Progress industry
“ been It’s just a
great success story.”
Mrs. Gerry’s produces a number of different, salad, coleslaw and potato products, among others. Colleen Harrison/albert lea tribune
Mrs. Gerry’s Kitchen to expand for a seventh time, nearly doubling space By Cathy Hay
news@albertleatribune.com
The recipe for success at Mrs. Gerry’s in Albert Lea calls for three key ingredients: a strong belief in God, quality products and first-rate employees. The local food manufacturer, known for its potato salad and mashed potatoes, is expanding for the seventh time since moving to the Northaire Industrial Park in 1978. The present expansion adds 93,600 square feet to its building on Y.H. Hanson Road. It will help the company increase its capacity to produce hot side dishes like mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese, said Chad Vogt, vice president and director of purchasing. This expansion could also help in development of new products. Vogt expects this expansion to create 20 jobs over three years, bringing the total number of employees to 190. Site preparation started in 2014 and the expansion should be finished by September 2015. This recent expansion follows a 37,000-squarefoot addition in 2012 that allowed the company to double its potato-processing capacity and increase its cold and dry storage capabilities. The business has grown from its initial building of 1,100 square feet in 1973 to its current 121,500 square feet. After this addition, its square footage will total about 215,100 square feet. Mrs. Gerry’s will then have space at its current site to add about 36,000 square feet. Otherwise, it will be out of room. Vogt, the son of founders Gerry and Jerry Vogt, attributes the company’s success to God: “We are a family that strongly believes that the Lord’s hand is on this company.” In previous interviews with the Tribune, he explained how it all started: In 1973, Jerry Vogt was selling salads on his Schweigert meat route to complement the meat products. The lady who made those salads was going to retire, so he asked his wife, Gerry, “Would you make salads for me? And you have until tomorrow to give me answer.” So they went to bed that night. They both prayed about it, and when they woke up in the morning they felt a peace that they should start something — that they should start making salads. They started in the kitchen of their home. Their first employees were Gerry’s parents, Al and Betty Siemer, making potato salad from Betty’s recipe. That first year they sold 70,000 pounds of salads.
1,100
Chad Vogt has worked at Mrs. Gerry’s Kitchen for 28 years, and has been CEO for one year.
DOOR DOOR by
This is the door at 507 W. Front St. to Almco Worldwide.
Size in feet of the building that Mrs. Gerry’s Kitchen started in during 1973.
Many of the Mrs. Gerry’s products are available in area grocery stores. They quickly outgrew the kitchen, bought a 7,000-square-foot building on Seventh Street and a few years later moved to the industrial park. Quality has been the company’s focus since the beginning, from the ingredients to the final products. “Gerry always said if she can’t serve it to her family, then she doesn’t want it served to anybody’s family,” Vogt said. The company also believes in being fair in employment, and Vogt said the employee team is second to none. Creating jobs is one commitment the company has to Albert Lea. Mrs. Gerry’s did consider a location out of state at one time, but their history here was the dominant factor. “It came down to Gerry and Jerry’s belief in this community and what we built in this community. At the end of the day, it was the strong ties we felt in Albert Lea,” Vogt said. From his grandmother’s potato salad recipe, the company has grown to produce 130 products, including a variety of salads, dips, desserts, entrees and mashed potatoes to retail and food service customers in 17 states. It started mashed potatoes in 2005 and the readyto-eat potatoes are its top-seller. For 38 years Mrs. Gerry’s original potato salad was the No. 1 product for the company, but in 2012 that was surpassed by the sales of mashed potatoes. Reflecting on the company’s growth, Vogt said, “It’s phenomenal. What a success story she’s had, and all the glory to God because he has had his hand on this business from the beginning. It’s just been a great success story for this community, and we hope it continues for many years to come.”
170
Employees at Mrs. Gerry’s with the upcoming expansion expected to add 20 jobs over three years.
121,500
Square feet of space at the Mrs. Gerry’s facility in the Northaire Industrial Park before the expansion.
