Economic Development is Our Passion

Winneshiek County Development, Inc., and its predecessor organizations, has had a hand in a lot of new jobs arriving in Decorah and Winneshiek County over the years. Some of the larger employers where economic development volunteers have played a significant role include:

Deco

This company began operations in Decorah in 1960 and has undergone several major additions since then. Today the zinc die casting manufacturer employs about 200 full- and part-time employees. Decorah Development was formed to assist and lend funds to Deco in its early days.

Camcar

Currently known as infastech, for Innovative Fastening Technology. In 1967 a group called Decorah Sites was formed to acquire property for an industrial park, on which a 20,000 square foot building was erected. That property grew to include more than 200,000 square feet of manufacturing. In 2010, infastech employed about 440 people in Decorah.

Rockwell Collins

In 1978, the economic development group WinnCo bought the first portion of Freeport Industrial park and constructed the first addition for Rockwell Collins, which now occupies about 50,000 square feet and employs about 250 people at the electronic communications manufacturing facility.

Gemini Incorporated

Since it’s inception in 1983, Gemini, Inc. has grown to occupy about 110,000 square feet in five separate buildings. The company that creates dimensional letter signs and plaques currently employs about 130 full-time and 12 part-time workers.

Iowa Rotocast Plastics

Currently employs about 125 people at its Freeport Industrial Park facilities. IRP, a rotational plastics molder, has about 170,000 square feet of space under roof at its three separate facilities in the Decorah area. WCDI assisted IRP in acquiring space at two different locations at the Freeport Industrial Park.

Pinnacle Financial

Begun in 1997, Pinnacle Financial Group employs about 225 workers at two sites in Decorah. The original site is situated on Montgomery Street and the expansion site is situated on Commerce Drive. Decorah Jobs purchased a building and converted it into suitable space for the collection agency’s first Decorah locale.

Tri-Tech Emergency Medical Systems

The former Sweet Computer and Ortivus North America company was assisted by WCDI in situating at Decorah Business Park. The software manufacturer employs about 35 people at the Decorah facility.