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GREATER CEDAR VALLEY ALLIANCE & CHAMBER and the CEDAR VALLEY REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCE DREAM BIG GROW HERE CEDAR VALLEY $5,000 WINNER

Cedar Valley of Iowa -The 2nd Annual Dream Big Grow Here Cedar Valley contest concluded on the evening of October 18th, 2012 with a “pitch-off” by five finalist of the online popular vote portion of the $5,000 grant contest.

The winner of the pitch-off, Lizzy Mae’s Cupcakes & Sweets – pitched by Dawn Pursell of Waverly, was chosen by a panel of business entrepreneurs and experts from the fields of law, technology, finance and entertainment. Twenty-one start-ups and small businesses participated in the popular online voting generating over 9,300 votes, from 44 states and 16 countries.

The Dream Big Grow Here Cedar Valley competition provides early stage and emerging small business an additional financial boost to accelerate the growth of their business. The contest was open to start-up and small businesses in the Cedar Valley Economic Area comprised of Butler, Bremer, Buchanan, Black Hawk, Chickasaw, Grundy, and Tama counties.

“This year we saw more businesses competing in the contest take advantage of the free business services available through the University of Northern Iowa, MyEntrenet and the Small Business Development Center” commented Steve Dust, CEO, Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and Chamber.

“This is the whole point of the contest…helping these individuals take their business idea to the next level.” added Nate Clayberg, Chair, Cedar Valley Marketing Partnership.

Both the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and Chamber and the Cedar Valley Regional Partnership were regional sponsors of the statewide contest. Lizzy Mae’s Cupcakes & Sweets will compete March 7, 2013 for a chance to win $10,000 at the statewide pitch off sponsored by MyEntre.net during their annual conference. Pursell plans to use the prize money to expand her baking operation and open a store front in Waverly.

Other event sponsors for the Dream Big Grow Here Cedar Valley Pitch-Off event included, MyEntre.net, UNI’s Business Incubator, Point Builders and PDCM Insurance.

Other finalist included:

Computer Troubleshooters Computer Service and Sales(Cory Vieth) – Waterloo, Eat Cakes Cakery (Elizabeth Wilson)– Hudson , Watapri (Jane Zehr)– Waverly, and Recycle Rite Inc. (Brian Hoyer)- Cedar Falls.

Kate Washut of Far Reach Technologies moderated the Pitch-off. The judges panel included; Wade Arnold CEO of Banno; Darin Beck CEO of Barmuda MMC; Eric Johnson of Beecher, Field, Walker, Morris, Hoffman & Johnson, P.C.; Mark Stewart of Prime Logic Partners and Nick Evens of The Veridian Group.

Returning to the Dream Big Grow Here Cedar Valley Pitch-Off event and delivering the keynote was author Sarah Miller Caldicott, great grand niece of Thomas Edison. Caldicott’s presentation How Collaboration Drives Innovation: A Midnight Lunch with Thomas Edison, was based on a soon to be released book. Co – author of the book Innovate Like Edison, Caldicott has recently released an e-book titled Inventing the Future: What Would Thomas Edison be Doing Today.

Dust added, “Cedar Valley Innovation Day is one way to celebrate the strength and vitality of the individual entrepreneurial drive in the Cedar Valley economic area, and the improvements it brings our businesses and lives.

The contestants of Dream Big Grow Here-Cedar Valley have taken the first steps to growing the next dominant business with whatever product or service improvement they have put into the marketplace. These aren’t hobbies, or businesses that plan to remain garage-based operations. DBGH-Cedar Valley contestants are in the mold of many, many other Cedar Valley dreamers who started with a vision to help businesses and consumers to do something better – innovating. Their success at innovation has earned them a place among the best in the nation in their industries. Remember, the innovation of John Froelich and his partners in the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Co. – introducing gasoline powered traction – changed agriculture around the globe. It’s that commitment to find new, better ways to produce and provide in America’s Free Enterprise system – innovation – from the Cedar Valley – that is celebrated in this event.

Cedar Valley Innovation Day is a way to inform and demonstrate why it’s critical to create a welcoming place for people to innovate. We need that brainpower – continually striving to find the next better way to do something – create – make – or deliver something – to expand our economy. Encouraging, welcoming and celebrating innovation is still another way to Be Part of Something Greater – the Cedar Valley of Iowa.”

More information about Lizzy Mae’s Cupcakes & Sweets can be found at www.facebook.com/LizzyMaes Cupcakes Sweets.

Plans are already underway for the 2013 Dream Big Grow Here Cedar Valley & Cedar Valley Innovation Day. Businesses and individuals interested in participating or sponsorships should contact the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and Chamber at 319-232-1156.

Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber sets date for Pre- Legislative Reception

The GCVAC Government Relations Committee, chaired by Mike McCrary, Lincoln Savings Bank, and GCVAC Director of Director of Government Relations Steve Firman have set December 5th, 2012 as the date for the Cedar Valley Pre- Legislative Reception. The event will take place at the Isle Casino and Hotel Waterloo, 77 Isle of Capri Blvd., at 4:30 pm.

The Pre-Session Legislative Reception is a two hour meet and mingle with area leaders from across the Cedar Valley region. Only brief introductions of the legislators in attendance, along with brief comments from each sponsor, make up the program. All area senators and representatives are invited. Investors/members should attend to indicate broad-based support for pro-market, pro-business policies and the projects and programs that will make the Cedar Valley an even better place to live and operate a business.

Sponsors for the event are the Cedar Valley Manufacturers Association, the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber, and the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives.

More information and registration can be found here.

