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 newsletter focused solely on the untapped but unproven market of used construction 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. This time, it stuck.

On Thursday, April 14, 1966, Contractors Hot Line, the newsletter and the company, was born. No one would have predicted that little four-page weekly flyer would turn into a multi-milliondollar publishing company now known as Heartland Communications Group, based in Fort Dodge, Iowa, for over 50 years..

Mr. Joe Peed, Heartland’s owner, credits the company’s employees and its thousands of loyal clients and readers for making this milestone possible.

Newsletter Launches a Company

Initially, Contractors Hot Line included free “want to buy” listings, which were sent to paid subscribers each week. As the newsletter became more popular, it expanded to include advertisements of machinery for sale. When weekly communication wasn’t fast enough, the company also began offering a daily version that was mailed—and later faxed—throughout the country five days per week. As the company grew and increasingly shifted to conducting business by telephone, its customer base had expanded to more than 230,000 contacts, a number that has grown exponentially through the years.

On Aug. 8, 1968, the company became incorporated and changed its name to Contractors Hot Line, Inc. Over the next few years, the small and agile business started new trade and consumer magazines in various niches, a pattern that has continued to this day.

In December 1974, the company started Computer Hot Line, which provided a means for buying and selling used computer equipment, and in September 1975, the company founded Farmers Hot Line for buying and selling used farm machinery and equipment. As the company broadened, it clearly had outgrown its name, shortening it to Hot Line, Inc. in October 1976.

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