Neeralta Manufacturing, a Wierenga family business, is celebrating 40 years in the industry.
The company celebrated its 40th anniversary on Aug. 9 at their 3216A Highway 661 location north of Neerlandia with location tours and equipment demonstrations.
“We're just grateful for the community and for our staff and for all of our customers,” said John Wierenga, co-owner of Neeralta Manufacturing.
“We've been blessed. We are surrounded by great people and it's the people around us that built our company.”
“The AG industry is a phenomenal industry to be in.”
John and his brother Rob are the owners of Neeralta Manufacturing.
“The people that we deal are salt of the earth type people. Their word is their bond and they have been solid to deal with,” Rob Wierenga explained.
“When (Neeralta) build's something, it is built to last,” said Seig Eck, an anniversary event attendee.
Bert and Tina Wierenga started the business 40 years ago.They farmed a small grain operation and hogs but they were looking for an alternative. Bert Wierenga had a small shop on the farm and was good at tinkering and repairing things. Then he was able to turn his hobby into his profession when he apprenticed at Barrhead Machine and Welding for three years. Bert Wierenga became a licensed welder and started the Neeralta Manufacturing company in 1984.
The Wierengas built the company from the ground up and currently employs 25 people.
Neeralta Manufacturing embraces new technology and has had a robotic welder on site since April. The robotic welder needs an operator but can produce as much as two welders can in the same amount of time. This advancement helps create more work within the plant.
Having the components ready more quickly drives more activity to the painting and assembly groups, speeding up completion times, said Rob Wierenga.
There have been challenges along the way and happy milestones that stand out for the Wierengas.
Neeralta has struggled to find the right staff, as they have many businesses throughout Barrhead County, and John Wierenga said they have a very good crew right now.
Neeralta Manufacturing is working on expanding services into the United States.
“We built a fully hydraulic elk squeeze for handling elk that was shipped over to the US,” stated John Wierenga.
“We actually ship some of those elk squeezes into New Zealand.”
The company has done a lot of work at the sawmills like Spruceland Millworks in Acheson. Neeralta Manufacturing built 47-foot tall towers and installed the cyclones.
John Wierenga recounts that he was just newly married in his early twenties with his dad in his early 50s at the time.
Neeralta Manufacturing operates in five product manufacturing lines, noted John Wierenga.
They manufacture the Grain Bagger and Extractor to fill and empty the grain bag.
The Farm Grade Transfer Auger built for longevity and reliability.
“We also manufacture a small collapsible Auger Hopper and smaller grain Augers,” added John Wierenga.
The fifth product is premium quality grain bags, and Wierenga says they sell a lot of them.
“Any machine that we take on trade, we will go through them, wash them, and we do an analysis to determine if they need repairs,” explained Wierenga.
“We won't sell a trade without going through it and completing repairs needed.”
