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Fact Box

Seneca Foundry open house

Monday, Oct. 5 2:30 to 4 p.m.

240 MacKinley Kantor Drive,

Webster City

The public is invited; tours will be offered

Not many business endeavors can boast a 100-year history, but Seneca Foundry, 240 MacKinley Kantor Drive, Webster City, has been operating continuously since 1909 and today, they continue to grow as new markets are developed.

Kirk McCollough heads up the business that was started by his great-grandfather. William Arnold "W.A." McCollough, originally from Marshalltown, was working in Colorado as a blacksmith, when he created something quite useful for farmers.

"He invented a hog feeder," McCollough explained. The hog feeder had a framework and trough, and allowed the farmer to flip the trough over to dump out the old feed. A framework above the trough kept the hogs from getting into the trough, he said.

"A brother of his who lived in Webster City told W.A. that all the hogs were back here in Iowa and that he needed to come to Webster City," he said. W.A. did just that. He moved to Webster City and started the business in 1909. In 1910, he built a building across from what is now McCollough Brothers Service, he explained.

In the 1930s, the McColloughs built a foundry because the hog feeder business had evolved to the point that it needed iron castings for the pieces they manufactured.

"Electricity was coming on to the farm about that time with the REC, and they had pressure water systems on the farm. They needed some castings for the hog waters, so they built a foundry to supply themselves," he said.

"It was always kind of amazing that in the middle of the Great Depression, they built a building and bought equipment. It was a really big deal, but it was still quite a venture - all to produce the casting for the hog equipment.

Kirk's father, Robert, joined the family business after he returned from his military service in the mid-1940s. He served as the general manager until 1955 when the business was divided.

"Dad wanted to be able to pursue engineer casting work and reduce the amount of agricultural castings. They split the business up in 1955 and that has continued through to today," Kirk said.

The present foundry facility was built in 1972 and moved from the old facility on the corner of Seneca and Stockdale Streets. Today, the business employs 42 workers in the three foundry-related divisions and in the retail division. Milt Friedel oversees the foundry side, McCollough said.

He explained that the business was looking for a retail product that the foundry could make. Designcast Specialties became that division. The company started creating Grill Toppers which when placed on a barbecue grill, leaves a custom imprint on the burger or steak or other item being grilled. Jory Dyvig heads up the design division. The product proved to be very popular, according to Kirk, and have created many different designs incorporating sports logos and other popular iconic logos.

Today, the designs are sent to China for production, and the Webster City business now imports the grill accessory for distribution to retailers.

Top Notch Tooling is another division of the company. They make patterns for the foundry and also for other businesses. TNT employs three workers managed by Ken Stahlmer, McCollough said.

A machine shop was recently added at the foundry and McCollough said they have some interesting projects in the works.

"One is unusual in that it's for a basketball hoop for American Athletic in Jefferson," he explained. "Their target market is the NBA. When you see those basketball players dunk a shot, they want that rim to give. And maybe it pops out of place and then can be snapped back into position."

McCollough said that the company has made the tooling and will make the casting. Then they will machine the casting.

"We're looking forward to watching NBA games to see if they are using the parts," he said.

The other new project for the machine shop is a disk-brake caliper for wind turbines.

"Again, we made a pattern, a casting and now we are machining it," he said. "It's really exciting to be a little part of that up and coming industry."

Area residents are invited to take a tour of Seneca Foundry, TNT and Designcast Specialties. A special celebration is planned for 2:30 to 4 p.m. Monday and the public is invited to attend. McCollough said those stopping by will have an opportunity to see what the various divisions do and see just what happens at a foundry. He added that the business has also created a history book in honor of the 100th anniversary.

Contact Anne Blankenship at editor@freemanjournal.net or call 832-4350, ext, 29.