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BIG X / EXCELSIOR HENDERSON
engraved metal plates. You will feel like you have a hand-crafted quality motorcycle, just like the Excelsior-Henderson's of old. Our Goal is to park the new Super X next to the old one and you will see grandpa and grandson," The Hanlon's said. WOW!!!!!
With financing and prototypes firmly in place, they needed a factory to build this historic new motorcycle. Rather than announcing that they
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would build in one certain area, they hired a relocation firm and put together a list a strict guidelines that must be met for a city to be considered. They then sent this packet to towns throughout the Midwest and let them bid on the new factory.
"It was both emotional and analytic," the Hanlon's proclaimed. On the analytic side, there were transportation issues, supplier details, skilled labor force needs, state and local taxes, state and local incentives. On the emotional side, this site was going to be Dan and Dave's new home. Employees would also be moving here to raise their families and send them to the local school. Deep roots would be established real fast and the community had to be just right to incorporate this mix. Coming from a small town, community and family are extremely important to Dan
and Dave Hanlon.
There were 10 states in the running. In the end they opted for their own back yard of Belle Plaine. Dan and Dave could believe the lengths that communities would go to entice them. School kids writing letters, marching bands entertaining them, hand-painted signs welcoming them, lemonade and apple pie receptions, tours of seasoned citizen homes. Dan confided that the decision was tougher than he ever imagined. "After every town made their pitch, I jumped back in the van and thought that this was the ideal place." Belle Plaine and the State of MN came together with the right deal and they decided on it. They said there was a myriad of reasons for choosing this town, but keep in mind how important family is to them and how important the community is. I think they always