Tag Archives: education

Economic Development Week: Education, Workforce Development & Inclusion

Written by Will Frost, Director of Talent Development

Workforce and talent development issues continue to be at the forefront of discussions across the state, and here in our community. At Grow Cedar Valley, we don’t see these issues as threats to our local economy but rather opportunities. The Cedar Valley is experiencing a growth of job opportunities that are outpacing our current workforce. The need for workforce serves as an invitation for conversation to connect and inform those about the great career opportunities, cost of living, quality of life and educational opportunities that are available here in the Cedar Valley.

Education and economic inclusion serve as a primary connection and barriers that we have identified is a misalignment with what is needed to grow our communities workforce. To address this, Grow Cedar Valley works with employers to develop necessary on the job training to align skills with needs.

Collaborating with investors and the Cedar Valley community to create a more inclusive business culture is what will help grow our workforce and community. One that celebrates and shapes an environment that is open and accessible to anyone who wishes to participate in the local economy no matter of race, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, familial status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation or, gender identity. Creating an inclusive business culture will allow us to not only meet but exceed our talent and workforce goals!

If you want to learn more about Grow Cedar Valley and workforce development initiatives, please contact Will Frost, Director of Talent Development or call 319/232-1156.

In the Media: Leader Valley is Creating tomorrow’s leaders today

“WATERLOO — Melissa Reade is passionate about creating leaders, and in her role as director of Leader Valley, that is exactly what she helps to do.

Under the auspices of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber, Leader Valley is a talent development initiative that “prepares pre-K-12 students for success by providing them with the essential soft skills needed for a life of effectiveness and competitive advantage in the workforce,” according to the Alliance’s website, cedarvalleyalliance.com.

Leader Valley’s priority is implementing the Leader in Me program in Cedar Valley Schools. North Cedar Elementary in Cedar Falls and Dr. Walter Cunningham School for Excellence in Waterloo were the first area schools to implement the program in 2010. To date, 23 Cedar Valley schools are on board.

…

‘The big picture,’ Reade said, ‘is we want to implement Leader in Me in all Cedar Valley schools. We are in schools in Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Cedar Valley Catholic schools. We want to expand to the greater Cedar Valley and into the rural schools. Next will be Waverly-Shell Rock and Janesville.’

An impact study done by the University of Northern Iowa on Leader in Me schools shows increased student confidence.

‘They are more empowered, they are risk takers, they are more engaged in school,’ Reade said.

‘The students and staff feel safer, more cared about, more respected,’ she said. ‘There is less bullying and teasing.’

…

The local Leader in Me effort is unique for a few reasons.

‘We are the only multi-district region in the world,’ Reade said.

Additionally, Reade and Teri Trask, Leader Valley facilitator and coach, are piloting the district model with FranklinCovey for onsite certified facilitators.

‘We are the only two,’ Reade said. ‘We are building it with them. We are on the front end of innovation.’

Leader Valley: Creating tomorrow’s leaders today, by Holly Hudson, The Courier,February 21, 2018

5 on Friday: Fuel for Thought February 9, 2018

by Steve Dust, CEO, Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber

5 on Friday is a two-way street: please send me recommendations on books, reports, articles, blogs, videos, or anything you’re reading or watching that impacts business and the economy.

ONE What’s next? You Have an Amazing Opportunity

By now, most of you have heard that I’m leaving the Alliance & Chamber soon.

I am so very grateful for your leadership and financial capital used to build the Alliance and deliver meaningful economic growth, a stronger business climate, and civic change since I arrived in mid-2004.

I enjoyed leading the effort to establish and grow what has become today’s Alliance & Chamber group of organizations. Now, it really is time for new leadership to guide the Alliance forward, and for me to find the next challenge.

Usually, a guy finds his new gig before leaving, but in this instance you are literally on the cusp of amazing new opportunities in new directions, and you need to act on these now. New partnerships; new, sustainable revenue models; solidifying and expanding work of the Alliance group; and more. And you need to guide it.

Many of you have been invited to a meeting next week to begin that evolutionary process. I hope you will accept Bob Smith’s invitation if it arrives. And after working to get us all this far, I do not want what we have done to achieve this to be a barrier to what Alliance & Chamber needs to become.

