Photo by Jody Isaackson Pictured are D&D Schwerin Trucking partners Kevin Schwerin, Diane Schwerin, Dave Schwerin and Les Sanders outside their new office building in Wood Lake. The new office give them five times the space for conferencing with clients and partners than their old office. They should be able to move in at the end of August. Not pictured: partner Dani Stonestrom.

WOOD LAKE — D&D Schwerin Trucking of rural Wood Lake is bursting at the seams and needs more office space to meet its goal of communicating better with its customers.

“We’re a data-driven company,” owner/partner Dave Schwerin said. “There’s not enough space for (all the partners) in the old 700-square foot office anymore.”

So, the company hired general contractor Paul Geihl of Cottonwood to build a new 3,400 square foot ranch style office at 1497 570th Street, about 6 miles east of Cottonwood on County Road 10.

The dirtwork began in May, when the frost was out of the ground. The construction of the building, which included several local subcontractors, will be completed by Aug. 31 so that the staff can move into the spacious multi-office suite. The building also includes a conference room, a kitchen and a shower room for the livestock managers to clean up in prior to meeting with clients, Schwerin said.

“We have six office personnel, five on-the-farm employees and 12 truck drivers” Schwerin said. “That’s a total of 23 full-time employees.”

Everyone who is working at the business has had previous experience in their field, Schwerin said.

“The trucking business is actually the smallest financial portion of the family-oriented entity,” Schwerin said. “Hogs are the largest, then crops.”

Nephew and partner Kevin Schwerin is in charge of the crops. Schwerin’s daughter, Danielle “Dani” Stonestrom, and Les Sander manage the livestock operation, which runs under the name Posen Livestock Company, Schwerin said. And, Dani’s husband, Erik Stonestrom, manages the trucking portion of the business.

“Erik is also in charge of the new office project,” Schwerin said.

Dave Schwerin’s wife, Diane Schwerin, contributes to the operation, too. In spite have having had a full-time job in the past, she would rush home from work to feed up to 12 employees at one time. She also ran for parts, Dave Schwerin said.

Moving will be exciting, but challenging, Schwerin said.

“The big challenge will be the technology,” he said. “It has to move with us. The telephone, computer, and so forth. At some point, we’ll have to be down for a few hours.”

In selecting the site for the new office, several key factors were considered.

“This new location was chosen because it has accessibility and yet is still close to the shop,” Schwerin said. “It gives us a neutral spot for biosecurity (not tracking diseases from one livestock farm to another) and separating business from a family home site.”

The Stonestroms live on the place next to the old office. The new office location will draw business traffic away from their home, Schwerin said.

With the added square footage, the staff will have more elbow room for meetings,” Kevin Schwerin said.

“We’re excited to get into it,” he said. “In the old office, if Dave’s holding a meeting in his office or on the phone, everybody can hear.”

“Conferencing is huge,” Dave Schwerin said. “We hold meetings with hog producers or drivers are trained. The conference room can be used as a training center. We’re very much connected with technology, but also very much appreciate the value of face-to-face meetings.”

D&D Schwerin Trucking was established in 1978 when Dave Schwerin started farming with his parents, he said. His parents retired in 1989 and Dave Schwerin took over the operation.