CELEBRATING FRISKIES
Nestle Purina plant marks 50 years in Fort Dodge
By BILL SHEA
bshea@messengernews.net
Cat lovers across the United States have been serving their feline friends Friskies brand wet cat food for decades.
And for 50 years, the cans of that food have come from a plant in Fort Dodge. The golden anniversary of the Nestle Purina PetCare plant at 2400 Fifth Ave. S. was celebrated in August 2025.
The celebration was about much more than a facility, according to Trever Morgan, the Nestle Purina factory manager.
“It’s really about people,” he said.
Factories, he said, are more than walls and machinery. It’s the relationships and commitment of the people who work in them that make them successful, he said.
“What we do, we do as a community, as a family,” he said.
Representatives of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance presented Morgan with a plaque marking the 50th anniversary of the plant.
“For half a century, Nestle Purina has been a cornerstone of Fort Dodge and our regional economy,” said Astra Ferris, the chief executive officer of the Growth Alliance.
Cory Buscher, who is vice president of manufacturing for Nestle Purina PetCare, started his career in the Fort Dodge plant in 1997 as a quality assurance technician. He worked there until 2001.
Then he returned to Fort Dodge in 2010 to serve as factory manager, a post he held through 2015.
In August, he was back in Fort Dodge again.
“For me, this is just such a moment of pride,” he said.
He said he’s proud of the plant’s safety record, efficiency, quality and service to customers.
The anniversary celebrated last summer almost did not happen, however. In fact, there was a time when it appeared the plant was doomed because of a 1995 Federal Trade Commission ruling.
That year, the Federal Trade Commission issued a ruling that would have effectively shut down the plant, then owned by Carnation. Carnation wanted to buy Al -
po. The Trade Commission issued an order directing Carnation to unload a portion of its wet cat food production before it would approve the sale.
The only practical way for the company to do so would have been to sell the Fort Dodge plant, which would basically doom it.
State and local officials and average citizens pushed back with a massive effort. A stream of letters, petitions and appearances before the commission paid off, prompting it to reverse its ruling. In fact, the Fort Dodge case is the only one in which the commission has ever reversed its decision.
Since then, the plant has seen steady growth.
Morgan said it is the larg -
est volume producer of Friskies brand food in the United States.
The plant is now undergoing a $175 million expansion that will enable it to produce a new wet cat food under the Fancy Feast label. Morgan said production is expected to begin in 2027.
Buscher and Morgan praised the support of the community.
“Obviously, it is such a business-friendly community,” Buscher said. “They help develop the workforce of the future. They partner with us to understand our needs.
“We’re committed to Fort Dodge,” he said.
TOP PHOTO: Cory Buscher, vice president of manufacturing for Nestle Purina PetCare, speaks during a celebration marking 50 years of the company’s Fort Dodge plant on Aug. 31, 2025. Buscher began his career in 1997 at the plant.
BOTTOM PHOTO: Trever Morgan, right, the factory manager for Nestle Purina PetCare in Fort Dodge, holds a plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary of the plant. The plaque was presented by Astra Ferris, left, the chief executive officer of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance. Two members of the Growth Alliance Ambassadors, Scott Johnson and Kate Stucky, stand behind them.
“It's really about people. ... What we do, we do as a community, as a family.”
— Trever Morgan Nestle Purina factory manager n n n
“For
half a century,
Nestle Purina has been a cornerstone of Fort Dodge and our regional economy.”
— Astra Ferris CEO, Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance
-Messenger file photos by Bill Shea
SPORTS VENUE DEBUTS Corridor Plaza
The Pavilion Sports Complex adds new element to retail district
By BILL SHEA
bshea@messengernews.net
A large new sports and special events venue that adds a new element to Corridor Plaza opened last year.
The Pavilion Sports Complex, located on the west side of the property that was once Crossroads Mall, includes space for basketball, volleyball, and pickleball. It also includes batting cages and a walking track. It opened in October.
