Mike Wells, president and CEO of Blue Bunny manufacturer Wells Enterprises, said the company aims to become the nation’s largest ice cream maker, up from No. 3. (AP photo)

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — The family that owns Wells Enterprises wants to grow the Iowa company into the nation’s largest ice cream maker by 2020.

CEO Mike Wells has already seen company sales improve 24 percent to $1.175 billion during his first five years leading the Le Mars, Iowa, company.

Now Wells says that the company is seeking outside investment to help it boost sales of its Blue Bunny ice cream even more.

Wells is currently the nation’s third largest ice cream maker behind Switzerland-based Nestle and London-based Unilever.

Wells has already grown to claim almost 6 percent of the roughly $10 billion ice cream market, and Blue Bunny ice cream is available nationwide. But the company needs to boost its advertising to compete better.