Toro Snowthrower Production Continues Into January

Windom, MN – January 11 -- Recent snow has caused headaches for public works crews and travelers, but there is one area business that loves all the white stuff.

And as News 12's Nathan Harrington tells us, it might be good for business but it's also good for the employees as well.

Minnesotans are used to piles and piles of snow during the winter, but this season has been different.

Two big snowstorms in a short amount of time caught some homeowners unprepared to clear the snow from their driveways and sidewalks.

And the people that make those snow blowers were unprepared as well.

Ron Gray says, "Well we had some early snowstorms come through the Midwest and East Coast which is two of our bigger markets and we used up a lot of our annual inventory and had to go in and build some more.

"Barry Voxland says, "We do have a forecasting service that is supposed to predict snowfall, but there's no way to predict how much snow we are going to get. So we got a little more than we thought.

"The Toro Company in Windom thought production of their winter equipment could safely end in December without their assembly line having to be restarted.  But today, the line got back to work putting together snow throwers, with demand going up by the thousands.

It's been a good news situation for the Toro Company this winter. Not only is the company having to increase production, their employees are enjoying a little bit more job security during the snowy winter.

Barry Voxland says, "We've been really fortunate because of the snow product, where a lot of plants have seen layoffs and people have been out of work, we've actually been able to keep everybody employed and we're actually hiring.

"And with the extra help they plan on getting, they will get a jump-start on assembling products we'll need once all this snow melts.  Ron Gray says, "We're not only building the snow but we've actually started building some of our lawn product this time too. So we have plenty of enough work to keep everybody busy here.

"And as the largest employer in the city, keeping everybody busy is vital to the success of the community.In Windom, Nathan Harrington, News 12.