Author Archives: Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber

Kittrell announces the IAMC proposed location at the Cedar Valley TechWorks in Waterloo

Cedar Valley of Iowa – On February 5, the Iowa Innovation Corporation will unveil the vision for the Iowa Advanced Manufacturing Center (IAMC). Two announcement / presentations will be made by Mark Kittrell, President, Iowa Innovation Corporation (IIC) on that day. The first will be at 9:00am during the 2014 Cedar Valley Manufacturing Conference held in Tama Hall on the Hawkeye Community College campus. Later, Kittrell will make an official presentation in Des Moines as a part of the IIC Legislative reception at 5:00pm at the World Food Prize building.

Kittrell’s announcement is expected to include: the IAMC proposed location at the Cedar Valley TechWorks in Waterloo; the role and composition of the newly formed Advanced Manufacturing Workgroup ; a schedule of Advanced Manufacturing Focus Groups to be held in various locations; the resources to be offered to Iowa small & medium size manufacturers such as an industrial business incubator, acceleration services, modeling and simulation, industrial laboratories, state of the art production equipment, access to Iowa’s top industrial innovation work and talent from our universities and community colleges, and process improvement.

Kittrell will also discuss capital and operational funding necessary to continue development of the Iowa Advanced Manufacturing Center.

Advanced Manufacturing Workgroup

Co-chaired by Sarah McDonald Hasken, Vice President, A.Y. McDonald MFG. Co., and Glenn Baker, Director Global Manufacturing and Enterprise Services, John Deere, this core group of Iowa’s manufacturing sector, has been formed to set the direction for the IAMC.

The workgroup comprises leaders from all types of advanced manufacturing in the state of Iowa and also includes representatives of the regent universities, community colleges, state government, engineering, business associations and economic development leaders. David Takes, President of Doerfer; Mark Hanawalt, President/CEO of United Business Equipment; and Marvin Schumacher, President of Schumacher Elevator; Metal Casting Center Director Jerry Thiel; Linda Allen, President of Hawkeye Community College; and TechWorks representatives Cary Darrah, Wes James, and Steve Dust participate in the Workgroup from the Cedar Valley.

Advanced Manufacturing Focus Groups

The Advanced Manufacturing Workgroup will hold a series of industry focus group sessions around the state to discuss the issues faced and needs of small & medium size manufacturers. The focus group sessions will be held March through mid -April. Advanced Manufacturing Focus Group Sessions will be held in: Council Bluffs, Mason City, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Dubuque, Iowa Quad Cities, and Holstein. Earlier, a session was held in the Cedar Valley.

TechWorks Campus

TechWorks is a 30-acre campus containing 20 acres of development sites and 300,000 square feet of space in two existing buildings undergoing renovation. In 2007, Deere & Company donated land and buildings to start this innovation-driven economic development project. This historic plant was the site of manufacturing and assembly of the earliest John Deere tractors. TechWorks Campus is a subsidiary of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber.

TechWorks will partner with the Iowa Innovation Corporation to establish and house the Iowa Advanced Manufacturing Center (IAMC) in the Tech I building on the TechWorks Campus.

For more information on the Iowa Innovation Council, the Iowa Innovation Corporation, the Iowa Advanced Manufacturing Center, or the Iowa Innovation Council Legislative Reception on Feb. 5th, contact:

Tonja Richards

Director of Marketing and Communications
Iowa Innovation Corporation
tonja.richards@iowainnovationcoporation.com
(515)421-4038

For more information on the Cedar Valley Manufacturing Conference contact:

Pamela Wright, Business Development Manager

Hawkeye Community College

Pamela.wright@hawkeyecollege.edu
(319)296-2329 ext.3012

For information on the TechWorks Campus contact:

Steve Dust, CEO
Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber
sdust@cedarvalleyalliance.com
(319)232-1156

Federal Reserve Ag Expert Gives Ag Outlook, Land Values, and Current Conditions David Oppedahl to Present at Hawkeye’s Money Smart Ag Conference on February 25

Federal Reserve Ag Expert Gives Ag Outlook, Land Values, and Current Conditions

David Oppedahl to Present at Hawkeye’s Money Smart Ag Conference on February 25

WATERLOO–Hawkeye Community College is hosting Money Smart Ag Conference on Tuesday, February 25, from 8:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Farmers and those in the agriculture industry will especially find this conference helpful and informative as they learn about financial resources and how to apply that wisdom to financial decision-making from nationally-recognized professionals. Topics include federal agriculture outlook and monetary policy insights, farm economic trends, commodities update, estate planning and trusts, land management, agriculture legalities, lending pitfalls, as well as a variety of other issues.

