Quick Look: Manufacturers in McDonough County By Nathan Woodside
October is National Manufacturing Month. Here’s a quick look at the history of other current manufacturers in McDonough County.
Pella Corporation traces its origins back to 1925, when Peter Kuyper and his wife, Lucille, invested $5,000 to acquire the Rolscreen Company. This small business was known for inventing the Rolscreen insect window screen, which conveniently rolls out of sight when not in use. A year later, the Kuypers relocated the company to Pella, Iowa, leveraging their family’s existing lumber business in the area.
Over the decades, the company expanded significantly, growing into one of the nation’s leading window manufacturers. In 1992, it adopted the name Pella Corporation to reflect its broader product range and market presence. Today, Pella employs approximately 10,000 people across 20 manufacturing facilities located throughout the United States and parts of Canada. Among its wellknown window product lines are the EnduraClad and EnduraGuard systems.
In 2005, Pella announced plans to open a new manufacturing plant in Macomb, Illinois, which was projected to create 480 jobs. The state supported the project with up to $7 million in grants and tax incentives to help establish the 25,550-square-meter facility. The Macomb plant has since grown to employ around 600 workers, contributing significantly to the local economy.
NTN-Bower
NTN-Bower’s roots trace back to 1904 when R.F. Bower of Dayton, Ohio patented a thrust controlling roller bearing designed to prevent wheels from falling off horse-drawn carriages during sharp turns. The innovation quickly gained traction, leading local investors to form the Bower Roller Bearing Company in 1907 with $100,000 in capital.
In 1985, Federal-Mogul Corporation partnered with Japan’s NTN-Toyo Bearing Company to create NTN-Bower Corporation, focusing on precision roller bearing manufacturing in the U.S. NTN took full ownership in 1987. The company’s headquarters moved from Michigan to Macomb in 1993.
More recently, NTN Bearing Corporation of America relocated its corporate offices from Mount Prospect to Schaumburg, continuing the company’s Midwest presence.
Yetter Manufacturing
During the Great Depression, Harry and Etta Yetter launched a small machine shop in Colchester, introducing a wheel-cleaning device that helped Midwest farmers prevent mud buildup on tractor wheels.
The invention quickly gained popularity, establishing Yetter as a trusted name in farm equipment.
Still family-owned after more than 90 years, leadership passed from founders Harry and Etta to their daughter Joan Whalen in 1975, and then to her sons Pat and Bernie in 1980. The company expanded its product range from wheel cleaners to grain elevator equipment, coulter devices, and precision farming tools. After weathering economic challenges in the 1960s and 1980s, Yetter grew steadily, adding row cleaners in the 1990s and acquiring AMCO Manufacturing in 2011.
Today, Yetter leads in designing planter attachments, residue management, fertilizer placement, strip-till units, and harvest equipment.
Schuld Bushnell
Ernest and Mary Ann Schuld acquired the business in 1980, shifting its focus from gravity wagon boxes, water tanks, and bale rings to smooth-wall storage silos. After retiring early from a previous bin manufacturing venture, Ernie revitalized the company, which remains family-owned following his death in 2018.
The company has grown from a single 37,000-squarefoot facility to more than 120,000 square feet, with additional operations in Nebraska and Minnesota. Starting with just eight employees, Schuld Bushnell employed around 60 workers as of 2024.
Midwest Control Products Corp.
Founded in 1967, Midwest Control Products Corp. (MCP) began as a tube fabricator in Bushnell, Illinois. Over the decades, it expanded its offerings to include a wide range of components such as ball joints, clevises, spring pins, spherical rod ends, and yoke ends, along with flat bar and tube fabrications, upset forgings, wireforms, laser cutting, powder coating, and push-pull cables.
Today, MCP serves more than 10,000 original equipment manufacturers and distributors worldwide, maintaining its reputation for diverse, high-quality manufacturing.