ide? What’s ins
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Page 2 | AlbertleAtribune.com | Progress 2015 | industry | sundAy, FebruAry 22, 2015
Gwyn Quiram fills out an application at Doherty Staffing in Albert Lea. micAh bAder/Albert leA tribune
Getting a foot in the door
A.L. provides resources, training for employment By Micah Bader
micah.bader@albertleatribune.com
Tools for finding employment abound in Albert Lea. The town is home to a branch of the Minnesota WorkForce Center at Riverland Community College and multiple staffing agencies that can serve as a facilitator between job applicants and businesses looking to hire. Samantha Miller has been a service manager at Doherty Staffing Solutions in Albert Lea and Owatonna for the last 15 months, and she said the interaction with job searchers and the businesses hiring them is the best part of her job. “You get to meet so many people every day,” she said. “You build relationships with different clients to help them find candidates and then with the candidates to find the clients,” she said. To find the best fit for both sides, Miller said the staffing company interviews its applicants to verify information. “We want to place them where they’re going to be happy in something they’re qualified for,” she said. Doherty Staffing Solutions is one of four staffing agencies in Albert Lea along with Masterson Staffing Solutions, Express Employment Professionals and Manpower. As opposed to the other staffing agencies, the WorkForce Center is a nonprofit and is a partner agency between the state’s Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and Workforce Development. Valerie Kvale, a placement and
Samantha Miller, service manager at Doherty Staffing in Albert Lea, sits in the company office as Angela Hoium, a staffing specialist, helps an applicant. marketing specialist with Workforce Development, keeps track of the job statistics posted on MinnesotaWorks.net. In the two-week span before Feb. 10, the website listed 147 jobs in a 10-miles radius — Workforce development of the 56007 area code and 349 in placement and marketing a 25-mile radius. Of the 147 jobs, specialist Valerie Kvale 121 were full-time. “Things have been booming,” Kvale highlighted multiple she said. “It’s incredible. When people say they can’t find a job, fields where employers are looking for workers: healthcare, truck that surprises me.” Along with utilizing the Work- driving, welding, construction Force Center, Kvale said it’s a and hospitality. “Our services are to help people good idea to register with each staffing agency and to check the be aware of jobs, help them get listings in the Freeborn Shopper their resume posted and get an More than 300 jobs were available within a 25-mile radius of Albert Lea, according to information from Workforce Development. and Albert Lea Tribune. interview,” she said.
“Things have been booming. It’s been incredible.”
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Sunday, February 22, 2015 | industry | ProgreSS 2015 | albertleatribune.com | Page 3
Made in a.L.
Albert Lea and surrounding area make plenty of products Albert Lea and the surrounding area make a lot of products that are known state-wide and even nationally. While Albert Lea is known for its industry — it had the nation’s first industrial park, after all — here is just a selection of some of the products made in and around the city.
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Mrs. Gerry’s mashed potatoes
Mrs. Gerry’s potato salad
Nick’s Cornerstore rolle polse
Schweigert beef wieners
Three Oak Wines 2013 Marquette
Three Oak Wines 2013 Frontenac gris
Schweigert Fun Dog franks
Page 4 | AlbertleAtribune.com | Progress 2015 | industry | sundAy, FebruAry 22, 2015
Business By tHe nuMBers
Glenville is home to a Poet Biorefining plant. tim engstrom/Albert leA tribune
Business establishments Dodge County Freeborn County Faribault County Mower County Steele County Waseca County Winnebago County Worth County
421 817 453 859 1,001 501 320 171
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 data Note: Establishments means a single physical location with paid employees at which business is conducted or industry is performed and does not include government. See census.gov under “County Business Patterns” for how the data is collected.
Freeborn County establishments by employees 1-4 5-9 10-19 20-49 50-99 100-249 250-499 500-999 1,000 and up total
404 185 121 68 24 10 3 2 0 817
Freeborn County nonemployers by sector
additional details Paid employees 11,224 Annual payroll $349,522,000
Freeborn County establishments by sector Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting Mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction Utilities Construction Manufacturing Wholesale trade Retail trade Transportation and warehousing Information Finance and insurance Real estate, rental and leasing Professional, scientific and technical services Management of companies and enterprises Administrative, support and waste management Educational services Health care and social assistance Arts, entertainment and recreation Accommodation and food services Other services Industries not classified Total
1 3 4 85 54 42 133 37 12 59 17 44 5 31 7 77 13 77 115 1 817
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 42 Mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction (withheld) Utilities 6 Construction 294 Manufacturing 24 Wholesale trade 53 Retail trade 236 Transportation and warehousing 142 Information 16 Finance and insurance 69 Real estate, rental and leasing 174 Professionnal, scientific and technical services 140 Administrative, support and waste management and remediation services 132 27 Educational services Health care and social assistance 165 Arts, entertainment and recreation 91 Accommodation and food services 26 Other services 327 total
1,966
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2009 data, reissued 2012 Note: Nonemployers, as implied, do not have paid employees. They are the majority of U.S. corporations but average a small impact (less than 4 percent) on receipts nationally.
Thanks to all of our customers and friends for helping to make our business successful!!
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Aggregates • Hauling • Snow Removal • Demolition • Utility Construction • Ditch Cleaning Road Grading • Site Development • Road Construction • Water/Sewer Installation Soil Conservation • Erosion/Sediment Control • Wind Energy Development
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County Rd 46 East • Albert Lea, MN
507-373-4434