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I DA U N I V E R S A L M ay -J u n e 2 0 1 6 12 Contractors Hot Line and Heartland Communications Group, Inc. CELEBRATE 50 YEARS OF SERVICE The world wasn't quite ready for his idea, so he waited another 10 years, trying to persuade banks to lend him money for his newslet- ter focused solely on the untapped but unproven market of used con- struction equipment. "They just kept showing me the door," the late founder said in a 1973 newspaper interview. Down on his luck, he nearly shipped out to run a quarry 45 miles from Saigon, Vietnam, but gave the newsletter idea one last chance. !is time, it stuck. On Thursday, April 14, 1966, Contractors Hot Line, the news- letter and the company, was born. No one would have predicted that little four-page weekly flyer would turn into a multi-million-dollar publishing company now known as Heartland Communications Group, Inc., based in Fort Dodge, Iowa, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this April. The company now publishes more than 40 print and digital magazines and guidebooks for the construction, agriculture and live- sto ck , aviation and industrial machine markets, and reaches an expanding global audience. Besides its headquarters in Fort Dodge, Heartland also operates branches in Des Moines, Iowa; Kansas City, Mo.; Lincoln, Neb.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Denver, Colo.; Manitowoc, Wis.; and London, England. Gale McKinney, Heartland's president and CEO, credits the company's employees and its thou- sands of loyal clients and readers for making this milestone possible. "Heartland's success is a direct result of the dedicated, passionate commitment of employees past and present. Heartland has perse- vered for 50 years because of their significant skill set, the personal relationships we have developed, and the customize d solutions we consistently tailor for our cli- ents to reach their customers," McKinney says. Newsletter Launches a Company Initially, Contractors Hot Line included free "want to buy" list- ings , which were sent to paid subscribers each week . As the newsletter became more popular, it expanded to include advertise- ments of machinery for sale. When weekly communication wasn't fast In 1956, contractor John Peed was struck with an idea as he searched for a piece of used construction equipment: wouldn't it be great if a contractor could quickly locate whatever heavy machinery he needed in one place? If you wanted to buy used equipment back then, you had to hunt for it. No dedicated construction equipment marketplace existed. Q The Carver Building in downtown Fort Dodge, Iowa, is the headquarters of Heartland Communications Group. 12 By Jason Young