I’m searching for what’s next. Donita and I would like to stay in the Cedar Valley, if possible. I’d like to join a Cedar Valley or Eastern Iowa firm that needs someone to start and grow a new business unit or grow through acquisitions, and I’m open to other opportunities, too. Like anyone, I’m looking for fun work, meaningful to the enterprise, which can support my family. Here are some very kind words sent my way.

Dust never settled for status quo, The Courier, January 28, 2018

TWO Future Ready Iowa: Create an Educated, Skilled Talent Pool

Quite a bit of info has been delivered to 5 On Friday followers about Iowa’s Future Ready Iowa Alliance initiative. Its goal: 70 percent of Iowans possess post-secondary credentials by 2025. Is that worth $18 million? I bet you’ll think so when you read what that expenditure will deliver to Iowa. Many of the recommendations of the Future Ready Iowa Alliance Board, of which eight members were from the Cedar Valley economic area, require legislative action. NFIB Iowa summarized the recommendations currently in the legislature. This initiative will test the legislators’ commitment to preparing Iowan’s to fuel your growth.

Gov. Reynolds’ Future Ready Iowa Alliance Proposes Spending $18 Million, National Federation of Independent Business, January 31, 2018

THREE Which Industries/Business Sectors Optimize Talent?

This is an interesting string of conversation in a blog that asks, “Which industries or trades identify and make the best use of talent?” The blogger, Tyler Cowen, answers, which is followed by a string of comments containing thoughts on the topic. It spills into a second post, as well. It’s a wide ranging discussion, so you have to stay with the string. Tyler Cowen is also the author of the book I recommended to you earlier, The Complacent Class.

Where is talent optimized? by Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution, January 27, 2018

FOUR Midwest Ag ties to Global Economy

Ok, I hear the collective, “duh!” as you read the title. I reacted that way, too. This reaction is because, as we know, one of the things that binds our Plains States together is that more than one-third of each state’s exports is ag and food products. The Fed’s publication does a good job of framing and quantifying the importance of open international trade. It’s important for all business and civic leaders to know the foundations and facts of this economic dynamic as the US begins a “renegotiation” of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Sorry , it’s all text– no graphs or charts.

Midwest Agriculture’s Ties to the Global Economy, by David Oppedahl, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 2018

FIVE Future of Real Estate

Following in the same track as the last recommendation is this blog post by Michael Beckerman on Commercial Real Estate. Beckerman likely doesn’t say anything new in this post, but he crystalizes what has been floating around in your head as you observe what’s going on in your industry, business district, the Cedar Valley generally, etc. Real estate developers will not (usually) lead in creating demand for new space. Instead, you will define the spaces you need and the real estate development industry will produce it to fill demand. I don’t know how that’s any different than what has happened over the last several years, but Michael does help us see the forces shaping what’s coming at us because of the disrupters like Amazon and Air BnB.

To See the Future of Commercial Real Estate Development Don’t Look to Real Estate Developers, Michael Beckerman, Michael Beckerman blog, January 29, 2018

5 ON FRIDAY: FUEL FOR THOUGHT, NOVEMBER 24, 2017

by Steve Dust, CEO, Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber

Remember: 5 on Friday is a two-way street: please send me recommendations on books, reports, articles, blogs, videos, or anything you’re reading or watching that impacts business and the economy.

ONE: Standard Distribution Announces Next Project

I can never say “thank you” often enough to the risk-taking capitalists in the Cedar Valley who see a need and fill it with a product or service. This week, I pass along the announcement of another new industrial sector investment by Standard Distribution. Thank you.

Standard Distribution planning large expansion at airport, Tim Jamison, The Courier, November 18, 2017

TWO: The Geopolitics of Thanksgiving

You thought it was about making it through a very bad year and Europeans building alliances with the indigenous people of North America. You were kind of right. This is a lengthy, but fascinating look at the global context in which that first Thanksgiving took place. It’s an eye-opening history lesson, courtesy of Stratfor.

Thanksgiving and Puritan Geopolitics in the Americas, Starfor, November 24, 2017

THREE: Classroom Tech Advances

Here’s a great look at how technology startups are impacting education. So, if the Cedar Valley has the University of Northern Iowa — the highly ranked institution that teaches to be teachers — how do we capture economic development value from this trend?

A Silicon Valley startup is quietly taking over U.S. classrooms, Kia Kokalitcheva , Axios, November 22, 2017

FOUR: Your 2018 Reading List?

