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Altorfer formally opens $4.2M facility
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · March 26, 2015
Hundreds of people turned out last week for the grand opening of the $4.2 million, 37,600-square-foot Altorfer Inc. farm implement dealership, located on 18 acres southeast of Interstate 80 and Parkside Drive.
Pat Puntoni, vice president of Altorfer’s agriculture division, said the new location opened in September with the parts department after Altorfer closed the same department in Cedar Rapids. In December, the shop opened up and “we’ve gradually been hiring people.”
Equipment started showing up in the lot in September and October and more came in right before the grand opening March 19.
“We’re phasing service work in,” Puntoni said.
Eight people work at the West Branch location. Altorfer has 22 locations spread throughout Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, and West Branch is the ninth one in Iowa. He said that once the new dealership is at full staff, 20 to 22 people will work there.
“We need technicians most,” he said, working on repairs, set up and working in the wash bay.
Altorfer developed eight of the 18 acres on which it sits, and about one acre is under roof. Puntoni said the harsh 2013-14 winter put plans behind by seven months, which is why the company missed the planned February 2014 opening.
New and used farm implements, forklifts, rental equipment, generators and more are on display.
Altorfer provided lunch for attendees and set up dozens of tables to turn its service area into a temporary cafeteria. Puntoni stepped up on a platform to a podium, welcomed the crowd, encouraged them to tour and hoped they would “leave here with knowledge about Altorfer.”
He talked about Altorfer being a family owned company based in Cedar Rapids and how they wanted to “introduce ourselves” to the area and “get acquainted with the community.”
West Branch Mayor Mark Worrell was invited to speak and said the roughly 350 attendees in the crowd was “certainly the largest” he had ever addressed.
“Altorfer is a big thing for West Branch,” he said, naming off other large companies that located here like Procter & Gamble and Sauer Danfoss. “It does put us on the map.”
He then announced Altorfer would serve as the premiere sponsor for the annual Hoover’s Hometown Days.
“They’re going to showcase pretty much the whole event,” he said.
Worrell said that Puntoni “was one of the better people to work with” in new construction.
“Information doesn’t always travel well, but we knew what was going on at all times,” the mayor said, asking the audience to “give them a big hand.”
Altorfer President Bruce Altorfer credited Puntoni with overseeing the West Branch project and congratulated him and the staff for all their work.
“I’d also like to thank the mayor of West Branch and your team,” Altorfer said. “I was told you were very helpful.”
Altorfer said that the company was discouraged from building at this time because the farm industry is on a “downward slide.”
“But not our territory,” he said. “This building is for us, and to serve you better.”
The grand opening was aimed at customers, suppliers and contractors, Puntoni said, and the company plans to host an open house in the summer for the community at large.
Puntoni said the West Branch location is part of a geographic strategy: Of the 26 Iowa counties they serve, 25 of them are within 60 miles of West Branch. And two of the companies largest suppliers — in Jackson, Minn., and Omaha, Neb. — should appreciate accessing the city just off Interstate 80. Plus, the city is rural.
“We like the access to Iowa City, like the hotels, etc.,” he said. “We don’t want to be in that, but on the edge of that — close to the action, but not in it.”
Also, West Branch has several rural roads that allow customers to drive machinery to the shop without driving on I-80, he said.
Several supply representatives from companies like Horsch, AgCo and Klaas participated in the grand opening. Altorfer handed out gift bags and held drawings for things like tools and gift certificates. They also recognized the contractors who built this new addition to the company’s agriculture division, like Jeremy Price Industrial, City Construction, Peterson Contractors, Shoemaker & Holland, Carter Construction, Streb Concrete, Iowa Concrete and Shank Plumbing.
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