headquarters for corporate and administrative employees because of its central location among ICON Ag’s five sites, Timmerman said

The visibility along Highway 75/60 is perfect for displaying equipment for sale, he added. “There’s a lot of access as far as getting our equipment in and out.” “When you look at it, it’s obvious how perfectly it sits between a major highway and a secondary road here,” Timmerman said, standing along Key Avenue. Until ICON Ag’s announcement, the stretch along Key Avenue has remained undeveloped acres and farmland.īut ICON Ag leaders saw potential, according to the company’s general manager Adam Timmerman, who spoke at the groundbreaking.

Lemars ag center