By Garrett Ammesmaki,
Editor
The City of Lennox broke their building permit record this year with a future expansion to Wilson Trailer.
The $17.9 million expansion will effectively double Wilson Trailer’s production space, and is the largest building permit value for the year, according to City Administrator Nate Vander Plaats.
“This is a big win for the community,” said Vander Plaats. “I don’t believe we’ve ever had a bigger permit year than this.”
While it’s been a challenge in the past for the city to crack $5 million to $6 million in permit values, this year the city is over the $30 million mark.
Other building permits received this year include housing improvements, as well as improvements to both Sunnyside Carwashes.
The Sioux Metro Growth Alliance worked with the Lennox Area Development Corporation and the city to ensure that Wilson Trailer had a proper spot to expand its operation.
Along with the record breaking year for building permits, the Wilson Trailer expansion is set to fill the current industrial park, according to Jesse Fonkert, President and CEO of the Sioux Metro Growth Alliance.
“This shows that Lennox is a great place to operate and grow a business,” said Fonkert. “And, with all the single family homes built this year, it’s a great place to either raise a family, start a family or retire.”
“The community is open for business, and is a great spot for businesses to operate with a background in agriculture or manufacturing,” he added.
With a full industrial park, the main question is what’s next for the Lennox area in terms of industrial growth. Those options are actively being discussed by the LADC, according to Sharese Ihnen, President of the LADC.
“The region is in need of industrial land,” said Ihnen. “The board is looking at how we can alleviate that pressure.”