The construction tools and equipment manufacturer celebrated the expansion with a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday.

“The last 12 months have been interesting I’ll say,” MARSHALLTOWN Director of Marketing John Vance said while opening the ceremony. “There’s been new and unique challenges at every turn, but MARSHALLTOWN chose to lean in; lean in and not make excuses.”

Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer spoke at the ceremony, highlighting the significance of the expansion.

He said the 2018 tornado, the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 derecho have taken a toll, but seeing how the community has bounced back has been uplifting.

MARSHALLTOWN Company prepares to break ground on their 60,000 square foot expansion. (Shovel holders order from left to right: John Christen, Mayor Joel Greer, Don Woodruff, Clare Frevert, Jim Frevert, Joe Carter, Gus Williams, Dan Becker, John Mallen, Logan Bergemann, Dan Levi and Joe Mathern.)

“It’s been wonderful to watch what this town has been able to do pre-tornado and what it’s been able to do post-tornado,” Greer said. “This is just one of those examples of how this town has a word going for that’s phenomenal.”

While many businesses have suffered all the hardships of the past three years, MARSHALLTOWN President and CEO Joe Carter said his business has been blessed to thrive during the difficult times.

“While a lot of businesses struggled, we’ve been on fire,” Carter said. “It has absolutely been crazy trying to keep up with customer demand.”

The expansion is more than just more manufacturing space for Carter and the MARSHALLTOWN.

“We’re going to change Main Street and Eighth Avenue in this town,” Carter said. “We’re going to take what used to be an industrial park, and turn it back into another industrial park.”

Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer (left) and MARSHALLTOWN Company Director of Marketing John Vance (right) speak at the Thursday groundbreaking ceremony on the importance of the company’s expansion in Marshalltown.

The added space will be constructed immediately east of their corporate headquarters at 104 S. Eighth Ave. in Marshalltown and will connect to their June 2019 expansion.

When construction is expected to be completed at the end of 2021, MARSHALLTOWN will have 130,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

As the MARSHALLTOWN has added more and more products such as plate compactors, snow shovels, roof rakes, paint roller trays and paint cups, more space has been needed to produce goods. The expansion includes five new shipping and receiving bays, more forging space, an assembly area and a manufacturing space for snow removal tools.

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Contact Trevor Babcock at 641-753-6611 or tbabcock@timesrepublican.com.