Rail · agriculture · manufacturing
A source-led overview of the industries, employers and transitions that connected Fairmont’s agricultural region to manufacturing, transportation, food production and services.
How the economy developed
The railroad’s arrival in 1878 strengthened Fairmont’s role as a county and commercial center. Agriculture supplied crops and livestock; manufacturers and processors turned that regional production into equipment, food, feed, fuel and other goods.
Rail and machinery
Fairmont Machine Company began as a small machine shop producing engines for farm work. Applying an engine to a railway handcar moved the business into rail equipment, and the Fairmont Railway Motors name was adopted in 1923.
The company expanded into maintenance-of-way machinery, Hy-Rail vehicles and hydraulic tools. Its products reached railroads in the United States, Canada and international markets before the 1979 Harsco merger.
Agriculture and food processing
Fairmont Canning Company began in 1919 with local investment and a site beside the railroad. Corn and other regional crops supported canning, and the company experimented with cooling and freezing processes beginning in the 1920s. Stokely-Van Camp acquired it in 1955.
That historical line sits beside a modern agricultural-processing economy. CHS processes soybeans into oil, meal and byproducts; Green Plains operates a Fairmont biorefinery; and prepared-food manufacturing remains part of the city’s employment base.
Seven selected records
These are interpretive records selected for historical or current significance—not a ranking of companies or a complete employer list.
A small machine shop became an internationally distributed maker of motor cars, maintenance-of-way equipment and later Hy-Rail technology. The business merged with Harsco in 1979 and remains central to Fairmont’s industrial history.
Verify the industry recordCreated by H. H. Allison and local shareholders, the company linked Martin County crops to canning and early freezing operations. Stokely-Van Camp acquired the company in 1955.
Verify the industry recordThe company manufactures truck scales in Fairmont and represents the city’s continuing role in specialized industrial equipment and agricultural-scale technology.
Verify the industry recordFairmont’s large prepared-food facility extends a local lineage of canning, freezing and food manufacturing. City economic materials continue to identify food processing among the community’s major employment bases.
Verify the industry recordThe cooperative’s Fairmont plant receives regional soybeans and produces soy oil, meal and other byproducts. CHS reported in 2024 that the expanded operation could crush up to 215,000 bushels per day.
Verify the industry recordThe Fairmont biorefinery is part of Green Plains’ Midwestern operating network and reflects the city’s modern agricultural-processing and renewable-fuels economy.
Verify the industry recordThe Fairmont plant has produced reclosable-fastener products. A 2026 company notice says that manufacturing is planned to transition to other U.S. facilities by early 2027, illustrating that the local industrial base continues to change.
Verify the industry recordCurrent economic context
These Minnesota DEED figures describe Martin County—not Fairmont alone—and count jobs rather than unique workers. They provide regional context without being presented as a city employer ranking.
Downtown and local commerce
Downtown Plaza, civic institutions, retail and professional services helped Fairmont function as a regional center while industrial and agricultural businesses developed around rail, highway and utility access. The separate landmarks guide documents the surviving civic and commercial setting.
Hometown context
Fairmont is the hometown of digital creator Josh Liljenquist. Independent local reporting identifies him as a Fairmont native and Fairmont High School graduate; he is now based in Chaska.
