Concrete Equipment Company Looking to Expand Workforce in Western Iowa
In Travis Partridge’s six years at AMANCO, a producer of portable concrete equipment in Audubon, replacing employees has rarely been on his to-do list. Although it’s a relatively small shop — currently with 33 employees — Partridge hasn’t seen more than four people leave voluntarily in more than six years.
“This part of the state has a lot of good, committed workers,” said Partridge, who is AMANCO’s shop foreman. “They stick with their companies for a long period of time.”
AMANCO was started in late 1999 by a local resident as a supplier of raw fabricated equipment for portable concrete batch plants. Today they are a branch of CON-E-CO (Concrete Equipment Co.) of Blair, Neb., which produces the finished equipment with the parts that AMANCO manufactures. Both companies are owned by the OskKosh McNeilus group of companies.
As many corporations in North America did, this industry struggled after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and AMANCO resorted to layoffs a short time following. However, Partridge noted that the laid-off workers came back when the company was able to restore their workforce.
Today AMANCO is looking to add another shift due to an upswing in business. A further advantage to the area, Partridge notes, is that workers are willing to commute from other towns in the area.
“We’re located in a real convenient site, so it’s easy for people in a 30-mile radius to commute here to Audubon,” said Partridge. “And they don’t mind the commute.”
Partridge recognizes that the ties that bind them to their respective hometowns are probably what make the commute insignificant. In his own experience, and from those of his workforce, he infers that the high quality of life is what makes the area special. And although keeping young people in their hometowns is still a challenge all over the state and is affecting the workforce, in Audubon and the communities around it, he sees people returning after their experiences in other areas.
“Small communities are very social; everyone looks for ways to work with each other too,” he admits proudly. “People come back to their community - you come back to what you know.”