Keynote speaker and national agriculture expert, David Oppedahl, is a business economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago who briefs the Chicago Fed’s president on the agricultural economy. Oppedahl conducts research on the agricultural sector and rural development. He directs the Chicago Federal Reserve District’s survey of agricultural banks on agricultural land values and credit conditions, and publishes the results in AgLetter—the Chicago Fed’s quarterly agricultural publication. He received a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, and a Masters of Science in statistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Another keynote speaker is Mike Pearson, the new host of Market to Market, following in his father’s footsteps. Pearson is a businessman and farmer who represents the sixth generation of Pearsons rooted in Midwestern agriculture. He grew up on a family farm in Iowa. After graduating from Winterset High School, he managed his family’s diversified grain and livestock operation and provided market updates and news reports for WOI radio in Ames, Iowa. Upon graduation from Simpson College, he entered the banking industry as a mortgage and agricultural lender in Grinnell, Iowa, before beginning hosting duties for Market to Market. Pearson owns and operates the Genuine Pearson Cattle Company in Grinnell, Iowa.

The lunch keynote speaker will be Paul P. Morf, attorney at Simmons, Perrine, Moyer and Bergman who will discuss how to successfully plan an estate or trust. Other speakers include JoAnne Kuster, director of Iowa Money Smart Week; Emily Bartekoske, attorney at Clark, Butler, Walsh, and Hamann; Ryan Drollette, farm management specialist from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach; Steve Ferguson, executive director at the Iowa Finance Authority; and Bruce Clark, business development officer at Grundy National Bank.

This conference will be helpful to those who are young, as well as those who are older and transitioning, and all those between. This event will be held in Tama Hall on Hawkeye’s campus, located at 1501 East Orange Road, Waterloo. Registration and breakfast will be from 8:00-8:45 a.m. The workshop includes breakfast and lunch; the cost to attend is $10 for students and $20 for all others. A snow date has been reserved for February 27. Registration deadline is February 17. Interested participants can find additional information online and can register on Hawkeye Community College’s website at www.hawkeyecollege.edu/go/money-smart.

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Cedar Valley Manufacturing Conference Scheduled for February 5

The Cedar Valley Manufacturing Conference is scheduled for February 5 in Waterloo. The conference will be held from 8:15 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. in Tama Hall on Hawkeye Community College’s campus. The conference is open to the public and there is no charge to attend.

Individuals who work in manufacturing will find this conference informative as they network with other decision makers, discuss the global marketplace, review employment trends and statistics, question the panelists, and tour Hawkeye’s vitual technology labs.

The keynote speaker is Tom Kammer, manufacturing consultant at the Center for Business & Industry at South Central College in Minnesota. Kammer specializes in helping organizations with Process Improvement. He is a nationally certified trainer with implementation experience with more than 200 companies.

The conference is co-sponsored by Hawkeye Community College Business and Community Education and Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and Chamber. Those interested in attending should call 319-296-4223 to register or online at www.hawkeyecollege.edu/go/manufacturing.

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CEDAR FALLS ACHIEVES CERTIFIED BLUE ZONES COMMUNITY STATUS

City Successfully Implements Wide Range of Improvements to Achieve Higher Well-Being

Cedar Falls, Iowa – January 22, 2014 – Wellmark^® Blue Cross^®and Blue Shield^®, Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY) and Blue Zones, LLC, today announced that Cedar Falls, Iowa, has been named a certified Blue Zones Community^®. Certification recognizes Cedar Falls’ successful implementation of the Blue Zones Project^®, a first-of-its-kind population health program that focuses on making long-lasting upgrades to the living environment. It brings the world’s best practices in food policy, built environment, purpose and social networking to participating cities.

Community leaders, volunteers and organizations throughout Cedar Falls have been working to reach this milestone since May 2012, when the community was named one of the first Blue Zones Project demonstration sites in Iowa. As a result of their efforts, Cedar Falls can celebrate the following outcomes:

Completion of a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge, Mayor’s Bridge, across Highway 58, connecting the industrial park, where approximately 7,000 people work, with the approximately 5,000 residents who live on the other side of the bridge.
Approximately $500,000 spent to expand sidewalks and trails, connecting more of the community than ever before. New sidewalks were completed along Angie Drive from 3rd Street to Crescent Drive, making it safer for students to walk to and from school.
Cedar Falls Community Schools earned a second Physical Education Program Grant valued at $1.3 million in part through its implementation of Blue Zones Project principles and other initiatives.
Local businesses increased their revenue by adopting Blue Zones Project principles. For example, the Hy-Vee College Square location noted an increase in sales of healthy items:

Healthy beverage sales associated with Blue Zones Project checkout lanes increased by 4,840 units, or 122%, in a three-month period.
Produce sales increased by 15.8%, with weekly sales of fruits and vegetables sold at the salad bar increasing up to 25%.

