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Company's inventions create 'better way' for hog producers
IOWA - Growing up doing chores on his family's hog farm, Eric Holtkamp often yearned for ways to make work easier. "Nothing was automatic back then," said Holtkamp, 33. "I didn't know then what it was, but I knew there had to be a better way."Finding a better way led Holtkamp to start his own livestock equipment business, Controltech Corp., which moved into a new building in the Broadway Business Park west of Altoona six months ago. The company makes automated feeding and ventilation systems for hog confinement buildings.
Controltech's sales will top $1 million for the second year in a row, Holtkamp said. The number of units sold has grown from 700 in 2003 to 12,000 this year.
The business has benefited from a string of profits in the hog industry. Since January 2004, Iowa hog producers have made money for 33 consecutive months, according to estimated returns compiled by Iowa State University Extension.
The company started with Holtkamp and his family developing and testing products on the family hog farm near Donnellson.
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Source: Des Moines Register
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