Stellar Industries continues to grow

annual earnings

KAYLEE SCHUERMANN

Globe Gazette

Stellar Industries in Garner is one company that has continued to grow and thrive post-pandemic through employee ownership and financial incentives, new technologies, and a new distribution center

According to its website, “Stellar is a 100% employee-owned and operated manufacturer of high-quality work trucks and trailers as well as service truck and van accessories ”

At the beginning of the pandemic, Stellar Industries shut down for a week to evaluate how to navigate moving forward During this period, the company proceeded to pay its employees 70% of their standard wages The following week, half of the staff returned in person The production floor returned to full staff shortly after

David Zrostlik, Stellar Industries president, attributes the ability of office employees to work from home to the company’s “forward-thinking IT department,” which had laptops for many to use at home

Stellar Industries brought in more robotic devices to limit human contact within production This allowed some employees to be moved to different roles

“Since we’re a growing company, we had plenty of other positions for them,” said Zrostlik “Maybe the robot took the place of three people who were doing hand welding, but now these people are welding some of our truck bodies, hook lifts or other products that were not affected by bringing the robots in ”

As the company’s value and employee stock ownership plan values continued to grow, the company saw an increasing need to restructure how these funds were dispersed As it grew, the former system decreased the distribution opportunities for new employees

To solve this problem, Stellar Industries became employee-owned and changed how the ESOP is funded to the employees Now it is based on a percentage of the individual’s

“If someone were making, say, $20 an hour, three to four dollars per hour they work is going into their ESOP account, and they don’t have to put a dime of their own money in it; it flows in from the company,” Zrostlik said

Several years ago, the company also exchanged yearly bonuses for monthly ones These incentives require employees to have no more than one unexcused absence and one tardy per month The company also sends weekly charts and statistics to encourage employees to continue pushing forward

“It says how we are doing so far this month; here’s where we are getting to our break-over point to where you start earning more money in the profit sharing,” said Zrostlik “It means a lot to people, like if I get a few more things built I can probably increase what I’m going to get in that profit share ”

In June 2021, Stellar Industries purchased MD Products & Solutions and now uses the facility for manufacturing and as a parts distribution center dedicated to customers’ needs

“In the past, we’ve had one bucket where all the parts are, whether we’re building a new product or taking a part out to ship to a customer that broke something,” said Zrostlik “ So we knew we had to get an independent warehouse just for our customers”

The company partnered its manufacturing engineering team with Iowa State University interns to gather data “to determine what parts needed to be stocked in the warehouse,” according to a press release

As a result, the company has created a faster turnaround time from the moment an order is placed to when it is shipped, cutting it from 48-72 hours

ROB HILLESLAND Summit-Tribune

The Britt Group is working on its first major project preserving the former First State Bank building in Britt.

Formed officially with articles of incorporation in January 2015, it is headed by former Britt Mayor Jim Nelson and includes original board members Garry Kerns,Gary Gelner, Carolyn DeKruif, Laurie Eden,Allen Eden,and Skip Miller, of Britt, and Betty Moylan, who recently moved to Myrtle Beach.

The organization’s mission is to “beautify, restore, and invest today and tomorrow”

Attorney Earl Hill helped the group set up its nonprofit status, volunteering his time to get it established legally and file its first year’s tax returns The group’s first project is a doozy the 1916 building that was designed by well-known architect John Henry Jeffers for Commercial State Bank

It is best known as the former First State Bank but housed numerous other things over the years

Jeffers also designed the state of Wisconsin’s Exhibition Building for the 1904 St. Louis World Fair,the Carnegie Library in Clear Lake, and a 1919 prairie-style home at on First Avenue Southwest in Britt. Many of his buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places a listing the BRITT Group was originally seeking for the former bank building.

“We talked to some people and an official with the State of Iowa about the Register of Historic Places,” Nelson said. “Unfortunately, the prior owner gutted too much of the original work out of the middle of the building. It’s such a beautiful building that we don’t want to let it go”

The BRITT Group has invested an estimated $50,000 in saving the building since purchasing it from the city for $35 in 2014

Funds have come from Laurie Eden, grants, and a couple of spaghetti-dinner fundraisers that collected approximately $1,500 One of the grants was from the W David Ley Foundation, associated with the original owners of Farmers Trust and Savings Banks in Britt, Buffalo Center, Lakota, Lake Mills, and Bricelyn, Minnesota.

“The goal is to get the building to the point we can sell it,” said Nelson, noting that the west half of the original building had to be torn off due to deterioration, although the basement portion of that half is still there. “Maybe it could be a hotel with businesses down below or just a hotel. We’re open to whatever idea someone comes up with”

The group put together drawings and pictures of what the building may look like restored as a hotel. They were assisted by four Iowa State University architectural students, who assisted as part of a class project. Nelson said the restored building could be named “Center and Main” whether housing a hotel, motel, apartments, mini-mall, or some combination. He cited the community’s need of additional motel rooms and apartments, saying that retail space could also be added.

“We’d still like to do more and add on to it, but money talks” Nelson said. “We’re certainly open to most anything”

Nelson said upper-level floor boards are in pretty good condition. The main floor is almost entirely solid concrete and metal. It is built well with I-beam con- struction In addition to windows, repairing some water damage to a portion of the tall first floor ceiling is also on the list of repairs, as is some plumbing and electrical work.

The portion of the building that remains is approximately 80 feet long and 40 feet wide. The basement is about 120-130 feet long. One-fourth of the full, original building never had a basement underneath. The basement has been used for apartments, living quarters, storage, and a barber shop in the past.

“It’s salvageable because of that and the good concrete floor,” Nelson said. “It would be nice if someone would say ‘I could use a building like that. That is why we put a new roof on it.”

The storied history of the building includes housing many other businesses after First State Bank relocated across the street by 1980 That list includes a beauty shop,commodities and brokerage firm, boutique, and photography studio “It was kind of a mini-mall for a while because two or three businesses were in there at the same time,” Nelson said.

The BRITT Group also has plans beyond the old bank building restoration.

“It’s not just a one-time proj- ect that the BRITT Group is undertaking”Nelson