Northwest Iowa is Just the Right “Speed” for Cookies
Don’t tell Duane “Speed” Herrig there are no opportunities in small-town Iowa. The owner of Cookies Food Products, manufacturer of “the award-winning sauces America loves to eat,” has grown a prosperous business in Wall Lake, population 841, in northwest Iowa.
Almost 30 years and millions of bottles of barbeque sauce since Cookies’ humble beginnings, Herrig can tell you exactly why the company has flourished and remains in Wall Lake.
“We have an excellent work ethic in this area — good honest people who are not afraid to put in a good day’s work,” he touts proudly of his fellow western Iowans.
Not discounting the hard work he put into Cookies himself, Speed admits building the company wasn’t easy. When he took over sales duties in 1977, he hit the road, selling the sauce out of the back of his pickup. His hard work and persistence paid off. In 1984, Herrig bought the company from founder L.D. Cook. At that time, the sauce was being bottled in a small building on the edge of town. Today, Herrig and the Cookies crew are housed in a modern 105,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.
While low turnover, employee loyalty and “just darn nice people” are part of what Herrig’s attributes to his company’s success, he admits his small town’s location is perfect for the company’s product transportation needs.
“The advantage we have is that we are close to I-90, just north of I-80, east of I-29 and west of I-35, so northwest Iowa is an ideal location. Between these major interstate highways, we can link to wherever we need to go.”
Not to be overlooked, in 2004 an Economic Development Board was formed to spearhead progress and growth within the business and rural community of Wall Lake. That may be of assistance to Herrig who’s looking to fill new positions for his expanding business.
For a town of 800+, Wall Lake abounds with opportunities, and Herrig cringes when he hears someone dare to say there’s any less opportunity in small-town Iowa. For a guy who thrives on life in the fast lane, literally, (garnering him nickname “Speed”), and the hot and spicy side of life (in the sauce business anyway), and whose success in producing great barbeque sauce gave him the chance to cook for the president, his small-town, northwest Iowa roots frame his definition of opportunity.
