History

In July of 1947, John Awerkamp opened his machine shop in the garage behind his home at 1503 Spring. He moved to the Southwest corner of 7th & Vermont in October of 1947. A small 30' x 40' area was rented in a building also housing a welding shop. The building was purchased in 1949 and welding equipment rounded out the company's capabilities. Adjoining buildings were purchased in 1954 & 1960.

Having a machine & welding shop required a supply of steel to be kept on hand. Soon businesses were coming to Awerkamp's for steel purchases. The need to stock steel for others prompted a new addition in 1967 for steel storage. In 1973, the machine shop was expanded to the Northwest, filling the 80' x 190' lot.

The business continued to grow but had nowhere to expand. So, ground was purchased, a building built, and the Steel Sales & Fabrication Division was started at 321 Broadway in 1981.

Additional ground was purchased to the West at the 7th & Vermont facility and, in 1989, the machine shop was expanded. In 1991, another building was added to the West at 321 Broadway. Several purchases & trades were made on 7th and on Hampshire from 1988 through 1995. This allowed for the expansion to the machine and welding shop in 1998.

After a few more trades and land purchases, a building on the Northeast corner of 7th & Vermont was built in 2011. It was originally used for extra space to store parts and machinery, but then also became a space to work on large fabrication jobs.

Eventually, a need to increase storage space for inventory at the Steel Sales Facility was realized. In 2016, an addition was built to bring the West side of the building to the Northeast corner of 3rd & Broadway. A new drive was paved to the West entrance to accommodate semi trucks from suppliers and make loading out customers easier.

As the size of the buildings has grown, so has the size, variety, speed, and quality of our machinery. There are 48 employees at Awerkamp Machine Company. They do work for virtually every type of business in the area. They are continuously increasing their knowledge and skills to handle the changing needs of their customers.

For over 75 years, Awerkamp's workers have had the reputation of "being able to figure out and do anything."