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The Times • Tuesday, September 30, 2014 • 5D

4D • Tuesday, September 30, 2014 • The Times

HOPE GRAIN SHUTTLE TERMINAL.

PROJECT BUILT BY HOPE IN STEELE COUNTY FEATURES OF HOPE FACILITY • 110-Car train loading facility • 3.8 million bushel upright storage • 2.8 million bushel temporary storage • (3) 20,000 bushel per hour dumping pits • 80,000 bushel per hour train loading • Automated scale system • Covered probe and scale

CEEC, INC was chosen as the General Contractors that oversaw the project

.

COMPLETED SEPTEMBER 2014

Warrior Mfg. would like to

Congratulate Crystal Valley Coop in opening their state of the art grain storage and shuttle loading facility in Hope.

Warrior was proud to be part of the construction team lead by CEEC, Inc.

Celebrating our

90

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TILING SOIL CONSERVATION WORK DEMOLITION & DISPOSAL GROVE REMOVAL BUILDING PADS DRIVEWAYS AND MORE

For all your new and retrofit bins, hoppers, conveyor catwalk and bucket elevator support towers contact Warrior at 320 587 5505 or Dewey.Krutzig @Warriormfgllc.com

Warrior…. Outspanning the competition

1924 - 2014

CUSTOMERS SAY: Demo Projects. “Your Dozer and Excavator Operators are the BEST!”

Randy: “Great Job! Great People!”

Stark: “I hope we can do this again next year!”

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CALL MATHIOWETZ CONSTRUCTION TO GET YOUR PROJECTDONERIGHT

30676 County Road 24 • Sleepy Eye, MN 56085 507-794-6953 • Fax: 507-794-3514 www.mathiowetzconst.com

6D • Tuesday, September 30, 2014 • The Times

HOPE GRAIN TERMINAL A GRAIN FACILITY FOR THE FUTURE

2012- Crystal Valley acquires 250 acres from 3 landowners by Hope for new facility

”

This is the single largest project we’ve embarked on as a co-op…

Jeff Spence Grain Division Manager Crystal Valley Co-op

May 2013- Groundbreaking took place for project

April 2013- Crystal Valley Board of Directors approved construction

l-r: Roger Kienholz (General Manager-Crystal Valley), Brian Mathiowetz (Mathiowetz Construstion), Chuck Ricketts (CEEC), Jeff Spence (Grain Division Manager – Crystal Valley), Brad Ommodt (Mathiowetz)

”

Whenever you have an economic project of this magnitude, it’s a good project for the county…

Tom Shea County Administrator Steele County

March 2014- Crystal Valley holds presentations for farmers around the region

September 2014- Grand opening celebration

August 2014- Construction completed

November 2014- Rail cars expected to be running

attended by 1,200 people and facility opens for area farmers

”

Farmers in the area will be able to bring their grain to this facility and get the real convenience factor, and they will be able to do it for much cheaper than most other places…

Tom Trahms Board Chairman Crystal Valley Co-op

The Times • Tuesday, September 30, 2014 • 7D

HOPE FACILITY is built for speed Grain terminal is up and running

By SHANNON KINLEY Staff County Writer

O

ver a year later and the Crystal Valley Cooperative’s new grain terminal facility in Hope is ready for the 2014 harvest.

The estimated $25 to $30 million project began in April 2013 and was projected to be completed by August; however, the abnormally long and harsh winter along with a very wet spring delayed the process by a little more than a month. “We just wanted to make sure that we were ready for the 2014 harvest and we are relieved that that is going to happen,� said Crystal Valley Grains Division Manager Jeff Spence at the beginning of September. “Our contractors have done a great job at making sure that it’s going to happen so we are very thankful.�

The new facility, which held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Sept.

10, has a storage capacity of 3.8 million bushels along with another 2.8 million bushels of temporary storage and is 7 miles south of Owatonna in Hope.

Crystal Valley is a full service agricultural cooperative made up of four divisions: agronomy, energy, feed and grain. Including the new facility in Hope, Crystal Valley has nine locations; however, the Hope facility is a one-of-a-kind terminal in that it features a loop track. “We have a grain shuttle terminal at the Madelia location, but it is a straight line,� said Crystal Valley’s Communication Director Courtney Hennis. “The loop uses less rail space and allows them to pull in and let us do the work. They can get unloaded and loaded and they are off. It is efficient and it is going to give them the ease of in-and-out dumping and loading.�

The track is 8,200 feet long and will bring in 110-car trains, although it has the capacity to hold up to 125-car trains. Spence estimates that it will take just five minutes for farmers to unload and load, and Hennis estimates that it will take six hours to fill the cars of the train.

Not only is this facility built for speed, it also can accommodate nationwide distribution of grain. Being right on the Union Pacific Railroad will allow the facility to distribute grain to

California, the Pacific Northwest and the Gulf of Mexico.

Even though there will be almost constant traffic flowing through the facility, the community of Hope may never be disturbed by it, thanks to the loop design. “They (trains) won’t ever actually run through the community of Hope itself, they will come in from the south and they will leave to the south,� Hennis said. “It is a self-sufficient grain terminal.�

Along with the loop design, the facility also has three receiving pits with a combined total capacity of 60,000 bushels, as well as an automated scale for coming in and out of the facility.

Before construction began, Crystal Valley had to look at and research many factors, such as railroad access, road access and which railroad to determine what the best location was. The main goal of the new facility was that it would help them to serve patrons on the east side of their service territory. “We wanted to have the ability to service our patrons on the east side of our territory like we do on our west side,� Hennis said. “We wanted to make sure we were giving them the same availability, move grain for them and service them accordingly.�

After much deliberation, Spence said, the best location for the facility was Hope. “We built this facility for speed — not only for the farmers to receive the grain, but also to be unloading trains and the ability to load back-to-back trains,� Spence said. “In the end, we decided the best location was on the south side of Hope.�

The facility has a speed of 60,000 bushels per hour for receiving from farmers and 80,000 bushels per hour for receiving from trains.

According to Crystal Valley’s General Manager Roger Kienholz, the facility is more than ready to take on this year’s harvest.

Congratulations Crystal Valley We wish you well on your new facility!

&HQWUDO $YH 6 ‡ (OERZ /DNH 01

218-685-6410

8D โ ข Tuesday, September 30, 2014 โ ข The Times

Hope Terminal Employees

Jeff Harriman Elevator Operator

Joe Williams Grain Marketer

Jim Johnson Grain Marketer

Terri Sittig Administrative Assistant

Tim Lewis Superintendent

Operated by Crystal Valley Co-op headquartered in Lake Crystal

Craig Johnson Elevator Operator

3829 SW 93rd St. โ ข Hope โ ข 507-414-0036

AG & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING SERVICES

Congratulations Crystal Valley!

Congratulations Crystal Valley Coop on your new Grain Shuttle Terminal

Thank you for having us be part of your project!

Structural โ ข Civil โ ข Mechanical โ ข Electrical Industrial Architecture โ ข General Arrangement โ ข Track Design

763.559.9100 &RXQW\ 5RDG ย 2ZDWRQQD

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ongratulations Crystal Valley

Weโ re proud to serve as your general contractor.

www.ceecusout.com We also carry an inventory of elevator parts. รท 4XDOLW\ 6HUYLFH

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