A unique company that began in Moultrie is continuing to expand its line of ice vending machines.

Last week, Ice House America annunced the addition of a fifth kind of machine, the XL Mini, positioned between the Mini that was introduced in January 2009 and the Hut, which came out in 2007.

Ice House America, based in Jacksonville, Fla., bought out Twice the Ice, the Moultrie firm begun by Lavon Stripling and Donald Dalton to market the ice vending machine they invented. IHA began producing the Ice Houses in 2003 at the Moultrie plant formerly owned by Ball Metal Container Corp.

The original Ice House produces up to 600 bags of ice per day, according to President and CEO Bob Alligood. Later products are smaller and produce less: The Hut, 180 bags per day, the XL 120 bags, and the Mini 50 bags. There’s also a mobile unit, introduced in December of 2008, that produces 240 bags a day; it is often used during disasters because it has its own generator, although it requires a clean water supply.

The XL, like the Mini, is intended for the convenience store and grocery store markets, Alligood said.

He said the company has hired a salesman for the new product, and he’ll start training next week. The budget calls for 80 of the XLs to be sold this year.

As of Thursday, IHA has sold 1,811 units of all sizes. The Moultrie plant produces about two a day, some of which are shipped out quickly while others are stored at the plant until the buyer is ready to take delivery.

Ice House America has been employee-owned about 18 months, Alligood said. The company joined the Employee Stock Ownership Program, ESOP, in September 2008.

The ESOP is a government program that allows employees to contribute part of their paychecks to buy stock in the company they work for.  When they retire, the company is required to buy the stock back at the most recent valuation.

Employees qualify for the program after a year with the company, and they become vested over the course of four additional years.

“It puts the employee in the position of being an owner,” Alligood said. “… As long as the company is doing well, every employee does well. They have a vested interest in being loyal and productive.”

Alligood said he believes Ice House America is the only ESOP company in Moultrie.

For more information on the Employee Stock Ownership Program, visit www. esopassociation.org. For more on Ice House America, visit www.icehouseamerica.com.