Today Ambassadors held a Ribbon Cutting for Iowa Built Trailers owned by Craig Cooper. Iowa Built Trailers bloomed from old Ragbrai accommodations Craig used to use on his charters, these “bunk houses” were sold to a buyer in the carnival industry. After the initial purchase the buyer reached back out and asked if Craig could create more for his company and from there Iowa Built Trailers started and has created trailer accomodations for other companies within the carnival industry as well.
Starting out in the old ambulance bay, Iowa Built Trailers outgrew the space quickly and acquired their new space housing an on site office as well as a large workshop and room to expand if needed.
Iowa Built is approaching carnival housing differently than others in the industry, he states that they build accommodations that him and his team would be comfortable spending the night in, hoping to help in the change that is coming into the industry of more comfortable living accommodations for the employees. Additionally, Craig and his team care about their products after the sale. Craig took a trip to see his initial buyer on site to see how the product was holding up and how it was being used so that proper adjustments could be made to future accommodations. While on site Craig noticed a few elements not holding up and returned with his team to make the proper repairs.
Lastly, Craig spoke about how none of this would be possible without his team of builders. Craig and a client may meet and create a vision of what they want in their accommodations and Craig brings it back to his team and states that they always find a way to make that vision a reality. He praised his team as an extremely hardworking, resourceful and talented group.
Picture L-R Clay Meyer- Iowa Built, Jack Mathews- Our Grinnell, Lisa Cirks- Cirks Financial Services, Monica St. Angelo- Grinnell Area Arts Council, Hannah Vos- UnityPoint at Home, Donnette Ellis- Grinnell College Community Connections, Charlie Isaccs- Theisen’s, Brianna Gaunt- Community 1st Credit Union, Rachel Arseneault- Ramsey-Weeks Inc. Real Estate, Jennifer McAlexander- JM Consulting & Hawkeye Lock & Security, Fran Conn, Alokey Diaz Aguilera- Iowa Built, Donna Fisher-UnityPoint Health – Grinnell Regional Medical Center, Jeff Finch- Wes Finch Auto Plaza, Rachael Kinnick- Grinnell Chamber, Matt Moyer- Bayer Crop Science, Barb Arlint- Iowa Built, Craig Cooper- Iowa Built and Francisco Baharona- Iowa Built.
