ABOVE: Whole Grain Milling Company Co-owner Ross Hilgendorf looks over some of his product during the chip-making process. This conveyer system, along with several other production lines, were recently featured in the Fox Business show Manufacturing Marvels, exposing the company to a national audience.

WELCOME – The Whole Grain Milling Company, which has turned out a variety of grain-based products since its inception in the 90s, has been featured on the Fox Business Network television show Manufacturing Marvels.

The show airs weeknights from 9:20-9:45, and features the business practices and manufacturing processes of businesses across America. Co-owner Ross Hilgendorf said the milling company started as a way to better distribute what they produced to people.

“We’re a farm,” he said. “To try to keep the farm viable, we started the milling company in 1990 to process as much of our own grain we grow as we could. We try to provide a high-quality product for people. There’s so much junk on the market for food, and we felt this was a whole lot better way to do it.”

Whole Grain Milling is certified organic, which Hilgendorf said they accomplish by not using any chemical pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers in their work. Their episode of Manufacturing Marvels featured this, as well as their tortilla chip production system. Whole Grain Milling started making tortilla chips in 2002 to find more market for the corn they grow.

While the company started to sell what the farm produced, Hilgendorf said they do not grow all of the grain themselves.

“The wheat comes from North Dakota or Montana,” he said. “We buy that now through the brokers. We used to buy it all from organic farmers out there, but most of those farmers have passed away or gone out of business.”

Regarding the TV spot, Hilgendorf said they were actually discovered by the show itself.

“They called me in end of November and asked if we’d be interested in doing a segment with them on Fox Business Network,” he said. “It was one morning, just came in, he filmed. It was about five hours of filming they condensed into two minutes.”

The TV professionals then sent over a potential script, which Hilgendorf said they got to revise so they could ensure what they wanted to represent was done.

“We did more of what we wanted to highlight,” he said. “The entire business, let people know what we’re all about, instead of just a little bit. We’re not just a big corporation out here putting out a product. A lot of the corn chips here, the corn is growing on our farm, and it’s processed right here. It’s all within six miles of our farm.”

It all happened so fast, Hilgendorf said they didn’t get a lot of time to let people know about the spot. It aired December 22, and for the quick turnaround they had, he said they did a good job.

“It was pretty much all there what I wanted to say,” he said. “It was hard to get what you really want to see in two minutes. You only had 260 words you could put in. I was very impressed with the quality of workmanship they did on that.”

Along with the initial appearance, Hilgendorf said they now own the rights to that piece of the show, so it is now posted on their website, wholegrainmilling.net, as well as their Facebook page, facebook.com/wholegrainmilling.

Overall, Hilgendorf said the reception to this publicity has been positive. While business has been steady, he has received a few more calls than normal in the past month.

By being seen on a national level, Hilgendorf said the main thing he wanted to achieve was to raise awareness among people that this type of local, simple food is available to everyone.

Whole Grain Milling products are available in Fairmont at Hy-Vee and Fareway and at the Town Center in Trimont. For more information or to view their segment from Manufacturing Marvels, visit their website or Facebook page. For questions, call 507-728-8489.