WYOMING, MN—The weather was perfect, the skies were blue and sunshine made the fire trucks and apparatus at Rosenbauer’s open house gleam. It’s estimated that at least 1,000 people attended Saturday’s open house at the company’s Minnesota campus.
Rosenbauer used the occasion to showcase its huge expansion of the Rosenbauer Motors cab and chassis division. The company is now building custom cabs and chassis in a 90,000-square-foot building, running two assembly lines, cranking out an average of 1.5 completed units daily. The addition included 60,000 square feet, tripling the production area.
“This open house is a chance to celebrate the expansion and to celebrate our employees and families,” said Kevin Kirvida, president of Rosenbauer’s Minnesota plant, as hundreds of people were led on tours through the campus.
Kirvida said the first fire trucks built in the industrial park were in 1992 under the name General Safety. Then, in 1996, his company partnered with Rosenbauer, an Austrian company. That original 22,000-square-foot building still exists as part of the body building shop. The first addition happened in 1996 and the division has expanded every three to five years since. The campus now boasts more than 250,000 square feet in four buildings.
About 400 people work at the campus building apparatus that is put in service in all parts of the United States and around the world.
“This open house gives us the chance to share with the community what we do,” Kirvida said, noting that families were invited to attend to get a chance to see what their loved ones do on a daily bases.
It was also a chance to as two local fire departments served burgers and hot dogs and soft drinks. Restocking runs to the store were frequent as the larger than anticipated crowds lined up for the free food.
Indeed it was a celebration as Rich Schalter, president of the Rosenbauer Motors division, showed off the brand new addition and the meticulously clean production area.
“Rosenbauer has made a huge investment in plants and technology,” Schalter said. He added that there was recently a 25,000-square-foot addition completed at the Lyons, SD, plant and both facilities got new high-dollar laser cutters to improve efficiencies.
Schalter said the open house was also an opportunity to look for employees. An employment agency was front and center, strategically located near the food in front of the new building.
“We took in 10 résumés first thing this morning,” Schalter said, obviously excited about the prospects of securing excellent employees to work in the new facility. Schalter explained that Minnesota has a low unemployment rate and the company decided to take advantage of the opportunity to show off what a great place Rosenbauer is to work.
The open house was also attended by Harold Boer, president of Rosenbauer America and the CEO of Rosenbauer South Dakota division. Helen Boer, his wife, who is the office manager at the South Dakota and self-proclaimed “mom” of the place, was busily greeting visitors, employees and their families with warm embraces, obviously very proud of what has become of the business she and her husband started more than 40 years ago.
As a born innovator, Harold Boer noticed the design of fuel tank straps that could be improved for better service in the future. By reversing the straps, the bolts would be pointing down and more easily accessed if the fuel cell ever needed to be removed for servicing.
“If they were pointing down, you could go in there with an impact wrench and deep socket and zip them right out,” Boer said during a tour of the facility.
Harold and Helen Boer were all smiles as fire trucks ran up and down the street in front of the plant giving visitors rides. Lights flashing and an occasional siren blast let everybody know just what was being made inside the buildings they passed.
