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Major Industry
- Gates Corporation
- Russell Stover's Candies
- Columbia Metal Products
- TRAMEC LLC
- Cameron International
- Sonic Equipment Company
In 1974, Gates Rubber, one of the country's largest privately owned companies, optioned 94 acres from Iola Industries and the City to build a $26 million dollar plant.
The original goal of 300 employees has been met and surpassed. The Iola Division is consistently among the most efficient of the Gates domestic and international manufacturing plants.
In 1923, Mr. and Mrs. Russell Stover began a candy business in their bungalow home in Denver, Colorado eventually becoming "Russell Stover's Candies". Though the Stovers are no longer here, the Russell Stover family still exists. It is made up of over 6,000 people, all dedicated to making "Only the Finest" in boxed chocolates. The story of Russell Stover's Candies is one of immense growth in the last decade and a half, from a small regional candy company to the nation's largest. Iola is one of only a handful of candy kitchens in the nation. Remarkably, the same care, quality and ingredients must go into each box of candy today as it did in 1923, in Mrs. Stover's bungalow.
The first business brought to Iola by Iola Industries, Colombia Metal Products specializes in storm doors and windows. It is located in Riverside park.
TRAMEC, LLC services the heavy-duty tractor and trailer OEM and aftermarket businesses, and the industrial market. TRAMEC’s full line of highly engineered products includes air brake and electrical components, assemblies, and related accessories, cold-formed lock nuts and specialty bolts, and automatic brake adjusters. TRAMEC has over 120 employees and facilities in:
- Iola, KS
- Carpentersville, IL
- Rock Falls, IL
- Buffalo, NY
- Grapevine, TX
Cameron International Corporation acquired Precision Down hole Pumps in January 2009. Cameron manufactures pressure control equipment and provides aftermarket services for worldwide onshore, offshore and sub sea oil and gas drilling and production operations.
Sonic Equipment Company/ Kneisley Manufacturing
The partnership of Sonic Equipment Company and Kneisley Manufacturing Company is a cooperative enterprise that provides a broad range of goods and services to a number of varied and growing industries.
Since its founding in the early 1970's, Kansas-based Sonic Equipment Company has been a cinema solution provider servicing customers across the Midwest from Ohio to Texas. In recent years, Sonic has become the choice integrator of digital cinema for many independent exhibitors, offering a full range of products and services that include equipment selection, system installation, maintenance packages as well as financing.
Kneisley Manufacturing Company is a multi-tiered company making products for the motion picture industry, the glass manufacturing industry and the search-light industry.