The Pavilion Sports Complex will be a long-term asset to the community, according to City Manager David Fierke.
“I think it’s a two-prong thing for Fort Dodge,” he said. “First, from a quality of life standpoint. The options to compete in sports locally and not have to travel is a priority. Second, it creates sports tourism opportunities that didn’t exist prior. One of the things we’ve always had here is warm weather sports tourism, but not as much to offer in the winter.
“Every weekend, the Pavilion can host events like a twoor three-day tourney,” he added. ”That brings hotel stays and restaurant visits. It attracts people to Fort Dodge and keeps them here. It’s a big bonus for our tourism industry.”
The Pavilion Sports Complex now stands as a beacon for the reimagined mall area.
“It’s a vital piece,” Fierke said. “Our traditional mall was dead. We brought back some of the shopping and restaurant options to that area, and we are going to get more. You can come to the area for multiple reasons: sports, shops, craft shows, even concerts. The Pavilion is a big space. Anything can be in there.
“It’s great for our tourism and economy,” he said. ”This is something the entire community can be excited about moving forward.”
The building measures
51,000 square feet. Within that space are five basketball courts, five volleyball courts, three pickleball courts, six batting cages and a walking track. It is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
An outdoor plaza is planned for the area immediately to the north of the building. That plaza will be a gathering space that may host live music and other special events.
Getting the pavilion completed and open was a sometimes contentious initiative that unfolded throughout the first few months of 2025.
The city government actually owned the building for a couple of months. The City Council stepped in when the original developer, M & M LLC, of Ankeny, struggled to get financing.
The sports pavilion was envi-
sioned as a magnet that would draw people to Corridor Plaza, and the council indicated that it did not want to see it fail.
So in January, the council voted to buy the building from 3 & 1 LLC, of Fort Dodge, for $10.1 million.
Then in April, the council sold it back to original developer M & M LLC. The sale was structured so that payments from that company will pay off the debt the city government incurred to buy it.
But city government involvement in the deal was not universally popular, resulting in some vigorous complaints during City Council meetings.
In addition to the Pavilion Sports Complex, Corridor Plaza is home to Dairy Queen, Dunham’s Sports, Shoe Sensation, Maurice’s, Chick-fil-A, Teriyaki Madness, Clean Laundry, T-Mobile, Tidal Wave Auto Spa, ULTA and UnityPoint Clinic Express.
-Messenger file photos by Britt Kudla
ABOVE: Local leaders and members of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance Ambassadors gathered inside the vast Pavilion Sports Complex at Corridor Plaza Oct. 1, 2025, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally open the sports and recreation facility.
LEFT: A group prepares to snip the ceremonial ribbon to formally open the Pavilion Sports Complex at Corridor Plaza on Oct. 1, 2025.
BELOW: The basketball courts at the Pavilion Sports Complex in Corridor Plaza are ready for action.
Greater Fort DoDGe Growth alliance
Marking 20 Years of
PREPARING LEADERS
Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance program hits big milestone
By BILL SHEA
bshea@messengernews.net
A program intended to prepare the upcoming leaders of the Fort Dodge community had a milestone year in 2025.
Leadership Fort Dodge, a program of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, marked 20 years since it was established.
In that time, 850 people have graduated from a program that some describe as a “backstage pass” to everything that is going on in Fort Dodge.
A companion program for teenagers, Junior Leadership Fort Dodge, marked four years in existence. In those four years, 80 teens have graduated from it.
“I think the two programs really share the importance of making connections in your community and learning about the progress that is happening so that you can share that with others,” said Jill Nelson, who guided both programs during
her years as a leader of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance.
The program for adults was started in 2005 by the Fort Dodge Area Chamber of Commerce, a predecessor to today’s Growth Alliance.
Bob Singer was the executive director of the chamber when the program started.
“We took a look at 17 of the largest communities in the state and we found that most of them, not all of them, but most of them, had a leadership program,” he said.
