Reporting on the recent Catalyst Artificial Lift announcement, the Kansas Department of Commerce praises “Thriving Iola” as part of their Small Town Success Stories series:
Catalyst finds new home in thriving Iola
In Iola, industry is booming. Located in Allen County in southeast Kansas, the town of 5,700 boasts a skilled workforce that has enabled numerous businesses to create high quality jobs in the community. Among the many companies achieving success, several are manufacturers of down-hole pumps for the oil and gas industry.
The latest down-hole pump manufacturer to decide to expand in Iola is Catalyst Artificial Lift. A Gainesville, Texas-based manufacturer and wholesaler of oilfield reciprocating rod pumps, Catalyst purchased an existing down-hole pump operation in Allen County. The company wanted to expand its production and was considering several different locations for its expansion.
The city of Iola, Allen County, the Kansas Department of Commerce and Iola Industries, a local economic development corporation, partnered to keep Catalyst in Allen County.
“We knew that Catalyst would bring quality jobs with the expansion,” said David Toland, executive director of Thrive Allen County, an Iola-based nonprofit which coordinates economic development and quality of life efforts countywide. “These jobs would require higher skills and pay higher wages. Everybody pitched in to make the deal happen and bring those jobs to Iola.”
Catalyst had interest in an existing 150,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Iola. The previous tenant had left the building vacant when it offshored 160 jobs during the recession, a move that Toland called, “as much a blow to local morale as to employment levels.”
But with the local economy currently humming and a highly skilled workforce, Catalyst found the vacant facility suited its needs perfectly. The company announced in July 2013 that it had purchased the manufacturing facility in Iola. It brought 22 existing positions there and will add 120 new jobs in Iola over the next five years. Those job totals made Catalyst’s expansion project the largest job announcement in Allen County since Russell Stover announced construction of a new plant in Iola in 1994.
An emerging hub
Readers from other parts of the U.S. or the world may not think of Kansas in terms of oil and gas production. However, the first successful commercial oil well west of the Mississippi was drilled in southeast Kansas in 1892. Since then, there has been nearly continual oil and gas development, as well as a growing industry to provide the equipment necessary to support exploration and extraction throughout the world.
Catalyst became the latest company to join the ranks of oil and gas down-hole pump manufacturers in Allen County. Cameron, a provider of flow equipment products, systems and services to the oil and gas industry, manufactures down-hole pumps in Iola. So does Superior Products.
Several other manufacturers in other towns in Allen County manufacture down-hole pumps for oil and gas wells. The presence of these businesses has cultivated a work force in the area with tremendous experience and skill in the industry, a major selling point for Catalyst.
“Allen County has a knowledgeable and skilled work force with a great deal of industry expertise in down-hole pump manufacturing,” said Toland. “We really stressed the quality of our work force to Catalyst and it was one of the key reasons they opted to expand in Iola.”
Burgeoning business
Catalyst and the other down-hole pump manufacturers are just a few of the companies thriving in Iola. Gates Corporation, which has had a presence in Iola since the 1970s, manufactures hydraulic hoses for oilfield equipment and other heavy machinery. With 760 employees, it is one of the largest local employers. A recent shift in production from Gates Corporation’s Virginia facilities to Kansas has brought increased capacity and more work for the Iola plant.
Another company that has been a mainstay in Iola for several decades is Russell Stover. The producer of chocolate and candies has a large facility in the town. This facility positions Iola as a key component of Kansas’ rapidly growing food processing industry.
Herff Jones, a manufacturer of recognition products, employs 175 at its Iola facility. The company is one of the country’s largest producers of high school and college diplomas, which it manufactures in its Iola plant.
The Iola success stories extend to smaller companies that have relied upon innovation to achieve remarkable growth and expansion. These include Sonic Equipment Company, which provides cinema sales, service and installation. Headquartered in Iola since 1982, Sonic anticipated the shift to digital projection and invested in the technology. This allowed the company to gain expertise and become a leader in outfitting and converting movie theaters in small towns around the country. As a result, Sonic has expanded rapidly and currently has more than 50 employees.
Quality of life
Understanding that great schools, healthcare and amenities are essential for businesses and residents, Iola and Allen County have invested heavily in quality of life improvement initiatives. Chief among these is a $20 million new hospital facility, which is opening in 2013. Investment in neighborhood schools and parks has also been a critical part of Iola’s community improvement efforts.
The city, county and state have also installed 18 miles of new trails in the county over the last five years while maintaining sidewalks in pristine condition. This has encouraged residents and visitors to walk around the city and led to an improvement in the county’s health ranking. The result is a bustling downtown business environment in Iola that features one of the largest town squares in the country and 100 percent occupancy of all downtown buildings.
“Iola has struck a nice balance between being a competitive community that allows businesses to thrive and a place that is great for people of all ages to enjoy a high quality of life,” said Toland.
That quality of life, coupled with a friendly business climate and great work force, makes Iola and Allen County a great place to live, work and grow a business.
