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Constructed mostly by volunteer labor, the first Cass-Clay building opened its doors for business on October 1, 1935. It was located at the Northern Pacific Railway tracks and 9th Street on the east side of Moorhead, a site now occupied by Arvid Benson Furniture.

The new plant boasted seven employees and one truck, and dealt primarily in the manufacture of butter and the processing and distribution of milk. It was formally dedicated later in the month, with festivities including an open house, speeches by dignitaries, and tap dance exhibitions by a Miss Marjorie Fuller of Moorhead.

In June 1940, the first shovelful of dirt was turned for Cass-Clay's new building, as the T.F. Powers Construction Company began excavating a site at 1st Avenue and 9th Street South, Moorhead, next door to the original building.

The following January, Cass-Clay moved into its new $80,000 structure, which was used exclusively for the manufacture of bottled milk and other milk products, including ice cream. The old building, on the same lot, continued to be used for the processing of other creamery products.

Eleven years later, at their annual meeting in June 1952, stockholders approved a plan to move the creamery to Fargo if U.S. Highway 52 was routed past Cass-Clay's Moorhead location. Earlier that year, an entire block at 1st Avenue South and 4th Street in Fargo had been purchased as a site in the event of the highway re-routing. Estimated cost of the new plant was $585,000, with no date set for construction.

In recommending the move, General Manager Charles Ommodt said construction of the highway at the Moorhead location would hinder access to the present plant, preventing deliveries of perishable milk and cream from getting in and out on time. Ommodt also cited tax advantages in North Dakota and the fact that approximately 75% of Cass-Clay's business was in deliveries to Fargo.

In May 1954, after eight years of opposing the re-routing of Highway 52 through Moorhead, Cass-Clay management asked that work on the highway be delayed until the creamery completed its proposed move to Fargo sometime in the fall of 1955. The request was made in a letter to the Moorhead City Council and Minnesota Commissioner of Highways. Cass-Clay held out the threat of a lawsuit for any losses it might suffer because of highway construction — losses the firm said could run as high as $15,000 per day.

The following month, preliminary plans were unveiled for the proposed Fargo plant, now estimated to cost $860,000. Designed by the Fargo-Moorhead architectural firm of Foss and Company, the building was scheduled for completion in the fall of 1955.

Early in 1955, Cass-Clay abandoned its proposed building project on the site adjacent to Island Park because of a disagreement with the Fargo Park Board over rights to a narrow strip of the property. In March, a new location at 21st Street and 3rd Avenue North in the Fargo industrial area was purchased from the Manchester Biscuit Company for approximately $35,000.

Then in June, the construction contract was awarded to the T.F. Powers Company, Fargo. Groundbreaking took place June 30; by December, Cass-Clay had begun partial operation in its new plant.

With the installation of its general offices, Cass-Clay completed moving its facilities from Moorhead into its new $1.5 million, 65,000 square-foot Fargo plant in April 1957. A three-day grand opening was celebrated June 10, 11 and 12, featuring guided tours of the creamery and a ribbon-cutting ceremony with North Dakota Senator Milton Young and Fargo Mayor Herschel Lashkowitz participating.

We've been at this same location since 1957, having grown from a small local creamery to a multimillion-dollar organization with an eye always on the future. Now, as part of the AMPI family, we look to the future with renewed optimism and with the same commitment to quality and selection that has made us successful over these many decades.