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Author Archives: Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber

Keeping track of the bills that impact Cedar Valley business

We have posted the Iowa Chamber Alliance’s bill tracker for the week of March 11, 2013.  This document shows all of the bills under consideration in the current legislative session that are important to business and are being followed by the Alliance.  The Iowa Chamber Alliance is strong partner with the GCVAC in the Legislature; we work very closely with their lobbyists throughout the session.  You will find the bill title, bill number, an abbreviated bill history and the ICA position on the bills. (Reference: FR= for; UK=undecided/monitoring. )

View ICA bill tracker here.

Dust comments on Deloitte study of Iowa’s competitiveness

In a recent Courier article Steve Dust, CEO of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber and chairman of the Iowa Chamber Alliance commented on a recent study performed by Deloitte Consulting LLP.

The study was commissioned by ICA in hopes to provide the Legislature and policy makers current  information about where Iowa lines up competitively with the study’s benchmark states. Read the entire Courier article by Jim Offner here.

Allen Hospital has been named to the 100 Top Hospitals for 2013 by Truven Health Analytics.

Allen Hospital has been named to the 100 Top Hospitals for 2013 by Truven Health Analytics. The awards were announced February 25, 2013. Allen Hospital was named twice for overall performance and Everest Award rapid improvement.

Allen shares the special merit 2013 Everest Award designation with 17 other hospitals nationwide. The Everest Award honors hospitals that have achieved both the highest current performance and the fastest long-term improvement over five years.

Allen shares the 2013 100 Top Hospitals designation with 99 other hospitals across America. We are in the Teaching Hospital cohort of 25 hospitals. Two other Iowa hospitals are on the list: St. Luke’s in Cedar Rapids and Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids.

Allen Hospital also is a 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospital for 2013. That award was announced late last fall.

The Truven Health 100 Top 100 Hospitals study evaluates performance in 10 areas: mortality; medical complications; patient safety; average patient stay; expenses; profitability; patient satisfaction; adherence to clinical standards of care; post-discharge mortality; and readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure and pneumonia. The study has been conducted annually since 1993.

Allen Hospital won the 100 Top Hospital award in 2005 and the 100 Top Heart Hospital award (as it was known then) in 2004. This is the first time Allen has won both awards in the same year.

Iowa Chamber Alliance study finds Iowa’s economic development toolkit effective, but under resourced

The study rates Iowa’s competitiveness with its neighbors and other highly competitive states in economic development programs

View study here

Des Moines, Iowa – The Iowa Chamber Alliance, a non-partisan coalition representing the 16 largest chambers of commerce and economic development organizations throughout the state, released today a new study examining Iowa’s relative competiveness in its economic development efforts. Deloitte Consulting LLP was commissioned to examine the competitiveness of Iowa’s state-level economic development incentives.

“This study confirms Iowa’s approach to economic development incentives is on the right track, but it also demonstrates that Iowa does not resource its economic development incentives at a competitive level,” said John Stineman, Executive Director of the Iowa Chamber Alliance.

The Deloitte study found that Iowa lags only behind Texas in the “usability” of its economic development incentives – an important factor in how a state measures up in competing for economic development investments. Texas is widely considered one of the most aggressive states in economic development in terms of its incentive funding, its programs and its business-friendly tax and regulatory climate.

However, on the financial value side of economic development – the ability to impact projects through financial incentives – Iowa lags significantly behind its neighbors as well as other leading economic development states.

“It is clear Iowa punches above its weight class in economic development. The approach and programs we have are working and the proof is in the projects. The question is, how many projects are we missing out on because we simply do not resource economic development efforts at a competitive level?” said Stineman.

The study examined Iowa’s economic development programs and funding compared to five other states: Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, South Carolina and Texas. South Carolina and Texas are consistently ranked as highly competitive states for economic development.

Other key findings of the study include:

  •  Iowa is at a competitive disadvantage in the availability of discretionary funds to help close deals as well as in offering corporate tax exemptions.
  • Iowa performs at peer level in property tax exemptions, sales and use tax exemptions, and research and development tax credit programs.
  •  Iowa has a competitive advantage in its workforce development incentive programs.
  • Other states have caught up to and begun to pass Iowa in data center and technology incentive programs – an area where Iowa was considered a leader previously.

“Iowa has a solid base of state-level economic development incentives tools upon which to build. However, to become more competitive, Iowa may wish to increase the funding level and flexibility of some of the State’s key incentive programs” states Darin Buelow, a Principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP.

  • The recommendations from Deloitte Consulting include:
  • Consider increasing the cap on Iowa’s economic development tax credits
  • Evaluate options to offer a “Deal Closing Fund” or more discretion to the Iowa Economic Development Authority in awarding direct financial assistance
  • Consider allowing the sale, refund or transfer of economic development tax credits
  • Consider expanding the Brownfield/Grayfield Redevelopment Tax Credit program
  • Consider augmenting Iowa’s data center incentives.

