Small Town News

WinField Solutions ready for spring with new facility

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Location was a key to bringing WinField Solutions to Winthrop.

Sitting on the intersection of two major highways in the heart of rural south-central Minnesota, WinField found it an ideal spot to locate its new warehouse facility.

The warehouse will house the company's line of crop protection products and seed for wholesale distribution to its customers.

The warehouse area is 180'x350' with the office located on the north end of the building facing Highway 19.

The south end of the building is a retail facility that is leased by United Farmers Cooperative. It will be used to sell the products to the local UFC customers. There is also a bulk load-out area on the south side as well and a loading dock on the west side to bring the product into the warehouse.

Construction began on the facility in May and was completed in November. The warehouse is stocked and ready for the spring agricultural season.

"It went very well," said Noel Larson, regional operations manager. "We used local businesses as sub-contractors where we could and that was important to us. We are ready to go."

The entire process took just a year. "It's really an 18-month process from start to finish," Larson said. "Twelve months was pushing it. I don't think we would do that again but it was worth it. We are very pleased with the outcome."

WinField had four locations in the area, including Madelia, Janesville, Granite Falls and Renville. Dan Schultz, service center manager, worked at the Madelia and Janesville locations and has over three decades of experience in the business. WinField is in the process of selling back its Renville facility to the cooperative that it had originally purchased it from.

"This is our largest facility in our system," Larson said. The only bigger facility is located in the southern region.

WinField's Winthrop location will serve a 125-mile radius. It has 200 ship-tos and more than 50 businesses that it provides product.

Larson said WinField wanted to locate the facility where it could be efficient in serving its customers and not be too close to an urban center. Schultz said that having highways running both east and west, and north and south was ideal.

"This worked out really well," Larson said. "We are always looking at different ways of partnering and saving our customers money.

He complimented Winthrop City Administrator Mark Erickson and Winthrop Mayor Dave Trebelhorn for being aggressive in their work to bring about the industrial park which also played a role in getting WinField to locate here. The City of Winthrop also received grant money from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development to help with constructing the industrial park.

Larrson said he had conversations with Jeff Niielsen, general manager of United Farmers Cooperative, about two years ago when UJFC was building its fertilizer facility.

UFC is a large customer of WinField's and both saw benefits of working together on this project.

"We are always interested in partnering with customers when it makes sense," Larson said. "Jeff and the Board at UFC were very open to the idea and very helpful.

"It was the right location and the right thing to do to save our customers money and time."

He added that there is room for expansion to accommodate for growth in the upcoming years. "We are here long term," Larson said.

In the busy season, Larson expects WinField will employ 18 people. "That should be good for the city and the uptown businesses," he said. Some of the employees have already moved into the area. With the need for moving the product, Larson sees business for the local trucking firms as well.

Larson said that their wholesale customers are all growing and WinField has to keep pace with them. He sees having one facility instead of four as a distinct advantage.

"Our customers have expected good service in the past and I think they will be very happy," Larson said. "We will be able to provide quick service and outages are something that should go away."

WinField began its operations on September 1, 2007. It was derived from a break up of Land O'Lakes and Cenex/Harvest States. Land O'Lakes received the crop protection and seed division while CHS maintained the fertilizer division.

Winfield held its public open house on Tuesday and WinField's customers will have a chance to tour the facility today (Wednesday).



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© 2010 Winthrop News Winthrop, Minnesota. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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