He said he was thinking about how to establish a local leadership program when Mary Koeninger, the wife of former library director Larry Koeninger, offered to do some volunteer work for the chamber. Singer said when he met with her, he mentioned that he was thinking about starting a leadership program. She indicated she had some experience with something similar
and offered to help. Shortly after that meeting, she came back to Singer’s office with a rough draft of a leadership program. That rough draft became today’s Leadership Fort Dodge.
“The program, with some minor adjustments along the way, is primarily the same program that we implemented,” Singer said.
Leadership Fort Dodge begins in October and continues through May of the following year. There is one meeting each month, and each meeting is devoted to a single topic.
Topics covered in those ses-
sions include education, arts, recreation, business and industry, local government, health care, state government, public safety and agriculture.
Members of the class hear from community leaders and tour places they may not otherwise have an opportunity to see.
Singer is still involved in the program, giving a presentation on local history.
A group of graduates of the program helps to fine-tune it every year.
The Junior Leadership Fort Dodge program has six sessions and focuses on the teens’ perception of their community.
Participants in that program also hear from local leaders, but there are also hands-on activities that showcase the best and most exciting things in Fort Dodge.
Juniors at Fort Dodge Senior High School and St. Edmond Catholic School are eligible for the program.
Sales • SERVICE • Rentals
-Submitted photo
WEBSTER COUNTY SUPERVISOR CHAIRWOMAN NIKI CONRAD leads a mock meeting with members of Junior Leadership Fort Dodge in January 2025. The students toured the Webster County Courthouse and learned about how government entities and departments work.
Bob Singer Jill Nelson
Top 10 Building projecTs of 2025
Here is a summary of the top 10 building projects in Fort Dodge during 2025, based on the value of the project. The information was provided by the city’s Development Services Department.
Type of project:
New surgical center, including an addition and renovation of some existing space
Location: 802 Kenyon Road
Owner: UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center
General contractor: Murray Co., Des Moines
Value: $26,911,524
Type of project:
New industrial building
Location: 2400 Fifth Ave. S
Owner: Nestle Purina PetCare
General contractor: Jensen Builders Ltd., Fort Dodge
Value: $17,886,890
Type of project:
New industrial building
Location: 4118 First Ave. S
Owner: FORCE America
General contractor: Sande Construction and Supply Co., Humboldt
Value: $10,500,000
Type of project:
New industrial building
Location: 4027 First Ave. S.
Owner: Amazon
General contractor: Ryan Companies, Des Moines
Value: $6,037,000
Type of project: New auto parts store
Location: 2708 Second Ave. S.
Owner: Auto Zone
Value: $1,757,880 1 2 3 4 5
General contractor: GA Johnson & Son, Evanston, Illinois
Messenger Photos By Britt Kudla
Top 10 Building projecTs of 2025
Here is a summary of the top 10 building projects in Fort Dodge during 2025, based on the value of the project. The information was provided by the city’s Development Services Department.
Type of project: New restaurant
Location: 2616 Second Ave. S.
Owner: Dairy Queen
General contractor: G4 Construction Management, Mound, Minnesota
Value: $1,200,000
Type of project:
Renovation to create site for culinary arts program
Location: 1 Triton Circle
Owner: Iowa Central Community College
General contractor: Jensen Builders Ltd., Fort Dodge
Value: $1,168,976
Type of project:
Remodeling and renovation to repair fire damage
Location: 258 Ave. M West
Owner: Westridge Holdings
General contractor: Distinctive Cabinetry
Value: $952,000
Type of project:
Create area for MRI trailer
Location: 802 Kenyon Road
Owner: UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center
General contractor: Murray Co., Des Moines
Value: $911,698
Type of project: New commercial building
Location: 4615 Fifth Ave. S.
