Business picking up faster than expected at new Vermeer location in Charles City

By Mary Pieper, for the Press

The new Charles City location of Vermeer Iowa & N. Missouri won’t be holding its grand opening celebration until after the first of the year, but business is already brisk, according to Brandon Waddingham, branch manager.

“Business has picked up quicker than we anticipated,” he said.

Vermeer Iowa & N. Missouri purchased the former Marzen Towing & Automotive property at 1107 S. Grand Ave. in January and held a soft opening in early April.

Vermeer Iowa & N. Missouri is mainly a dealer for Pella-based Vermeer’s industrial equipment. It has six locations in Iowa, now including the one in Charles City.

The company provides sales and service for horizontal drills, trenchers, utility plows, track trenchers, tub grinders, horizontal grinders, brush chippers, stump cutters and more.

Most of its customers run their own businesses, according to Waddingham.

Vermeer Iowa & N. Missouri’s customers include Alliant, Mid-American Energy, Iowa Telecom and Century Link, as well as the subcontractors for these larger companies. Tree care professionals also buy Vermeer brush chippers and stump cutters.

Although Vermeer Iowa & N. Missouri isn’t a dealer for Vermeer’s agricultural equipment, a lot of farmers buy utility trenchers if they are putting their own tile in their fields and brush chippers to clean up along their fences, according to Waddingham.

Five people are currently working out of the Charles City location.

“We found Charles City to be an inviting community that logistically provides us with an opportune location for supplying our customers the support they need to excel in their business,” company officials said in a statement.

“Our employees in Charles City are some of the best individuals a company could hope for. A culture of hard-working individuals in Charles City has provided an advantage for finding well-qualified employees to fulfil our business needs, exceeding our expectations of what can normally be found in a smaller community.”

The other Vermeer Iowa & N. Missouri locations are in Pella, Marcus, Glenwood, Des Moines and Tipton.

Vermeer Iowa & N. Missouri’s goal is that none of its customers have to drive more than two hours to get to any of its locations, according to Waddingham. He said Charles City helps the company meet this goal.

It was fortunate the Marzen building, which is in a great location just off the Avenue of the Saints exit, happened to be available, according to Waddingham.

He said the old brick building needed lots of attention. Siding was installed on the entire exterior. The west end of the building was gutted, with new walls installed. The old service bay was turned into a wash bay. A sales counter and showroom were installed.

A new customer entrance/vestibule was added on the north side of the building.

Some of the renovation work is still underway. Waddingham is hoping it will all be finished in a couple of months.

“It’s going to look really nice,” he said.

The back lot was overgrown with trees and weeds, so “we are just sprucing everything up and making it look more attractive,” Waddingham said.