Turning soil on a new era for Aurora

Gov. Pillen speaks at Mission Critical groundbreaking Friday

  • A drone photo provided by the City of Aurora captured the scene from above Friday's groundbreaking.
    A drone photo provided by the City of Aurora captured the scene from above Friday's groundbreaking.
  • Participating in the groundbreaking for the new Specialty Ag Formulations plant at the Mission Critical site south of Aurora on Friday were, from left: Rod Schroeder, CEO of Meristem; John Bender, CEO of Frenchman Valley Cooperative; Kelsey Bergen, ADC executive director; Ben Sauder with Frenchman Valley Coop; Gov. Jim Pillen; Rick Brandt, CEO of Brandt, Inc.; Shawn Thicksten with Brandt; Jim Ediger, ADC president; Aurora Mayor Marlin Seeman; Sen. Loren Lippincott; and Bill Engel, Brandt executive vice pres
    Participating in the groundbreaking for the new Specialty Ag Formulations plant at the Mission Critical site south of Aurora on Friday were, from left: Rod Schroeder, CEO of Meristem; John Bender, CEO of Frenchman Valley Cooperative; Kelsey Bergen, ADC executive director; Ben Sauder with Frenchman Valley Coop; Gov. Jim Pillen; Rick Brandt, CEO of Brandt, Inc.; Shawn Thicksten with Brandt; Jim Ediger, ADC president; Aurora Mayor Marlin Seeman; Sen. Loren Lippincott; and Bill Engel, Brandt executive vice pres
  • Rick Brandt, Brandt CEO, addressed a crowd of 100 people Friday during a groundbreaking ceremony at the Mission Critical site.
    Rick Brandt, Brandt CEO, addressed a crowd of 100 people Friday during a groundbreaking ceremony at the Mission Critical site.
  • Laurel Marlatt, left, the nearest neighbor to the new ag facility to be constructed near Aurora, visits with Gov. Jim Pillen following the Mission Critical groundbreaking ceremony Friday morning. At center is Sen. Loren Lippincott, who introduced Pillen to a crowd of approximately 100 people.
    Laurel Marlatt, left, the nearest neighbor to the new ag facility to be constructed near Aurora, visits with Gov. Jim Pillen following the Mission Critical groundbreaking ceremony Friday morning. At center is Sen. Loren Lippincott, who introduced Pillen to a crowd of approximately 100 people.

    Crowds gathered, dignitaries spoke and golden shovels turned earth on Friday morning signaling both the beginning of a new manufacturing business for Hamilton County and the culmination of more than a decade of work by public and private entities at the Mission Critical business development site between Aurora and I-80. 
    The groundbreaking ceremony in a former soybean field just south of the “Welcome to Aurora” sign along Highway 14 also revealed a fascinating web of relationships which led to this momentous day. 
    The groundbreaking was the official kickoff of a construction project that will result in a 100,000 square foot agricultural manufacturing plant to be built by Illinois-based company, Brandt, Inc., in partnership with Frenchman Valley Farmer’s Cooperative of Imperial. The plant will serve as the anchor business for the Aurora Development Corporation’s (ADC) 135-acre Mission Critical site, which has been in the planning stages for more than a decade. The plant, known as Specialty Ag Formulations, will manufacture micronutrients for use in agriculture which ties in well with Aurora’s ag-based economy. 
    Shortly before 9 a.m., vehicles began to park on the newly-mown field and nearly 100 local residents and company representatives, joined by Gov. Jim Pillen, Dist. 34 Sen. Loren Lippincott and numerous other local officials and special guests, gathered near a fifth-wheel trailer set up to serve as a temporary stage for the program.  
    ADC President Jim Ediger was the first to take the stage and extended a welcome as well as introducing Gov. Pillen and other dignitaries in attendance. 
    “I’ve been fortunate enough to hear the governor speak a couple times this week,” Ediger stated. “And each time he talks about making generational changes and impacts to our community. We think this project and opening up this piece of ground for future development really is a generational change for Hamilton County. It just takes a lot of people to make something like this happen, and so we appreciate everybody coming out today.”
    Ediger then introduced Aurora Mayor Marlin Seeman, who continued the narrative of the team effort that had brought about the events of the day. 
    “This day culminates an effort on the part of many from the local, state and national level, because no project of this size can be done by single people but by partnerships,” Seeman said.

