Photo from Zippy’s website.
With another winter storm due to dump several inches of snow on Iowa this weekend, stores are running out of salt to spread on our driveways, sidewalks and porches.
A new eastern Iowa company that processes and packages salt is seeing more business than expected. Cody Coberly , co-owner of Zippy’s Salt Barn in Mechanicsville, says it’s a business avalanche. “It was great until the last couple three weeks when we got slammed with all the ice,” Coberly says. “We’ve been working around-the-clock. We’ve been putting in a second shift and working until midnight-one o’clock every night to get things done and also on the weekends.”
The company offers products like “Zippy’s No Slippy Ice Melt” as well as chemically-treated versions called “Fire Blend” and “RAZOR Melt.” With some Iowa stores selling out of salt, Coberly says he’s been getting calls from people seeking out the shakers and 50-pound bags.
“Right now, we’re going day-by-day,” Coberly says. “We’re not taking on anybody new. We’ll take walk-in customers, but we are able to keep up with demand right now.”
Officials with the Iowa DOT say the agency could end up using a record amount of salt and sand on our roads this winter. A typical season sees the use of between 130 and 140,000 tons of salt statewide. They estimate usage may hit 200,000 tons before spring.
(Thanks to Dean Borg, Iowa Public Radio)