Owner: Friends Furever
General contractor: Dan Ball, Fort Dodge
Value: $700,000
6
7
8
9
10
Messenger Photos By Britt Kudla
-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
DQ Grill & Chill
A WARM WELCOME
DQ Grill & Chill is newest addition to Fort Dodge's Corridor Plaza
By BILL SHEA bshea@messengernews.net
A lot of Fort Dodge area people love Dairy Queen.
The evidence of that was plain to see on Sept. 9, 2025, the first day of business at the new DQ Grill & Chill in Corridor Plaza. A long line of customers eager for blizzards, ice cream cakes and other goodies had formed outside the building well before 11 a.m. The drive-thru lane was filled with vehicles most of the day.
“We’re pumped to be here,” Matt Frauenshuh, the chief executive officer of restaurant owner Fourteen Foods, said.
“We’re here to support you and be part of the community,” he added.
He said Fourteen Foods is a faith-based, family-owned business that owns 255 Dairy Queens in 14 states.
Frauenshuh and Ebony Hill, the restaurant’s general manager, spoke during a Sept. 9, 2025, ribbon-cutting event conducted by the Ambassadors of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance.
Hill said she and her team are ready to serve Fort Dodge.
“Come and see us whenever you want,” she said.
The Growth Alliance Ambassadors weren’t the only local people to officially welcome Dairy Queen to Fort Dodge.
St. Edmond Catholic School Student Body President Faith Shirbroun and Vice President Jonah Carlson both spoke briefly during the ribbon cutting.
“It’s really awesome to see all these restaurants coming back
into Fort Dodge,” Carlson said.
“We wish you a lot of success.”
Some members of the Fort Dodge Senior High School Marching Band played before the ribbon cutting.
After the event, Frauenshuh said Fourteen Foods was attracted to Fort Dodge because it is a thriving community with good schools, good people and a business-friendly atmosphere.
The DQ Grill & Chill at First Avenue South and 27th Street is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. It has 40 employees.
-Messenger file photos by Bill Shea
ABOVE: Ebony Hill, center, the general manager of the new DQ Grill & Chill in Fort Dodge, prepares to cut the ribbon on the restaurant’s first day of business Sept. 9, 2025. Matt Frauenshuh, chief executive officer of restaurant owner Fourteen Foods, stands next to her holding a plaque presented by the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance Ambassadors.
LEFT: A line of customers extends out the door of the DQ Grill & Chill restaurant in Fort Dodge on Sept. 9, 2025.
Plan for an Amazon delivery station in Fort Dodge revealed
By BILL SHEA
bshea@messengernews.net
A last-mile delivery station for online retail giant Amazon is nearing completion in Fort Dodge.
The facility is along First Avenue South near 42nd Street in the Decker Development Park.
Astra Ferris, chief executive officer of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, described the Amazon project as another example of the good things that happen when there is collaboration between government and the private sector.
“There’s no better time than now for investment in our community,” she said. “With our workforce, it just makes sense for private investment.”
A last-mile delivery station is the final touchpoint in Amazon’s logistical system. It is the place where packages are sorted and loaded into vans for delivery to customers.
“The packages come in overnight while you’re sleeping; they’re unloaded, scanned, sorted, and placed with care into totes and carts,” Scott Seroka, a spokesman for Amazon, wrote in an email to The Messenger when the project was announced in July 2025. “The packages are only in the facility for a few brief hours.”
website, Udit Madan, the company’s senior vice president for worldwide operations, wrote that delivery stations employ an average of 170 people.
He wrote that the Fort Dodge facility is “part of a greater investment to help us fill gaps in our delivery system network.”
In an article on the Amazon
FoRCE AmERiCA
COMING SOON EXPANDING AT HOME
Amazon will be the newest occupant of the Decker Development Park, which is along First Avenue South between Fort Frenzy and 42nd Street. MidAmerican Energy
was the first occupant. Moeller Furnace & Air and FORCE America are building new facilities there as well. The streets and other infrastructure for the development park were completed in 2016. The MidAmerican Energy service center opened in early 2019.