    Making the connections
    Next to take the stage was former Aurora businessman Rod Schroeder, who was instrumental in bringing Brandt to the attention of the ADC. Schroeder said he had gotten to know Brandt CEO Rick Brandt a number of years ago through a partnership between his company (Meristem) and Brandt. He said it was an interesting relationship because “they were both our retail customer and a well-respected competitor on the specialty ag side.”
    Schroeder told the crowd that several years into the relationship, the business partners had decided to build a new plant somewhere in the Western Corn Belt, and to do it in partnership with Frenchman Valley Co-op. 
    “Well, because of my history at Aurora, I know this community is awesome to do business in and raise a family in,” Schroeder said. “And because of the strategic location we serve -- we’ll be serving about six states or so north, south, east, west -- I thought, well, why don’t I introduce Brant to the city of Aurora. So they flew out their leadership team and we had a great meeting and of course Aurora Development Corporation did it right. They gave us a tour of the city and we had a really good discussion and I got them in front of each other.
    “I looked at the Aurora Development Corp people and I said, ‘Hey, I’m bringing this company to you because they are held in high esteem,” Schroeder continued. “They’re a longtime family business. They’re well respected. They’re going to be an awesome community partner!’ Then I looked at Brandt and I said, ‘Brandt, I’m bringing you to this community because this is a hell of a community to do business in. You come here and you will be successful. All the infrastructure’s here. People are great. And because of that, this is going to be a win-win.’”
    In introducing Rick Brandt to the audience, Schroeder noted that in 1994 Brandt had become CEO of the company his father had founded 70 years ago. He  reported that since that time the company had seen “tremendous growth” and now sells products in 79 states and more than 80 countries worldwide. 
    “Rick is an entrepreneur at his best,” Schroeder said. “He’s been involved in more than 25 acquisitions during his tenure.” 
    He also noted that this will be Brandt’s sixth plant built in the U.S.

    Brandt perspective
    Taking his turn at the microphone, Brandt joked “I don’t know why I brought these notes; you just pretty much went through them.”
    “I’m really looking forward to getting this project underway,” Brandt continued. “I’m excited about this project. You know, this is a big deal for us. This is going to be a 100,000 square foot production facility. To manufacture Brandt products here is exciting for us. We just built a new production plant in Brazil – we opened it a couple of years ago – and it is totally state of the art. It’s a beautiful plant. And Shawn assured me on the way here that this one will be even better. So, I’m looking forward to seeing it, hopefully about a year from now. We’re shooting for summer 2024.”
    In introducing his company to the people of Aurora, Brandt noted that it is celebrating its platinum anniversary, his father and aunt having founded the business in Illinois in 1953. 
    “Evelyn, my aunt, one of the co-founders, is going to be 100 years old two weeks from today,” Brandt continued. “If you know any of the Brandts, we like to have parties and she’s been planning her party for about six months now.”
    Noting that his father, Glen Brandt, passed away in 2020, Brandt said he “would have loved to have seen this plant.” 
    Brandt said with existing facilities in Illinois, Florida, Utah and California, the construction of the plant in Aurora expands the company’s national footprint. 
    “It’s very, very strategic for us in this part of the country and also gives us better access to the Great Plains,” he said. “We’re also looking forward to deepening our relationship with this project with Frenchman Valley. From what I’ve seen so far they’re really, really good people and from what I’ve heard so far from our team, really, really, really good people, so that’s who we like to do business with.”