The University of Northern Iowa increased the number of water stations on campus from two to 45, with more than 350,000 water servings dispensed during the 2013 fall semester. Local employer John Deere PEC installed three new stations and has dispensed 86,000 servings.
Cedar Falls in collaboration with Waterloo saw more than 9,500 residents volunteer in 2013, an increase of 700 volunteers from 2012. The volunteers contributed more than 49,000 volunteer hours.

“Cedar Falls has enjoyed excellent economic performance in the last year, including a reduction in unemployment to less than 3 percent, the creation of more than 200 new jobs – many of them high tech, nearly $80 million in building permits and the sale price of single family housing up 8.6 percent. We feel strongly that this performance trend will only be enhanced by the continued Blue Zones Project work in Cedar Falls. A healthier community makes us a more attractive place to live and work,” said Cedar Falls Mayor Jon Crews.

“Cedar Falls is the consummate example that an American city, given the right tools, can dramatically increase its own quality of life by taking an environmental approach to well-being improvement,” said Blue Zones founder Dan Buettner.

All community members are invited to celebrate the success, hear from leaders in the community, and recognize the hard work completed towards improved well-being in a Certification Celebration:

Thursday, January 30

4:30 p.m. – 6:00p.m. (Program at 5 p.m.)

Cedar Falls Community Center

528 Main St.

RSVP: BlueZonesProject.com/events

All day Thursday, Jan. 30: “Better with Blue Zones Project Day” – wear your Blue Zones Project t-shirt or anything blue to celebrate!

Cedar Falls achieved Blue Zones Community status after the city made well-being improvements across the community, reaching the following key milestones:

50% of the top 20 identified worksites became designated Blue Zones Worksites^®.
25% of schools became designated Blue Zones Schools^®.
25% of restaurants became designated Blue Zones Restaurants^®.
25% of grocery stores became designated Blue Zones Grocery Stores^®.
20% of citizens committed to the Blue Zones Project and completed at least one well-being improvement action.
The community successfully completed the Blue Zones Community Policy^® bundle.

“Cedar Falls has done a tremendous amount of work to transform their community and make living healthy a way of life,” said Laura Jackson, Wellmark executive vice president. “This achievement is no small task. Cedar Falls should be commended for leading and inspiring other Iowa communities to take care of their citizens now and into the future.”

The Blue Zones Project is the centerpiece of the Healthiest State Initiative, designed to make Iowa the healthiest state by 2016. This status is measured by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index^® (WBI), the first-ever daily assessment of U.S. residents’ health and well-being. Brought to Iowa through an innovative sponsorship by Wellmark in collaboration with Healthways and Blue Zones, the Blue Zones Project initiative encourages all Iowa communities to change their built environments to make the healthy choice the easy choice.

While Cedar Falls has one of the highest WBI scores in the country, the community showed an increase in well-being from 2012 to 2013 of nearly one point. Each point in well-being improvement equates to a statistically significant decrease in the likelihood of hospital admission and emergency room visits.

For a community, the achievement of higher well-being for its citizens yields competitive advantage for economic development and job creation. For employers, it means greater productivity and better health in the workforce and dependent families, resulting in better business performance. For individuals, it simply means living well, longer.

“Clearly, Cedar Falls has demonstrated its dedication to improved well-being and is well deserving of Blue Zones Community certification,” said Ben R. Leedle, Jr., Healthways president and chief executive officer. “The policies and programs implemented in the community have already resulted in immediate, tangible benefits, and the Blue Zones Project will also lead to sustained, long-term well-being transformation for individuals as well as the broader Cedar Falls community.”

Fifteen Iowa communities are currently part of the Blue Zones Project and are positively influencing statewide WBI measurement outcomes to date. For more information please visit www.bluezonesproject.com.

