A Dubuque-based trucking company plans to construct a new, 78,000-square-foot headquarters and create 60 additional full-time jobs, contingent on the approval of state and local incentives.
McCoy Group aims to begin construction next spring and complete the project by summer 2025. The facility will be located at 2099 Southpark Court, at the site of the company’s current headquarters in the Key West area.
Jim Kane, vice president of facilities for McCoy Group, said the company seeks to expand following acquisitions that have led to significant growth and customer demand, including the purchase of W.W. Transport Inc., based in Burlington, Iowa, at the end of 2020 and Minnesota-based Bay & Bay Transfer Co. this fall.
“We have been growing all phases of our business,” Kane said. “We’re hoping that it’s a facility that makes people want to come and work for us.”
The new building would be double the size of McCoy Group’s current headquarters. Kane said construction would not impact the company’s corporate operations.
He said the company still is determining the anticipated cost of the project, and its completion is contingent on approval of financial incentives from Iowa Economic Development Authority and City of Dubuque, along with final approval from the company’s board of directors.
“The Iowa Economic Development Authority will consider the McCoy Group’s application in December, while the Dubuque City Council is expected to consider the city incentives during its meeting on Dec. 19,” states a press release from the company.
If the project moves forward, McCoy Group plans to hire an additional 18 employees by 2025 and another 42 by 2027, bringing the total number of employees in Dubuque to 280, Kane said. Those positions primarily will be focused on corporate divisions, including positions in accounting and human resources.
Kane said the new headquarters will be an 11.5-acre campus and include several new amenities for employees, including multiple cafeterias and a workout center. The company has purchased multiple properties surrounding its current headquarters to fulfill the vision of establishing a campus where employees can use outdoor space and events such as food truck days can be held.
“The response has been very positive,” Kane said. “We surveyed our group on some of the amenities that they want put into this project.”
The properties purchased by McCoy Group in the area include the former site of an Econo Lodge Inn and Suites that has since been torn down.
If the state and local incentives are not secured, the company could fall back to a less ambitious project to expand its current headquarters, Kane said.
“We are still early in the process,” he said. “At that point, we might expand the existing building instead of going new.”
McCoy Group was founded in 1958 by Robert McCoy in Shullsburg, Wis.
Still family-owned and -operated, it is now the parent company of six subsidiaries: transportation companies Foodliner Inc. and Quest Liner Inc., Truck Country, Stoops Freightliner-Quality Trailer, McCoy Construction & Forestry and W.W. Transport Inc.
In total, the company employs about 4,000 people and operates 26 freightliner truck dealerships, 16 John Deere construction and forestry dealerships and a bulk transportation division with 40 locations across the U.S. and Mexico.
Rick Dickinson, president and CEO of Greater Dubuque Development Corp., described McCoy Group as one of Dubuque’s “best-kept secrets” and praised the proposed project.
“The notion that they are not only keeping their headquarters here but expanding is great news for Dubuque,” he said. “Should it happen, it should be a beautiful gateway into the community.”