60 years in business

MT. PLEASANT - The Steffes Group in Mt. Pleasant celebrated the company's 60-year anniversary with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its auction pavilion on Thursday morning.

Tim Meyer, general manager of Iowa operations for the auction and realty company, explained the Steffes Group purchased the Mt. Pleasant location, formerly Richard Realty and Auction, in 2012. Since the purchase, the company has seen continued growth.

'In 2012 I think we did close to 35 or 38 auctions out of our facility … This year we're going to cross 200. The company as a whole will do over 600,” Meyer said.

The general manager added the location has also gone from seven full time employees in 2012 to close to 40 today. The Mt. Pleasant location serves the Midwest region that goes from Minnesota-Madison, Wisconsin border to Forest City, Arkansas.

'Steffes wants to be in Mt. Pleasant. We're very, very happy to be here. We love this community and everybody down here,” Meyer said.

Karen Richard, who founded Richard Realty with her husband in 1984, said the couple were 'very pleased” to be able to celebrate this milestone with the company.

'They had the same values that we did, and it all worked out great,” Richard said of seeing the company continue to grow and move forward.

Kevin Dameron, a full-time real estate agent who joined the company in April 2019, said the company is 'a well-oiled machine.”

Dameron, who works alongside fellow real estate agent Dennis Eboersole, said there is a real team mentality to the way the company works.

'Steffes is really the auction house, but they didn't want to lose the real estate side,” Dameron explained.

'We stay on the real estate side, and they support us really well … it's been a good partnership,” he added.

Ebersole, who joined Richard Realty in the early ‘90s, added seeing the company grow has been 'all good news” and is excited to see where the company goes next.

Looking forward, Meyer said the company hopes to 'expand [their] footprint in the Midwest.”

'We're so happy to be involved in the Steffes family. I'm so appreciative of the community of Mt. Pleasant for supporting us, and I'm very, very thankful for all the employees because they're the backbone of what we do,” he said.