Kromminga Motors to celebrate 51st anniversary

     When Kromminga Motors celebrates its 51^st anniversary with an event Saturday at the Great Jones County Fairgrounds, it will showcase the continuation of a word owner Greg Kromminga uses often: legacy.

     “I’m third generation, and (son) Karson is with the business, so the fourth generation is on board,” Greg said. “That’s kind of neat.”

     From a humble beginning, when Art and Sharon Kromminga purchased the tractor and implement portion of Freese Motors and opened for business in February 1970, Kromminga Motors has grown substantially.

     It started with one location, at the old airport property on south Bus. Highway 151, and eight employees.

     “We moved back from Colorado in the summer of 1969, and Dad started building that building,” Greg said. “At the same time, he was already selling the equipment, out of wherever he could, because he didn’t have an official office.”

     Kromminga Motors began with farm and construction equipment, and added an ATV line in the fall of 1985.

     “That has grown, crazy-like,” Greg said.

     In 2003, the company opened a power sports store in Maquoketa, featuring ATVs, UTVs, motorcycles, and more.

     The company purchased a store in Vinton in 2004, which is similar to the Monticello location – farm equipment – only smaller.

     On Jan. 1, 2005, Art and Sharon sold the company to their sons, Greg and Richmond.

     Kromminga Motors now has more than 40 employees among the three locations.

     It has done a number of building add-ons over the years as well. Greg estimates it now has about nine times more space than it had originally.

     The most recent changes were in 2014, with the addition of a new 45-by-140-foot building, designed for equipment storage, repair and washing; and the installation of solar panels.

     The building took the place of an old pole shed that had stood in the spot since the 1970s.

     All of these things will be celebrated at the Sept. 18 event, which was originally supposed to happen last year for Kromminga’s 50^th anniversary but was derailed – twice – by COVID-19.

     “We were on track; I originally had June 27 of 2020 scheduled,” Greg said. “I was lying back in the weeds, seeing what the fair was going to do, and the fair happened to pull up its tent.

     “So I moved it to August 29, still before harvest. We thought maybe (COVID) would get better. We never thought it would last all these months. But it wasn’t any better, so we cancelled it again. That’s why we’re having a 51^st.”

     The event will begin at 10:30 a.m., with machinery on display, a petting zoo that includes a camel, and a demo track where people can test-drive an ATV.

     There will be two smoked hogs, burgers on the grill, and an industrial-sized ice cream machine. The Jones County Cattlemen and Jones County Dairy Board are donating food and equipment.

     Crosscut will provide music beginning at 4 p.m., with adult refreshments available, as the event shifts to more of a dance-type atmosphere.

     Kromminga Motors has worked through several changes in its 51 years of operation.

     Two of the changes were tragic. In  June 2005, Richmond was killed at the age of 42 in an ultra-light accident.

     Then, In November 2013, Greg and Christi’s son Kole died from injuries sustained in an off-road motorcycle accident.

     “Kole was on board too (to work with the company, along with Karson), before the accident,” Greg said. “It would have been another pair of brothers going at it.”

     Like any agriculture-related company, Kromminga Motors has changed along with the times.

     “Who would have ever thought we’d be sitting here selling stuff where satellites are driving the tractors?” Greg said. “You push a button, let go of the steering wheel, and off it goes.

     “There have been a lot of big changes. You think of grandfather (Alva Freese) selling one-row corn pickers, (and now there are) huge machines, going across a field and mowing down 45 feet of crop at one time.”

     Greg, who has been with Kromminga Motors for 53 years, has also learned some things on the financial side. He tells a story of working for his father Art when Greg was 10 years old and making 50 cents an hour.

     “I can remember negotiating with Dad one time,” he said. “I was wanting a dollar (an hour). I was pretty nervous about the whole deal.

     “I must have been making my case, and I got done, and kind of looked at him. And he said, ‘OK.’ I don’t know why I remember that story, but I do.”

     He said he recalls many stories from his years in the business.

     “I could go on and on,” Greg said. “There has been a lot of craziness besides all the good things. The years are just part of learning and growing.”

     Kromminga Motors provides sales and service for the complete line of New Holland farm, industrial, construction, and lawn and garden equipment, plus a dozen or more complementary brands, as well as a large Polaris ATV and utility business.