About Wellmark

Wellmark, Inc. (www.wellmark.com) does business as Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa. Wellmark and its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, including Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Dakota and Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa, Inc., insure or pay health benefit claims for more than 2 million members in Iowa and South Dakota. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Dakota, and Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa, Inc. are independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

About Blue Zones

Blue Zones employs evidence-based ways to help people live longer, better. The Company’s work is rooted in the New York Times best-selling books The Blue Zones and Thrive – both published by National Geographic books. In 2009, Blue Zones applied the tenets of the books to Albert Lea, MN and successfully raised life expectancy and lowered health care costs for city workers by 40%. Blue Zones takes a systematic, environmental approach to well-being, which focuses on optimizing policy, building design, social networks, and the built environment. The Blue Zones Project is based on this innovative approach. For more information, visit www.bluezones.com.

About Healthways

Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY) is the largest independent global provider of well-being improvement solutions. Dedicated to creating a healthier world one person at a time, the Company uses the science of behavior change to produce and measure positive change in well-being for our customers, which include employers, integrated health systems, hospitals, physicians, health plans, communities and government entities. We provide highly specific and personalized support for each individual and their team of experts to optimize each participant’s health and productivity and to reduce health-related costs. Results are achieved by addressing longitudinal health risks and care needs of everyone in a given population. The Company has scaled its proprietary technology infrastructure and delivery capabilities developed over 30 years and now serves approximately 45 million people on four continents. Learn more at www.healthways.com.

Learn more about us here:

www.bluezonesproject.com

www.healthways.com

Take the Pledge today at www.bluezonesproject.com

Alliance & Chamber Investors to attend Cedar Valley Legislative Reception

The Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber will host its annual Cedar Valley Legislative Reception on Tuesday, February 11, 2014 from 5:00-7:00 PM, in the Terrace Ballroom, Renaissance Savery Hotel, 401 Locust St., Des Moines.

Investors in the Alliance & Chamber are invited to attend and share the story of the Cedar Valley and discuss issues of importance to Cedar Valley businesses with Legislators and other key administration officials. Legislators from 12 Iowa counties, along with the Governor Branstad, Lt. Governor Reynolds, Debi Durham, Director of Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), and Ed Wallace, Director of Iowa Workforce Development are expected to attend.

There is no cost to attend, but an RSVP is appreciated by calling the Alliance & Chamber at (319)232-1156.

Legislation to Require Taxpayer Notice Introduced

A subcommittee was held on Wednesday, January 22 to discuss HSB 508. HSB 508 requires county assessors to notify taxpayers when the Department of Revenue issues an equalization order. Currently the assessor must publish notice in the newspaper. The Chairman of the subcommittee, Representative Chip Baltimore, stated his support of the bill as a way to provide additional transparency to taxpayers. The legislation also eliminates the public notice provision since every taxpayer would be notified. The Iowa League of Cities and Iowa Newspaper Association are opposed to the bill. All other parties, including ABI, are currently registered “undecided” or “neutral” on the legislation. If you have feedback on this legislation, please contact Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber Director of Government Relations, Steve Firman, sfirman@cedarvalleyalliance.co.

New center will oil Iowa’s manufacturing wheel

A new manufacturing center will open in the Cedar Valley next year and provide a space for everybody — from the largest manufacturers to the individual tinkerer — to build products.
Although some say the timeline for the Iowa Advanced Manufacturing Center is a bit aggressive, project leaders say a mid-2014 debut will happen.
“I have been an entrepreneur long enough to know that timing is everything,” said Mark Kittrell, president of the Iowa Innovation Corp. “There is a national priority to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. We need to make things in the U.S. if we are going to grow.”
The facility in Waterloo will model itself after TechShop, which has opened a handful of open-access shops across the country.
The center’s stated goal is “to provide members with every conceivable tool and machine that they would need to build, hack, fix or create just about any kind of project.” These tools include 3-D printers, sewing machines, floor jacks and welding equipment. Members would pay a fee to use the tools.
The project is part of the state’s effort to expand advanced manufacturing and innovation, considered critical components to job and economic growth. Manufacturing is Iowa’s largest industry, valued at $27.6 billion.
The project will set up shop in a building at Cedar Valley TechWorks, which is already expecting the arrival of a John Deere museum and an eco-friendly hotel.

12/20/2013 | Marco Santana | The Des Moines Register
Original story found at: http://tinyurl.com/q68nye6

DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING FILE BUSINESS PROPERTY TAX CREDITS APPLICATIONS BY JANUARY 15

Through January 15, 2014, property owners can apply for a property tax credit on industrial, commercial and railroad classed parcels.