If you’re looking for books to read during holiday travel or just to stock up for 2018, here’s what the Gates-Bezos-Buffets of the world are reading.

9 Recommended Books That Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett Think You Should Read, Marcel Schwantes

FIVE: Another Good News Source

Here’s another media source that I’ve included in my bundle, and I thought I’d refer it to you.

Axios

5 on Friday: Fuel for Thought

One: Yes, the Cedar Valley Was Considered for Apple’s New Data Center

So, I was walking through the office early Thursday afternoon, and Director of Communications Dorothy de Souza Guedes asks, “What’s your big item to accomplish the rest of the day?” “Getting over the depression of hearing the Governor and Tim Cook announce the Apple data center in [deleted] Des Moines,” was my immediate response.

The Cedar Valley was a strong competitor when this was a 300- to 500-acre project. When Apple discovered it could have a 2,000-acre site with similar features, the competition was, practically speaking, over.

The Apple project has spurred Vice President of Economic Development Lisa Skubal and our Economic Development team to work with our regional partners to discover and work to control two mega-sized sites — one with rail and one without. Why two? The data center mega site has much different requirements than, say, a Toyota plant.

These mega sites are not anomalies. Requests are returning to the market after a fairly long absence of demand with a few exceptions – mostly auto assembly plants throughout the United States and Mexico.

The link is to the article discussing the project and the embedded video reviews the incentive package offered.

Apple’s billion-dollar data center ‘puts Iowa on world stage’

Two: VGM Group Took My Blues Away

At the end of the day Thursday, August 24, my blues were chased away by an Alliance & Chamber’s ribbon cutting.

An open house and ribbon cutting celebrated the newest expansion of the VGM Group’s campus at Ansborough and US 20. Wow! Thank you, Jim Walsh, Mike Mallaro, and team for delivering such a stunning new office building to the Cedar Valley market.

Designed to give new amenities to the growing VGM team that now numbers 760 in the Cedar Valley, the building is a $20 million investment that brought the complex to over 190,000 square feet.

Celebrating the opening of this amazing office with a ribbon cutting ceremony, I laughed through Jim Walsh’s “welcome and thank you” remarks. Talking with the VGM team and their VIP guests — many Alliance & Chamber investors — reminded me how grateful we should be for the loyal, growing, investing, employers we have in the Cedar Valley. Thank you, again, VGM.

VGM shows off latest addition at Waterloo complex

Three: Editorial on Job Skills to Fill the Gap

If you are an employer, you know the employability and job-specific skills gap is real. If you’re not a hiring manager or owner, believe us, the issue is real.

It’s troubling when research expresses that vocational training is too specific and stymies older workers from progressing in or to a new career ladder. There are times when we must say “get over it.”

We cannot afford to have a valuable contributor leave the workforce just because they prefer not to be retrained. The incentives that permit that preference need to lead back into lifelong learning and retraining. That’s particularly painful for boomers who love what they’ve done for 30 years. We as a society can’t let these valuable workers slip out of the workforce: the incentive must be to keep learning and keep working through the reasonable career span.

And I almost refuse to give credence to the idea presented in the article below about young men with less than a bachelor’s degree working fewer hours each year because of video games. I know the data is real, but good grief.

This is an editorial of The Courier, which is absolutely on point with the issues of job skills to fill the gap. Thank you, Roy, Nancy, and The Courier team for a very good piece on a critical issue.

Learning job skills is no game

Four: Critical Few Behaviors and Organizational Culture

We’re all looking for ways to make our workplace a place where people are productive for the firm and our clients. There are a lot of people writing and saying stuff about culture. Strategy+Business is a good business journal and accompanying blog with solid content on a broad range of topics.

This short article helps employers and leaders identify keystone behaviors that will contribute to achieving our strategic and operational objectives. It is worth the time to read to get a start prioritizing culture-building activities in terms of implementation and impact.

Getting to the Critical Few Behaviors That Can Drive Cultural Change

Five: The Robot Apocalypse

Investment Advisor Kevin Wilson makes the case I have advanced since 1981: automation is an improvement in our careers and businesses, not a revolutionary challenge to our intellect. Yes, of course, we can conjure a Jetson’s and HAL-lific artificial intelligence tragedy. But let’s back up to where we are in advancing technology, how we’re using it, and how it can leverage our scarce American human capital. Instead, think about how we quickly ramp up from here. That’s what this lengthy, chart-rich SeekingAlpha.com article does.