“The opportunity is there for Iowa. We are well positioned to compete – if we resource our economic development efforts at the right level. We also need to review our programs to ensure we have usable and valuable incentives to help Iowa continue its economic growth in the future,” said Stineman.

For more information about the Iowa Chamber Alliance’s positions and legislative agenda, please visit www.iowachamberalliance.com. Copies of the study will be made available upon email request to john@iowachamberalliance.com.

About the Iowa Chamber Alliance

The Iowa Chamber Alliance’s mission is to put forth and enact an agenda to grow the state’s economy through support of proactive programs that stimulate economic growth opportunities for the entire state and its residents. The Alliance members include chambers and economic development organizations in: Ames, Burlington/West Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Iowa City, Marshalltown, Mason City, Muscatine, the Quad Cities, Sioux City and Waterloo/Cedar Falls.

View the study here

Far Reach was awarded a 2013 Gold ADDY Award from the American Advertising Federation – Cedar Valley on February 21 in the category of Digital Advertising, Websites, Business to Business. The award was given for a website completed in partnership with the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and Chamber. CedarValleyLife.com is a site developed to market the Cedar Valley region to businesses considering a move to the area. Over 250 entries competed for the awards this year. The Cedar Valley Life website is one of fifteen entries to move on to the district ADDY competition.

Visit cedarvalleylife.com here.

Iowans Support Path to Citizenship for Immigrants with Conditions.

Most Iowans support creating a path to citizenship for immigrants in the U.S. illegally so long as the nation’s borders are first controlled, a new Des Moines Register Iowa Poll shows. The Iowa Poll, was conducted Feb. 3-6 for The Des Moines Register by Selzer & Co. of Des Moines. Read the entire article written by Jens Manuel Krogstad of the Des Moines Register here.

The Business Case for Education Reform

By John Stineman, Executive Director, Iowa Chamber Alliance

The 2013 legislative session presents many opportunities for business —  property tax reform, economic development incentives, transportation infrastructure to name just a few issues that perennially top the agenda of Iowa’s businesses and economic development community.  Standing atop these important issues is education reform.

Education?

Yes, business considers education reform to be at least as important as the other core issues within our policy agendas.

The fact of the matter is that Iowa’s once vaunted public education system is no longer as competitive as it was just half a generation ago.

It’s not so much that Iowa has gone backward as much as it is that the rest of the country has improved at a far greater pace.  We used to be at or near the top and now dwell in the lower end of the middle of the pack.

From a strictly business perspective, we must address education reform because of Iowa’s growing skills gap.  Today in Iowa about 18% of available jobs are considered to be “low skill,” but about 38% of the available Iowa workforce is classified as “low skill.”  Middle skill job openings represent half of all open positions in Iowa, but only one-third of available workers are considered to be middle skill.

The skills gap is real, it is growing, and, unfortunately, our education system today is not geared to address it.

Beyond the immediate workforce needs, consider our education outcomes today.  36% of the “Class of 2012” that went on to higher or vocational education after high school required some sort of remedial education after high school.  This is stark evidence we are not systematically equipping our kids with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed after high school.

Of course, it’s not just about the skills gap or what kind of access employers need to qualified workers.

It’s about Iowa’s kids.  It’s about our kids and grandkids.

We’ve all chosen to live in Iowa, to raise our families here.  Making sure our kids have access to a quality education that will help prepare our kids to compete in a global economy and pursue their dreams is among our most important duties.

That’s why education reform is so important.

The reforms proposed by the Governor and now being vetted by the Iowa House of Representatives are a solid start on turning the tide for Iowa’s schools.  The reforms bring with them substantive changes that will fuel teacher leadership from mentor teachers and teacher leaders to drive innovation and energy into subject matter teachers.

The proposal elevates the profession of teaching – increasing first year pay and providing a longer student teaching period so new teachers can hit the ground running when given their own classroom.

The reform proposal expands online learning opportunities by bringing students from across Iowa together to learn online from Iowa teachers in districts that offer subjects not offered in other districts.

Teacher accountability is also important.  A statistic often cited at the Capitol is that 98% of Iowa teachers receive favorable reviews.  While there are many, many quality teachers across Iowa, it is simply not realistic to believe that only two in every 100 are in need of improvement.  Evaluations must include student performance as well as peer reviews and other measures.

The Iowa Chamber Alliance is supportive of the reforms proposed and interested in other ideas that will help improve Iowa’s schools as well.  We are hopeful partisan differences and political arguments can be set aside so that meaningful reform can be achieved.

There is simply too much at stake for us not to succeed in improving our schools.  It truly is the most important thing we can do this session.

For more information, please contact Iowa Chamber Alliance Executive Director, John Stineman, at (515) 226-1492 or john@iowachamberalliance.com.

The Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber is an active member of the Iowa Chamber Alliance. Alliance & Chamber CEO Steve Dust is the current Chair of ICA board of directors. Steve Firman, Alliance & Chamber Director of Gov’t Relations is also on its board.

 

 

 

Creating The Place to Start A Business.