One credit is available for each qualified property unit. A property unit consists of contiguous parcels of the same classification that are owned by the same person and operated by that person for a common use and purpose.

A property owner need only fill out the application once as it will be applicable in subsequent years. If a property owner misses the January 15, 2014 deadline they can apply in subsequent years.

Application must be filed with the city or county assessor where the property is located. Copies are available at your County Courthouses and online here. http://co.black-hawk.ia.us/departme.nsf/F48EE0B3E331F78B86256704007A4926/163A0FD97DB5A7F286257C0D00686564?OpenDocument

The links above takes you to an online form and information provided by the Black Hawk County Assessor Tami McFarland. The contact information for assessors in other Cedar Valley counties is provided below. Simply change the name of the county in “Jurisdiction.”

Benton County Assessor
111 East 4th St, 2nd Floor
Vinton, Iowa 52349
bcassessor@co.benton.ia.us

Black Hawk County Assessor
Room 209
316 East 5th Street
Waterloo, Iowa 50703
assessor@co.black-hawk.ia.us

Bremer County Assessor
415 E. Bremer Avenue
Waverly, IA 50677

jkeller@co.bremer.ia.us

Buchanan County Assessor
P.O. Box 388
Independence, IA 50644-0388
bharms@co.buchanan.ia.us

Chickasaw County Assessor
8 East Prospect
New Hampton, IA 50659

Grundy County Assessor
706 G Avenue
Grundy Center IA 50638
johnf@gccourthouse.org

Tama County Assessor
104 W. State Street, P.O. Box 91
Toledo, IA 52342
jwitt@tamacounty.org

The Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber was part of an effective coalition that included the Iowa Chamber Alliance, Iowa Association of Business & Industry (ABI), Professional Developers of Iowa (PDI), and Iowa Taxpayers Association to achieve property tax reduction for all commercial and industrial property owners.

Alliance & Chamber Investor, Doerfer Companies Awarded NASA Contract

Alliance & Chamber Investor, Doerfer Companies Awarded National Aeronautics & Space Commission (NASA) contract in conjunction with an on-site visit from several NASA officials to Doerfer’s Waverly and Waterloo, Iowa factories during the week of December 9, 2013. Alliance & Chamber CEO, Steve Dust was present for the event where NASA officials showed great enthusiasm for the project and partnership with Doerfer.

Doerfer’s Wheelift Division, which operates primarily from Doerfer’s facility at 1575 Big Rock Road, Waterloo, Iowa, received a multi-year NASA contract in 2012 to provide the main assembly & material handling transporters for NASA’s new SLS (Space Launch System) core stage rocket production plants in New Orleans, LA. Wheelift’s transporters will carry the core stage rocket segments through full assembly, engine test, and launch preparation at NASA’s plants located in Michoud, LA, Stennis Center, MS, and ultimately Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL. Doerfer’s Wheelift transporters will travel with the 240 foot assembled rocket core stage on a ship as they make their way to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch.

The NASA SLS program will produce the largest and most powerful rockets ever built and represents the cornerstone of NASA’s future space endeavors. SLS will deploy the Orion Space Capsule to provide enhanced long range capability for extended human space travel beyond earth orbit and supports travel to the International Space Station as well as commercial and international support cargo missions. A NASA Fact Sheet on the SLS program is provided with this release. Extensive additional information is available on

SLS at http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/index.html.

NASA’s SLS team is led by Mr. Garry Lyles, SLS Program Chief Engineer, who will travel from the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL to address the Doerfer team along with visiting dignitaries and to conduct the award presentation commencing at 9 am on Thursday, December 12. Mr. Lyles is responsible for overall design and development of the SLS, is the recipient of the Presidential Rank, Distinguished Executive Award, and was named the 2012 Astronautics Engineer by the National Space Club. During NASA’s visit both Wheelift and NASA engineers will demonstrate and test the first 4 transporters produced for SLS, in preparation for delivery to NASA in early 2014. A schedule of events together with contact information will be provided to the media and attending dignitaries for the award presentation and transporter demonstrations. Although Doerfer is unable to open this event to the public, an additional public open house will be scheduled and conducted in 2014 in conjunction with production of the next round of transporters currently in process.

Doerfer Companies is an engineering driven designer, manufacturer, and integrator of automation systems and related equipment used to manufacture, handle, assemble, test, and package industrial and consumer products with plants in Iowa, Illinois, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Singapore. Additional information can be found on Doerfer and Wheelift at http://www.doerfer.com/ and http://www.wheelift.com.

Grow Cedar Valley