Trucking firm moves office to Sioux City, adds workers

Hirschbach Motor Lines relocated its office from South Sioux City to a building it purchased at Third and Virginia streets in Sioux City in late spring, a move that company president and owner Brad Pinchuk said was made with his employees in mind.

It's near downtown. It's just around the corner from Historic Fourth Street, where employees can walk to lunch.

"We just thought it was kind of a cool area that better fit our culture," Pinchuk said.

The company acquired the building from a limited liability company headed by local developer and Realtor Kyle Kelly. About six years ago, Kelly redeveloped the 1930s-era structure, a former auto parts store, into a contemporary, multi-tenant office building known as The 306. Hirschbach leases other space in the building to the Boy Scouts and Jitters coffee shop.

"It's a good place. Our employees like it there," Pinchuk said.

There are now more employees to like it. Prior to the move, Hirschbach had six workers in the South Sioux City office. That total is now up to 15, with plans to add more, Pinchuk said.

It's indicative of the kind of growth the company is experiencing, he said.

"We're expecting to double the size of our company in three years," Pinchuk said.

With 750 trucks, Hirschbach primarily hauls refrigerated or frozen food for customers that include Tyson Foods, Farmland Foods, Wal-Mart, Nestle and McDonald's. Pinchuk said the company, founded in 1935 and shortly thereafter moved to northeast Nebraska, will move its headquarters this year from East Dubuque, Ill., across the Mississippi River to Dubuque, Iowa. It will continue to use the Illinois site for other operations.

At the Sioux City office, employees recruit drivers, manager drivers and customers and solicit shipments as well as planning shipments and assigning them to drivers.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board in April approved $225,000 in tax incentives to assist in Hirschbach's relocation from South Sioux City to Sioux City. The Targeted Jobs Withholding Tax Credits, paid over eight years, would help finance the $850,000 project. The purchase of of the Virginia Street building represents the bulk of the expenses, according to documents provided by the IEDA.

The Targeted Jobs program allows new or expanding companies in Sioux City and other designated border cities to divert a portion of their tax payments for capital expenditures that retain or create new jobs.

Pinchuck said the move also has helped Hirschbach to become involved with job-training programs offered through Western Iowa Tech Community College.