N'West Iowa Business

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2018 THE N'WEST IOWA REVIEW/SHELDON, IA E5
MIKE COULANDER SHELDON
Owner of Coulander Manure Handling Inc. of rural Sheldon
BY RYLAN HOWE
RHOWE@NWESTIOWA.COM
SHELDON—Mike Coulander
doesn’t mind the
smell. Really, he doesn’t.
That’s a good things considering
he is the owner and
founder of Coulander Manure
Handling, Inc. of rural Sheldon.
“I’ve never had an issue with
manure and the weird thing
about is I actually like the smell.
My wife definitely doesn’t, but
yeah it’s never been an issue
for me,” Coulander said. “I’ve
always been around livestock
as a kid and growing up, so
to me it really is the smell of
money.”
Coulander graduated from
Western Christian High School
in Hull in 1997 and upon
graduation worked a series of
full-time jobs leading up to one
at Trans Ova Genetics in Sioux
Center.
That was where the opportunity
first arrived for his now
full-time business.
“Working at Trans Ova we
used to handle spreading the
manure ourselves,” Coulander
said. “I talked to them one year
about doing it myself, and that
was my shoe-in in the industry.
From there it was just a lot
of phone calls and driving to
people’s yards. We started seeing
more of a need for it.”
So began Coulander Manure
Handling Inc. in 2008, with
Trans Ova remaining one of
Coulander’s biggest clients to
this day.
AT A GLANCE:
Age: 39
Education: Graduated from Western Christian High School
in Hull in 1997.
Experience: Several jobs ranging from landscaping to
working on a dairy farm; worked at Trans Ova Genetics near
Sioux Center; started Coulander Manure Handling Inc. in
2008.
Family: Wife, Jill; Alison, 16; Wyatt, 5; Tyler, 4; Haley, infant.
Interests: Fishing, camping.
“We started with custom
application of dry manure and
went from there,” Coulander
said. “What we do varies a lot,
some will hire us just to haul
away a big pile of manure,
that’s how we got started really
and we still do that, but it has
evolved a lot in the 10 years
too.”
Sometimes his clients are
folks who have manure from
livestock but nowhere to go
with it, so Coulander Manure
Handing will buy it and resell
it to other area farmers who do
not have livestock but would
like natural fertilizer for their
fields.
“We fill a need there, and
we’ve branched out into poultry
manure as well. We do a lot
more custom applications now
as well as buying and selling,”
Coulander said.
He employs one full-time
worker as well as a few parttime
employees in the fall,
which is the busiest season.
From late August through
January is basically nonstop for
Coulander and his employees.
“One of the reasons I think
people come work for me is my
wife makes meals and brings
them out in the fall. I think they
work for that more than anything
else; they love the home
cooking!” Coulander said.
For the first year they had one
tractor and one spreader which
they ran around the clock.
They quickly added a second
spreader the next year.
“We still have crazy hours. We
probably have 100-120 hours
a week in the fall,” Coulander
said. “You get up at 4 a.m. to get
started and basically go until
you get done with a certain
job, which might not be until
midnight. Plus, being an owner
there is always something to do
— lining up scheduling, repairs
on rainy days. Fall is just a blur
really.”
PHOTO BY RYLAN HOWE
SUSAN DE YAGER HULL
Partner at Tattered Treasures and furniture builder
BY LANA BRADSTREAM
LBRADSTREAM@NWESTIOWA.COM
HULL—Creativity and desire led Hull
resident Susan De Yager to make furniture
and home decor. A dream led
her creations to be sold at Tattered Treasures
in Rock Rapids in 2015, and a partnership followed
in 2016.
“I remember seeing on the Tattered Treasures
Facebook page that they were looking for one
consignor to add to their store,” De Yager said.
“I felt like it was a long shot, because the store
had really cool stuff, but it was a dream so I
decided to go for it. I honestly was in shock
when they said they wanted to sell my items.
It had always been in the back of my mind that
it would be awesome to sell at their store. I just
didn’t think I had a chance.”
Tattered Treasures is an occasional store,
meaning it is only open from time to time. De
Yager said the store has eight sales every year.
“We are open Thursday to Saturday when it
is a sale weekend,” she said. “Between sales, I
build new furniture and signs to help restock
the store for the next sale.”
Plenty of new merchandise can be found in
Tattered Treasures during sale times, and De
Yager provides such items as a 7-foot harvest
table, five-drawer dressers, queen-size bunk
beds and signs with inspirational quotes.
“I make anything from as small as picture
holders to as large as my biggest piece, which
is a 24-drawer cabinet,” she said. “I’ve made
kitchen tables, all of our beds, dressers, consoles,
end tables — pretty much if I see it and I
like it, I’ll probably build it.”
De Yager draws a lot of her inspiration from
pages she follows on Instagram or from stores
that carry styles she enjoys.
“I follow more of the modern styles, but also
those that mix old and new,” she said. “I like a
PHOTO BY TOM KANE
AT A GLANCE:
Age: 35
Residence: Hull
Education: Graduated from LeMars
Beauty College in 2004.
Experience: Customer service
representative with American State Bank
in Hull for nine years; partner at Tattered
Treasures and furniture builder.
Family: Husband, Noah; children, Talan,
11; Ashton, 8; Mylee, 5.
Interests: Going for walks, boating,
gardening.
little bit of both!”
Most of the material used by De Yager is
provided by the Hull Cooperative Association
lumberyard. The rest is salvaged. She said does
work on discarded wood occasionally, but she
prefers working with new, because it is easier.
“At the store, we all have a different style we
like and I think that’s why it works so well,” De
Yager said. “Mixing new and old gives it that
modern or vintage feel, and I feel like our store
has something to offer to every type of customer
that comes through our doors.”
The Tattered Treasures partner began building
furniture and home decor six years ago. De
Yager grew up watching her father, Arlen Hofman,
tinker in his Sanborn shop, and helping
him out when she could.
“He could do anything, and always said to
me, ‘Susan, where there’s a will, there’s a way!’”
she said. “I enjoy making projects and enjoy
the challenge of seeing what piece I can build
next.”