VANS
will be a more common
around Fort Dodge after the company opens a last-mile delivery station in the
The station will be built in the Decker Development Park along First Avenue South on the city’s east side.
FORCE America starts new building where the company began
By BILL SHEA
bshea@messengernews.net
Back in 1953, two Fort Dodge men established Pederson-Sells Equipment Co. to sell hydraulic equipment to farmers and agribusinesses.
In April 2025, FORCE America Inc., the modern version of that company, formally broke ground for a 32,000-square-foot facility that will meet the needs of the company in its hometown for years to come.
“It started right here in Fort Dodge,” John Stenz, executive chairman of FORCE America Inc., told those gathered in the Decker Development Park for the ground-breaking ceremony.
“This is an incredible environment to work in,” he added. “Not every city and not every county is as welcoming and pro business as Fort Dodge and Webster County.”
Astra Ferris, chief executive officer of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance, thanked FORCE America Inc. for its “unwavering commitment to our community.”
The new facility nearing completion represents an investment of more than $10 million.
The new building is located at the intersection of First Avenue South and 42nd Street in the Decker Development Park.
Stenz said sales, including a retail counter, sales support and inventory will be located there. He said the workers will also assemble hydraulic equipment from components delivered from the company’s manufacturing sites.
Located in the building will be a maker space that employees can use in their off hours to work on their own projects. There will also be a
“This is an incredible environment to work in. Not every city and not every county is as welcoming and pro business as Fort Dodge and Webster County.”
— John Stenz Executive chairman, FORCE America Inc.
workout room and a cafeteria.
Sande Construction and Supply Co., of Humboldt, is the general contractor. Baker Electric, Winger Mechanical and Rasch Construction, all of Fort Dodge, are primary subcontractors.
To give the project its formal start, local officials and company leaders plunged golden-colored shovels into a trough full of dirt. The original company was started by Edward Pederson and Lyle Sells. It was purchased by employees in 1986. In 1997, it merged with Mid-America Power Drives to become FORCE America Inc.
Now headquartered in Savage, Minnesota, it has 650 employees working in places across the country from Pennsylvania to Washington.
FORCE America hydraulic systems can be found on tractors, utility company boom trucks, tree trimming trucks, construction machinery and garbage trucks.
The company joins MidAmerican Energy and Moeller Furnace and Air and Amazon in the Decker Development Park.
The new building is expected to be completed this spring.
FORCE America currently has a building on North 25th Street. Future plans for it have not been announced.
-Messenger file photo by Bill Shea JOHN STENZ, executive chairman of FORCE America Inc., talks about the company’s connection to Fort Dodge during a groundbreaking ceremony on April 24, 2025.
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Improvement projects continue at FD airport
By BILL SHEA bshea@messengernews.net
For the first time in about 30 years, there is someone new overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Fort Dodge Regional Airport.
Rhonda Chambers, the former director of aviation known for her effusive personality and unbridled enthusiasm for all things airport-related, retired on July 31, 2025.
The Manson area native began her aviation career in 1980. She worked at the former Denver Stapleton International Airport in Colorado and Love Field in Dallas, Texas, before coming to Fort Dodge.
Sarah Rustvold, who was the airport’s administrative coordinator, replaced Chambers as director of aviation on Aug. 1, 2025.
“Sarah brings fresh perspectives and expertise to the position, having worked alongside Chambers for many years,” said Deb Johnson, who was the chairwoman of the Airport Commission at the time of Rustvold’s promotion.
“With a deep understanding of the foundation laid by Rhonda, she is prepared to build upon that legacy and drive continued growth and success,” Johnson added. “As she takes on this responsibility, collaboration with staff, stakeholders and the broader aviation community will be key to maintaining the airport’s success and advancing its future development.”
Rustvold had been the airport’s administrative coordinator since Jan. 3, 2017.
