FEB. 12-18, 2024 SPRINGFIELD BUSINESS JOURNAL · 19 Getting its start in the Ozarks, Hiland Dairy Foods has been a part of the Springfield community for over 85 years. Marketing Manager Sarah Saucedo Carey said the company distributes throughout the Midwest, adding it has a long-standing relationship with Branson’s Silver Dollar City. Dairy products provided for the theme park include ice cream for Hannah’s Ice Cream Parlor, such as Outlaw Run, Hiland’s collaboration with SDC. The flavor created in conjunction with the park’s wooden roller coaster features chocolate chunks with swirls of sea-salted caramel in a rich vanilla ice cream. It’s sold in retail stores across the company’s distribution footprint. SBJ: When was this flavor of ice cream released, and is it available nationally or is it just a regional product? Sarah Saucedo Carey: Hiland Dairy is a regional company, so it is available throughout where our distribution area is, so that’s anywhere north from Nebraska, Iowa, down south to Texas. So, in those [northern] states, if you just follow that line down south, it would be all of those. As far as when Outlaw Run [ice cream] started, it was whenever the ride actually started, which was in 2013. SBJ: How many ice cream flavors does Hiland Dairy sell? Saucedo Carey: Thirty-seven flavors. Really, only one is seasonal, which is our Peppermint Stick ice cream. SBJ: How many versions of Outlaw Run were created before arriving at this version, and how long did it take? Saucedo Carey: We had started off with about three or four completely different flavors that we took to Silver Dollar City along with Hiland’s team to taste test and see which one we liked the best. Definitely, the Outlaw Run with its caramel and chocolate chunks was the huge winner when we did that. But then we did have to go through some iterations of that specific flavor, though. We went from more of a chocolate chunk to a chocolate chip. Then also we went from a regular caramel to a sea salt caramel. So, it was all of those types of little tweaks here and there to come up with the perfect flavor. That took about a month or so of development and doing that and determining packaging and that kind of thing. SBJ: Does Hiland Dairy collaborate with any other companies on products? Saucedo Carey: No, actually Silver Dollar City is the lucky one that has been able to work with us, and it’s just because of our long-standing relationship with them. We’ve been providing ice cream for Silver Dollar City for a long time, and as their creative minds have wanted to amp up the promotions of the opening of their other rides, they’ve asked us, and we’ve partnered with them. That’s really the only kind of product that we’ve done partnerships like that with. SBJ: Are there other ice cream flavors involving Silver Dollar City available or any others in the works? Saucedo Carey: We do have our Time Traveler ice cream that’s available and that’s with Silver Dollar City, and we will have exciting news very soon about a new flavor with them as well. SBJ: This will also be in conjunction with a ride? Saucedo Carey: Yes. Interview by Reporter Mike Cullinan. COOLEST THINGS Owner: Operators of 7,000 farms Employees: 349 local, 3,822 companywide Founded: 1938 Web: HilandDairy.com Facebook: @hilanddairy 2023 revenue: $2.5 billion Product pricing: $5-$6 Outlaw Run Ice Cream Sarah Saucedo Carey Owner: George Carr and Doug Russell families Employees: 75 Founded: 1969 Web: LWInd.com Facebook/X: @landwindstries / @lw_industries Annual revenue: $15 million-$25 million Product pricing: $60,000-$120,000 L&W Industries has been manufacturing and distributing railroad signal and communication products for 55 years. The signal cantilever joined its portfolio in the past decade, and though it’s somewhat of a newcomer for the company, officials say it’s an essential product for its customers to ensure proper communication and safety. SBJ: How did production of the signal cantilever come about and what’s been the impact on your company and the industry? Jenny Carr: We started buying these structures from a business partner. He had over 25-30 years of experience in designing and manufacturing these. It’s a niche market. Every one is custom designed. In 2014 was our first sale with him. That company was wanting to get out of it, because they had a little different focus, so we bought the company in 2018, and brought him along to ensure a successful transition. SBJ: Who are your customers and how do you get the product in front of them? Carr: We sell to what we consider Class 1 railroads – some of them would be BNSF, Union Pacific, Canadian National. We also sell to what we call short lines or Class 3 railroads. Sometimes we’ll do the whole entire package. That’s more on the crossing side. SBJ: What’s the function of the cantilever? Carr: There are signal cantilevers and signal bridges, and those two products are used when a railroad has multiple tracks. It looks like traffic lights that serve as communication to the trains entering. It will direct the train. Those communication standards are unique to each of the railroads. The related product would be the crossing cantilever and the crossing bridge, and those are the ones people are most familiar with. That would be when you go up to a railroad crossing. SBJ: Where do you manufacture the cantilevers? Carr: We have a 50,000-square-foot building in the industrial park, east, and a 35,000-40,000-square-foot building where these products are built. We’re busting at the seams. We looked at an expansion here, but we were landlocked. We found a building in Strafford and look forward to getting into that building as early as May. It’ll increase our capacity. It’s a new building ... with Rich Kramer, who built the building we’re in here. SBJ: How many are you selling a year? Carr: It’s pretty volatile. They’re unique, so they’re ordered, designed, engineered and manufactured really one at a time. There was one instance where we had seven bridges that were all identical, but that’s more the exception. We have three in the pipeline and a lot of different quotes out there, some we’re certain we’re going to get. SBJ: Why is it important to make the product in the Ozarks? Carr: Being located in central Missouri is very beneficial when you’re shipping all over the place. It’s also really nice that BNSF has a location here. Springfield has a very rich railroad history. We try to buy everything we can that’s made in the U.S. or as local as we can get it. Having a strong manufacturing base is vital for the Midwest in terms of the number of jobs manufacturers create and the trickle-down effect we see with suppliers locally. I think it’s vital to national security. We’re seeing a lot of onshoring, where some businesses are bringing their manufacturing plants closer to eliminate supply chain problems. Interview by Editorial Vice President Eric Olson. Jenny Carr Signal cantilever L&W INDUSTRIES LLC HILAND DAIRY FOODS CO. LLC
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