Story by Sal Gomez

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Members of Diamond V Mills management (John Bloomhall, president and CEO; Jeff Cannon, senior vice president of business planning; Mike Goble, vice president of operations; and Dave Lusson, vice president of finance & CFO) turn the first shovelfuls of dirt at the company’s ground breaking for a new feed manufacturing facility in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Photo by Sal Gomez.

International animal feed company Diamond V Mills recently broke ground for a new $26 million manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The facility will be built on 73 acres and is scheduled to be completed by next summer. It will produce feed products for the dairy, beef, veal, swine, poultry, equine and aquaculture industries. The company’s current manufacturing facility in Cedar Rapids will continue to operate as usual.

Diamond V CEO John Bloomhall said he was most excited for the new building because it would allow his company to “stay progressive” and continue to serve their clients in the U.S. and worldwide.

After the ground-breaking ceremony, the company held a gratitude dinner to honor company employees who made it possible for the company to resume production at its Cedar Rapids plant only eight days after this year’s Midwestern flood waters began to recede. Company officials praised the clean-up effort, which included 12-hour clean-up shifts both night and day.

Bloomhall says he was most proud that the company’s customers were never affected. This was because extra products were produced before the flood and the company made a concerted effort to communicate frequently with distributors and customers during the flood. PD