Some of the projects that
Chambers planned will be carried out this year. And one of those projects will be mostly paid for from a rare source of federal money.
The federal government pays a significant amount for improvements to airports throughout the country, usually paying for 95 percent of a given project or purchase. But it is unusual for the federal government to have money left over from any of its airport funding initiatives. And when it does have leftover money it is extremely difficult for an airport to get any of it.
Chambers learned that the federal government was going to dispense some leftover money from the 2023 Airport Improvement Plan. She submitted a proposal to replace the blue lights that line one of the taxiways, which are the paths that planes travel on between the runways and the terminal. Right now those lights are incandescent, which are expensive and difficult to get. The proposal she submitted would replace the incandescent lights that line the longest taxiway with LED lights. The LED lights will be easier to maintain and will reduce the airport’s electric bill.
Airports around the nation filed 353 applications for that leftover money. A total of 62 grants were awarded and the Fort Dodge Regional Airport received one of them, for a total of $1.2 million.
Rustvold said the installation of the new lights will begin this spring.
Also ready to start this spring will be a rehabilitation of the shorter of the two airport runways. Rustvold said one runway will remain open at all times while the rehabilitation work is underway.
“There should be minimal delays, if any, to commercial
flights,” she said.
The oldest building on the airport grounds will also get some improvements this year. This 1950s vintage hangar has an arched roof and is easily seen from the airport parking lot. Rustvold said it was the first building constructed on the airport grounds and served as both the terminal and a hangar.
A new door will be placed on its front, and the building will be painted and insulated. A new roof with the letters FOD — the airport code for Fort Dodge — painted on it was installed last year. Rustvold said it was common in the past for airports to have their name on a building roof to help pilots know where they were. The hangar roof had Fort Dodge painted on it in badly faded letters.
After all the work is done on that hangar, it will become the home for the airport’s snow re-
moval equipment.
On March 1, Skywest Airlines, doing business as United Express, will mark five years of service to Fort Dodge. That airline connects Fort Dodge to Chicago — O’Hare International Airport, where passengers can make seamless connections to United Airlines flights across the globe.
Rustvold said this year the airport commission and staff will seek proposals from engineering firms interested in preparing a new masterplan for the site.
And in May, the airport will conduct a full scale disaster drill. The airport is required to hold regular disaster drills, with most of them being tabletop exercises. But every three years, a full scale drill that includes volunteers posing as victims and the use of lots of fire trucks and ambulances is conducted.
“With a deep understanding of the foundation laid by Rhonda, she is prepared to build upon that legacy and drive continued growth and success.”
—Deb Johnson, Fort Dodge Regional Airport Commission
BIGGER AND BETTER
By BILL SHEA
THIS 1950S VINTAGE HANGAR (at right) got a new roof last year with the letters 'FOD' — the airport code for Fort Dodge — painted on the top. This year, the building will be painted, insulated and given a new front door.
Sarah Rustvold
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
New apartment options are coming to Fort Dodge
By BILL SHEA bshea@messengernews.net
Apartment living options in Fort Dodge are expected to grow this year, thanks to construction projects on the northwest and eastern sides of the city.
A 65-unit apartment complex is planned along Third Avenue Northwest.
The District 29 complex near Dodger Drive and 29th Street will grow, with 18 more townhome structures.
Northwest side
Hoppe Development, of Lincoln, Nebraska, plans to build 65 apartments in a series of eight two- and three-story buildings along the south side of Third Avenue Northwest between Fifth and 10th streets.
The complex will include a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroom units with rents ranging from $750 to $1,750 a month.
In February 2025, the City Council sold the property to the developer for $369,000.
In May 2025, the Iowa Finance Authority awarded about $1.2 million worth of housing tax credits to help pay for the project.
Then last fall, the Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded $874,440 in work-
DG Market
force housing tax credits for the project.
Construction could begin in June.
East side
When work on District 29 began in 2020, it was the first significant construction of market rate rental housing Fort Dodge had experienced in years.
