Plant Tours

Bertch Cabinets  - Waterloo, Iowa
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​A true American success story that started in the family barn. Bertch began manufacturing cabinetry in 1977 with a 4 person volleyball team, a table saw and a dream. Nestled in the heart of the Midwest, Bertch has been reviving the cherished art of traditional cabinetmaking for over 40+ years, reflecting a commitment to reforestation, recycling and a general respect for the environment. Utilizing only the finest wood, furniture joints and exceptional finishes to create distinct products for the home and hospitality industry. 
​Kendrick Forest Products  - Edgewood, Iowa
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Learn how Tim and Rhonda Kendrick, along with their four children and now over 150 employees were able to turn one successful company into a family of five companies. You will begin your tour at Kendrick Forest Products, Iowa's largest sawmill, and the first of the family businesses, established in 1983. Next you will tour their custom cabinet shop, Forever Cabinets by Kendrick (est. 2001), where you will see how cabinets are made for the home. Next you will see and learn how the Kendrick Team used their desire to eliminate waste and create quality wood products led them to the start of two additional companies in 2017, Kendrick Home and Shimlee. Kendrick Home prints designs onto wooden signs, and sells them wholesale to other retailers such as the mom and pop shop down the street all the way to large retailers, such as Home Goods. Shimlee is a personalization business where you can go to their website, upload your photo, and checkout. The team will then print your photograph on real wood and either ship it to you or give you the option for local pickup. On this tour, you will see how the signs for Kendrick Home and Shimlee are built, printed, and shipped but one of the best things about this part of the tour is learning the "why" and the "how" behind these two new companies as well as the reasoning behind the fifth one, The Markket. Your tour will end at The Markket, the Kendrick Team's award-winning retail destination. Having won an Iowa Tourism Award in it's first six months of business in the category of Outstanding Retail Experience, The Markket will offer just that. The last stop on your tour will be in The Markket's 6,500 sq ft showroom where they showcase their line of Forever Cabinets, as well as home decor, lighting, rugs, furnishings, kitchenware, clothing, and so much more.
Trappist Caskets – Peosta, Iowa
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Trappist Caskets is a work of the monks of New Melleray Abbey. They are monks of the Roman Catholic Church who belong to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance, known as Trappists. Founded in 1849, New Melleray Abbey was established at the time of the great famine by the monks of Mt. Melleray Abbey in Ireland. New Melleray Abbey launched Trappist Caskets in 1999, and shortly after began selling caskets and urns directly to families at wholesale costs. Their work at Trappist Caskets provides us with both meaningful work and vital financial support. To find out more about New Melleray Abbey and our way of life, 
​Adams Architectural Millwork Co. – Dubuque, Iowa
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Adams Architectural Millwork Co. started in 1981 under the name of Midwest Architectural Wood Products. Founded by Jim Englander, it built its reputation on quality. In May of 1999, Patricia (Patti) Adams took over, renaming it Adams Architectural Wood Products. In 2008, Chad and Dawn Lueken acquired the company, relocating it to Dubuque, Iowa.

​Today, Adams continues to develop as a premier millwork shop, taking on residential and commercial projects nationwide. We have expanded our product line to include storm windows and doors, wood windows, entry doors, and other custom products, satisfying customers seeking unique solutions.
O'Neal Manufacturing Services - Cedar Falls, Iowa
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In 1921, Kirkman O’Neal started a small steel fabricating business in Birmingham, Alabama.  He once said in a 1926 interview with The Birmingham News, “We turn out each piece of work and each contract the very best that can be done, and we are determined that it shall be satisfactory.” That set the tone for the strong work ethic and business philosophy that O’Neal Manufacturing Services is known for today.
Over the last 100 years, the small steel fabricating company Kirkman O’Neal began has evolved into the nation’s largest family-owned network of metal service centers and component and tube manufacturing businesses. As a subsidiary of what is now known as O’Neal Industries, O’Neal Manufacturing Services (OMS) offers multistage processing capabilities and repetitive parts production for large original equipment manufacturers around the world.
John Deere - Dubuque, Iowa
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Construction and forestry professionals around the world rely on John Deere equipment to get things done. While John Deere has a number of factory locations around the globe, a large percentage of the construction and forestry equipment that you see in action comes from the John Deere Dubuque Works factory in Dubuque, IA.

The John Deere Dubuque Works factory opened its doors in 1947 and now stretches across 1,465 acres on a plot of land just north of Dubuque, IA. In addition to producing the equipment itself, the location also serves as a host of the Dealer Technical Assistance Center (DTAC) and the Dealer Marketing Assistance Center (DMAC). 

Dubuque Works manufactures a variety of equipment, with a primary focus on: Crawler Loaders and Dozers, Skid Steers, Forestry Harvesters, and Knuckleboom Loaders.
Kryton Engineered Metals - Cedar Falls, Iowa
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Kryton Metals is a leading manufacturer of spun metal components and fabrication parts. Their main focus is on being a solution provider for their customers’ problems and maintaining a relentless pursuit of excellence.
As an ISO 9001:2015 registered manufacturer, they proudly produce cutting-edge metal engineering solutions from our headquarters in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Inside this new state-of-the-art facility, three lasers combine to deliver over 13,000 watts of metal cutting power, and their robotic-assisted CNC work cell delivers unmatched speed and precision.