By: Steve Dust 

The Cedar Valley economic area thrives on successful businesses that began one day when its owner said, “I can do that – better.” Some of these former startups are still identified with the owner – while others have grown into international business powers.

All over the Cedar Valley there are examples of people who are passionate about something, determined that no one can do it any better than they, and opened a business to prove it – people like the Bertch family, the Far Reach Technologies partners, or Van Miller’s growing-every-day-into-something-different VGM, or the CBE Group, or Mudd Advertising, or….

As their business grew, each of them discovered the value of our government relations, information, education, and networking resources, the market growth spurred by ongoing promotion,  and all the other things your professional team does to make the Cedar Valley a vibrant place for business startup and growth.

An observer of business startup and growth trends in the US, Brad Feld, recently wrote, Startup Communities – Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City. Based on his decades of starting businesses, becoming an early stage venture capitalist, and now known for his highly (some would say outrageously) successful Foundry Group in Boulder, CO, Brad eloquently writes about the role of organizations like the Alliance & Chamber in creating and sustaining that Entrepreneurial Ecosystem mentioned in the title.

The very best role the Alliance & Chamber can play to foster a robust Startup Community – that encourages a faster rate of business startups and attracts more people with the desire to take the entrepreneurial plunge is: Cheerleader and Feeder. In other words, Support.

  • Work on economic vitality – grow the market! Create a place where startups have the best chance of success: work on infrastructure like broadband, and amenities to create a vibrant,  economic base
  • Make connections – directly, to new sales or service opportunities, or indirectly with exposure to customers and vendors and service providers through networking events, and to other feeder organizations – like UNI’s Center for Business Services and SCORE.
  • Inform them – with inexpensive access to high quality service providers in educational sessions on topics of interest to new businesses – like healthcare reform, social media tools, or the like – delivering info those new business owners will use to increase business results and avoid pitfalls.
  • Work with local and state government to keep them out of the way of business startup and success. Though almost always well intentioned, government gets in the way of startups and growing business with the increased cost of complying with or being constrained by this rule or that

policy/ordinance/statute.

  • Be the gathering place for startup community leaders. The leaders of our start up community must be people who have recently started their own businesses. As busy as they are, other owners of startup businesses are the best to relate to and offer actionable advice on the startup experience. The Alliance & Chamber is the platform – the roost – for emerging entrepreneurs to gather, and share their own experiences. It’s also great feedback for the Alliance & Chamber to build its Cedar Valley Start Up action agenda.

Believe me: there’s a lot of competition among places for business startup activity.  We, and they, understand the economic power of startups, and the culture it engenders for addressing social as well as economic issues. Your Alliance & Chamber is motivated and equipped and working to ensure that the Cedar Valley economic area is an attractive place to take that giant step – the one taken by every person when they’ve uttered the words, “I’m starting a business.”

 

 

 

 

 

Digging in . . .Two Weeks In.

 

Week two is now behind us, and the Legislature is settling into the hard work of the session.  Budget work has begun in earnest and major policy proposals, like the Governor’s education reform package, have begun to be deliberated in committee.

New legislators are beginning to find their routines and the Capitol is abuzz morning, noon and afternoon with the many groups and associations coming to Des Moines to educate policymakers on their issues and jockey for support.

Yes, it is late January in Des Moines.

So far the 85th Iowa General Assembly has been relatively smooth.  But now they are starting to dig into the big issues and the new Assembly will be tested quickly on whether or not it will be different than the past two years where bipartisan agreement was hard to come by.  Only time will tell.

There are, of course, a lot of issues for legislators to come together and support.

Education reform is at the top of the Governor’s list and has the attention of legislators from both chambers and both parties.  Iowa’s schools have not kept up with the rest of the country.  Our time on top has passed, and now we dwell in the middle of the pack.  Real reform is critical, and the proposals coming out of the reform task force are a very positive step forward to help our children be prepared for the future and to help ensure Iowa’s workforce is strong and relevant.

Property taxes are again a major topic – as they should be with the past two sessions seeing much discussion, but no agreement on reforming Iowa’s uncompetitive commercial/industrial property tax system.  The Governor has a new proposal on the table that will guarantee local governments will not lose revenue as a result of rolling back business property taxes.  2013 may well be the year to address this important issue that has been a hindrance to Iowa businesses and economic growth for decades.

Economic development issues are always lively under the Rotunda.  Last year there was a fight over tax increment financing (TIF).  This year, tax credits are under scrutiny as a response to some of the larger tax credits awards in Iowa history being involved in securing two of the biggest capital investments in Iowa history.  Iowa’s economic development activity is on a major upswing, creating thousands of jobs.  The Legislature needs to restore tax credits to their previous level of $185 million, rather than being critical of them.  Direct incentives warrant proper funding as well.

There are several opportunities for the Legislature and the Governor to come together to help advance Iowa’s economy.  The Iowa Chamber Alliance will be in the mix, advocating for economic growth and sound public policy.  Check www.iowachamberalliance.com for updates.

For questions, please contact Iowa Chamber Alliance Executive Director, John Stineman, at john@iowachamberalliance.com

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