Much Ado about Nothing: The Robot Apocalypse Is Actually an Economic Renaissance In Disguise

What are you reading that would help me do my job for you? Email me at SDust@CedarValleyAlliance.com.

Public invited to attend UNI presidential candidate forums

Public forums to be held November 29, 30 and December 1 at 2:30pm in the Old Central Ballroom of Maucker Union, on the University of Northern Iowa Campus.

Three candidates for the position of UNI president will visit campus during the week of November 28th. We encourage you to attend the public forums held on November 29, 30 and December 1 at 2:30pm in the Old Central Ballroom of Maucker Union. You may also have occasion to visit with the candidates in other meetings during the campus visits. The candidate’s vita and video from the forum will be available online. We ask that you provide to the search committee your input on the qualifications of each candidate by completing an online form. A fourth candidate was invited to be a finalist but withdrew.

The aim of the form is to collect meaningful quantitative and qualitative information from the campus community. It was developed by members of the search committee in consultation with Professor Mary Losch, Director of the UNI Center for Social and Behavioral Research.

On the day of each candidate’s public forum, faculty, staff and students will receive an email containing a link to a confidential electronic input form for that person. Please complete the forms as soon as possible and no later than 12 noon on Saturday, December 3. At that time, collection of electronic forms will be closed and the responses for each candidate will be summarized and provided to the search committee.

Community members and any UNI employees without university email access will be able to obtain a link by providing an email address either at the public forum or by requesting a link from CSBR@uni.edu. No names or identifying information will be collected on the forms.

Katie Mulholland
UNI Presidential Search Committee Co-Chair

Daniel Power
UNI Presidential Search Committee Co-Chair

GREATER CEDAR VALLEY ALLIANCE & CHAMBER TO HOLD FORUM ON WORKFORCE ISSUES

The Alliance & Chamber will host a forum to engage area business and institutions to address talent and workforce challenges in the Cedar Valley. Addressing Workforce: Beyond the Numbers is for employers, educators, and workforce partners to be held Thursday, September 29^th from 7:30 -11:30am at the National Cattle Congress Pavilion, Waterloo.

Recent data compiled by the Alliance & Chamber projects that businesses in the Cedar Valley will need 12,000 additional workers in the next 10 years while, at the same time, the working-age population is expected to decrease.

During the forum, business leaders from a cross-section of industries will facilitate three separate discussion tracks. Human resource professionals, business managers from all industries, education leaders, and service providers who support business with workforce needs are encouraged to participate in the most relevant discussion track.

The three tracks include:

Labor Force Participation (utilizing our existing population)
Training & Education (training the future workforce)
Talent Attraction & Retention (attracting new & retaining existing workforce)

The interactive format will provide opportunities for new connections, partnerships, peer-to-peer learning and a deeper understanding of how to collaborate in addressing our workforce needs for today and the future.

A light breakfast will be served at 7:30am. The event is free. Registration is requested through the Alliance & Chamber website www.cedarvalleyalliance.com by September 16.

For more information on this event and the Talent Solutions initiatives of the Alliance & Chamber contact Danny Laudick by calling 319-232-1156 or by email to dlaudick@cedarvalleyalliance.com.

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Public is Invited to Help Create Great in Cedar Valley Schools

Fundraising Campaign Kicks Off to Fund The Leader in Me

(Cedar Valley of Iowa) – Leader Valley, a talent development initiative of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber, is asking businesses, individuals and foundations to join in the efforts to equip every student in the Cedar Valley with tools for effectiveness in life and work. The Create Great fundraising campaign seeks to raise $7 million for the expansion and sustainability of The Leader in Me throughout the Cedar Valley.

The Create Great Campaign will officially kick off at the Alliance & Chamber’s annual New Teachers Breakfast on Aug. 18 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., at Hilton Garden Inn, Cedar Falls.

“Our ultimate goal is for students to be prepared for career, college and citizenship,” says Dr. Linda Allen, president, Hawkeye Community College. “Our businesses here in the Cedar Valley will no doubt see a difference in these young people as they come to work for them. In order to become principled and effective adults, we must foster both character and competence early in the lives of our students.”