The first phase of construction was finished in 2021.
That first phase consisted of a four-story, 93-unit apartment building and five townhome structures.
A second phase of construction started in 2022.
In the spring of 2025, Talon Development, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, announced plans for 18 more townhome structures to be located south of the current buildings.
The first phase of that expansion will consist of nine buildings, each containing six townhomes. The second phase will consist of nine more buildings, each containing five townhomes. Each townhome will have three bedrooms and a two-car garage.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded $1 million worth of workforce housing tax credits for the project.
MORE TO OFFER
By BILL SHEA
bshea@messengernews.net
Two DG Market stores opened in Fort Dodge in 2025.
The first of those stores, at 1149 Third Ave. N.W., opened in the spring. The second one, at 2210 N. 15th St., opened in the summer.
DG Market is a grocery-focused part of the Dollar General chain. Including the Dollar General store at 1810 First Ave. S., that chain now has three stores in Fort Dodge. According to an announcement from the company, DG Market stores offer fresh meat, produce, refrigerated and frozen food, and dairy products. The produce items include
what the company describes as the top 20 produce items typically sold in grocery stores, including lettuce, tomatoes, onions, apples, bananas, strawberries, potatoes, sweet potatoes, lemons, limes and salad mixes.
The stores offer general merchandise as well.
The DG Market stores employ 10 to 15 people.
Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, has had a store in Fort Dodge since 1993. It was once located at 2736 First Ave. S., north of Aldi. In 2018, the current Dollar General store opened on First Avenue South.
ABOVE: Construction work much like what is seen here will soon be a common sight again at District 29 in Fort Dodge. An earlier phase of construction is shown here. Talon Development, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, plans to begin building more townhomes south of the existing buildings.
LEFT: The apartments Hoppe Development is planning to build along Third Avenue Northwest will look like these.
DG Market opens 2 stores in Fort Dodge in 2025
-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
-Messenger file photos
AN EXPANDING FOOTPRINT CLAAS
Fort Dodge site is the second FARMPOINT location to serve area farmers
By BILL SHEA
bshea@messengernews.net
CLAAS FARMPOINT is in-
creasing its commitment to Iowa agriculture with a new service center at 3598 Maple Drive in Fort Dodge.
It is the company’s second permanent location in the state. The expansion brings equipment, support and services even closer to area farmers, ensuring farmers’ operations continue to run at peak performance when it matters most.
The Fort Dodge site is the second CLAAS FARMPOINT location in Iowa, joining Le Mars and replacing the temporary facility in Barnum. The new location will provide central Iowa growers with the full range of CLAAS equipment, including combines, tractors, forage harvesters, balers and hay tools, along with parts and service.
“Iowa is the breadbasket of the United States, with premier growers and large productive acres, making it a key focus for us,” said Preston Huser, complex manager for CLAAS FARMPOINT in Iowa. “CLAAS machines are known for power and efficiency, making them well-suited for Iowa agriculture.”
The Fort Dodge location reflects the CLAAS approach — setting up services and resources to meet growers where they’re at. By delivering parts and maintenance directly to the farm and using remote monitoring to quickly diagnose equipment issues, CLAAS FARMPOINT minimizes downtime
and maximizes productivity.
“Our vision behind CLAAS FARMPOINT is to make it easier for growers to stay in the field during their busy seasons,” said Patricio Frangella, head of commercial development for the company. “That’s why our service teams will bring parts and service to customers directly. We saw how the traditional dealer model doesn’t always meet the needs of our customers, and we’re excited to bring a new approach to the Fort Dodge area.”
Your Home Transformation Starts HERE
-Messenger file photo by Bill Shea FARM MACHINERY IS LINED UP in front of the new CLAAS FARMPOINT facility in Fort Dodge. The site at 3598 Maple Drive is the company’s second permanent location in Iowa. Previously, the company operated from a temporary site in Barnum.