On behalf of the city, Mayor Russ Hilker welcomed the Casey's General Store to the town and commended the faith of Casey's executives for believing a store in Essex would be beneficial to their corporation.
"I thought it showed they had the belief we had some future here," he told Valley News Today.
Hilker also commented on how nice the facility is and the quality of the materials. "[image-nocss] It's really a nice building," said Hilker. "From a mayor's point of view, the main thing we look at is if it's an on-going business that will bring business to town. It's also more than a million-dollar facility that will be placed on our tax roles, resulting in additional tax money coming into our city funds in the form of property taxes."
Essex Community Club executive director Dana Wenstrand, who said the store was "beautiful," added that another benefit to Essex is the convenience of having a store in town.
"People can run down to grab lunch, house supplies or medicine. It's great to have that right here in town," Wenstrand told the newspaper.
Also, with the new store came employment opportunities. Wenstrand said she believes Casey's is now the second-largest employer in Essex after the school.
"Casey's is hiring at this store location, 15 to 20 employees. I had previously heard there was a huge turnout in people applying," Wenstrand told the newspaper.
Hilker and Wenstrand agree one more asset Casey's brings to Essex is the improvement of scenery as people pass through town.
"We had an unsightly property there before Casey's came to town, and now it's an inviting looking place, one that will encourage people to stop in Essex," said Hilker.
"We're very fortunate," added Wenstrand. "It really changes the look of Essex."
Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey's owns and operates 1,465 c-stores in nine states. It operates primarily in smaller communities with populations of less than 5,000.
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