Over $1.8 million has already been raised toward the $3.5 million implementation portion of the overall goal. The aim of the Create Great campaign is to extend The Leader in Me’s impact from 21 Cedar Valley schools to 34. This will include PreK-12 public and private schools in the Waterloo and Cedar Falls area. An equal goal of $3.5 million will be raised and placed in an endowment to ensure the sustainability of the initiative for future generations.

Serving as campaign co-chairs are: Dr. Allen; Dr. Dale Monroe, Chief Administrator, Cedar Valley Catholic Schools; and Tom Penaluna, CEO, CBE Companies. Senator Charles Grassley is the Honorary Campaign Chair.

The Leader in Me aims to fill the gap between traditional school curriculum, and the skills and knowledge employers need in effective employees and organizational leaders. By addressing characteristics and skills such as personal responsibility, accountability, work ethic, teamwork, goal setting, and organization skills, Leader Valley’s investment seeks to enhance the Cedar Valley talent pool and help local businesses become more competitive in the global marketplace.

The campaign kickoff program includes an emphasis on student leadership and empowerment with students serving in leadership roles as emcees, greeters and The Leader in Me booth hosts. Additionally, inspirational comments from business and education leaders will be presented. Current donors to Create Great will also be recognized.

“We are excited to kick off this important fundraising campaign to transform our schools by integrating leadership development and performance into all facets of school cultures in every PreK-12 school in the Waterloo and Cedar Falls area,” said Penaluna. “We encourage business leaders and community members to attend our kickoff event and learn why Leader in Me is a critical element for a well-rounded education to develop the workforce our businesses need. If we wish to Create Great in our Cedar Valley schools, we all have a role.”

Tickets for the event are $40 in advance. Ticket price provides breakfast for one individual and a complimentary breakfast for one new teacher. Please register through the Alliance & Chamber website www.cedarvalleyalliance.com or by contacting Johanna Kneedler at 319-232-1156 or jkneedler@cedarvalleyalliance.com. Administrators and new teachers do not need to register, but should make arrangements with their respective districts.

The impact and results of The Leader in Me can be found on the Leader Valley website, www.leadervalley.org, along with videos, testimonials and donor information. The fundraising steering committee for Create Great is: Stacey Bentley, Joyce Coil, Bryan Earnest, Chris Fereday, Ben Jacobson, Bob Justis, Reid Koenig, Shanlee McNally, Dr. Victoria Robinson, Tara Thomas, Amy Wienands and Mike Young.

For more information on the Leader Valley initiative and The Leader in Me, contact Melissa Reade, Leader Valley Program Director at the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber by calling 319-232-1156 or by email at mreade@cedarvalleyalliance.com. You can also visit www.leadervalley.org.

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Read more by reporter Andrew Wind in the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier.

2016 DIVERSITY & INCLUSION Award (50+ employees) – Waterloo Schools

Dr. Lindaman and Dr. Smith accept the Diversity & Inclusion award on behalf of the Waterloo Schools.

The Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber presented their Annual Awards on Thursday, March 31, 2016. Congratulations to the Waterloo Schools, recipient of the 2016 Diversity & Inclusion Award.

The Waterloo Community School District serves children and families bringing over 30 languages and 70+ dialects, plus a similarly diverse staff. District goals include enhanced efforts to reduce the achievement gap between demographic subgroups, provide cultural competency training, utilize research-based cultural competency strategies, maximize equitable community access to and use of our facilities, recruit and retain employees from diverse backgrounds, build partnerships within the community, and schools and homes of our students.

The WCSD Equity Committee, made up of school and community stakeholders, provides linkages to diverse area communities and organizations. Collaboration partners include: Waterloo Human Rights Commission, NAACP – Education Committee, representatives from the Bosnian, Latino and Burma-origin Communities, and UNI Conference on African-American Children and Families.

The District is a lead partner in Cedar Valley CultureFest – a celebration showcasing the increasing diversity in the Cedar Valley through food, art, music and exhibits.

The Districts Community Relations Department regularly promotes diversity across the district by sharing stories through multiple media platforms with the general Cedar Valley area.

View the video produced by Pyke Studios here.

View a video of the entire event, including acceptance speeches, produced by Cedar Falls Cable is here.