MidAmerican Energy’s senior management and topic experts host event for business

MidAmerican Energy EMPOWER U sessions will offer the latest, most comprehensive information you need to make informed decisions for our community and your business. Topics of discussion will include Rates, the Future Electric Generation, Energy and Budgeting/Planning Policy. The Waterloo EMPOWER U will take place Oct. 25, at Hawkeye Community College — Tama Hall. It is a free event, but an RSVP is required. Seating is limited and spaces fill quickly. Please go to the EMPOWER U website for details and to register.

Cedar Valley Industries to Host Over 1,300 Youth for National Manufacturing Day

Thirteen manufacturers will host Waterloo and Cedar Falls 9^th graders in their facilities on Friday, October 5^th as part of an activity for National Manufacturing Day.

CEDAR VALLEY of IOWA (September 12, 2012) — In response to the growing talent demand in advanced manufacturing in the Cedar Valley, the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and Chamber (GCVAC) is sponsoring an educational event for all 9^th graders attending Waterloo East and West High Schools, and Cedar Falls Peet and Holmes Junior High Schools; a total of more than 1,300 students.

On October 5^th Students will make a one hour visit to a local manufacturing company, tour its production operations, and discuss the history and future of each company with leaders of the organization. The purpose of this event is to provide students, parents and educators with a greater understanding of modern manufacturing and the local firms that make up the Cedar Valley manufacturing community.

Also recognizing the need for hundreds of machinists, welders, technicians and assemblers across the region, Hawkeye Community College, John Deere, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the Cedar Valley Manufacturers Association have signed on as additional sponsors.

“It was important to include all students in this activity, not just students interested in industrial technology,” said Brittany Jungck, Director of Business Services for the GCVAC, “Many young people have not had exposure to modern manufacturing. Our goal is to open their eyes to fantastic career opportunities.”

Companies participating in National Manufacturing Day vary from locally-owned operations such as Advanced Heat Treat, Kryton Engineered Metals, and Power Engineering and Manufacturing to national or global corporations such as John Deere, MetoKote and Omega Cabinets.

“Today, economic growth is tied to brain power not muscle power. Manufacturing is a key component of our Cedar Valley economy, and smart, talented people are needed in the modern, advanced manufacturing plant. Manufacturing Day is a great way to help students connect what they’re learning now with well-paying career choices in the Cedar Valley,” said GCVAC’s CEO Steve Dust. He continues, “The manufactures, schools, and sponsors are delivering tremendous value to the students with this event, which will be returned with a larger, better-prepared talent pool in the future.”

To learn more about National Manufacturing Day, visit: www.mfgday.com or contact Brittany Jungck of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber at bjunck@cedarvalleyalliance.com or by calling 319-232-1156.

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TechWorks finally appears to be moving downtown forward

Just what does $50 million buy these days?

We’re about to find out, as work on the long-talked-about TechWorks project appears finally ready to start this year.

TechWorks, in theory, always has been a great concept as a salve for downtown Waterloo, which, like other central urban business districts across the country, started a long downward slide when stores and other businesses moved out and buildings fell into disrepair. The farm crisis of the late 1980s certainly didn’t help.

Talk of downtown redevelopment is nothing new. What’s new is action, which appears to be starting.

Davenport-based developer Rodney Blackwell ventured into town with an eye on building new housing in downtown Waterloo and left with TechWorks on his mind.

“The bones of that building are incredible,” he said.

Whatever vision crept into Blackwell’s mind started to grow. Plans were drawn and revised. Consultants were brought in and high-level meetings held over the last couple of years.

And last week, that vision was unveiled to a roomful of civic and business leaders in the form of The Green @ TechWorks. When the project is completed sometime in the late summer or early fall of 2013, the campus will immediately have enough solar and wind power to provide as much as 60 percent of its energy needs. The “Tech 2” building will include “world-class” showroom and office space, as well as an upscale 100-room hotel/restaurant complex tailored to the needs of business and leisure travelers.

Next door will be a 24,000-square-foot John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum that planners say will attract tourists from all over the world. Deere also will have a thoroughly updated training facility on the premises. Planners say they are on the cusp of signing at least one new tenant for Tech 1.

And, that’s just part of a downtown renaissance planned for downtown. Blackwell says work will begin in the summer on revitalizing a downtown corridor dubbed “Main & Main,” along Commercial Street around the convention center.

Add to that, new housing along the riverfront, the riverfront plaza and amphitheater project and all of its amenities, rehab projects either on the drawing board, under way or already completed, plus the new SportsPlex, and it’s hard to doubt the rebirth of downtown Waterloo is finally taking shape with full force.

There have been hints that the promise of downtown was beginning to be realized, with ongoing individual projects too numerous to list here.

In other words, there already is visible evidence that the presence of TechWorks is setting off redevelopment in a long-moribund area of downtown.

Now, with Blackwell’s participation, a fuller-scale transformation of downtown is set to begin, as soon as next summer.

TechWorks is in the center of the action, but it is only the beginning.

That always has been the plan. Soon, we will be seeing concrete evidence of that long-held vision.
Read More: http://wcfcourier.com/business/local/column-techworks-finally-appears-to-be-moving-downtown-forward/article_6157d500-4daa-11e1-988b-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1mHNkalMV

Alliance & Chamber Gathers Guidance on Direction of Future Projects and Programs

The Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber has been conducting a marketing analysis through interviews with investors. The purpose is to seek input on implementing economic and community development programming to grow existing businesses, develop a strategic communications initiative to increase the profile of the Cedar Valley nationally and internationally, establish a higher profile in local state and federal government relations, and attract significant investment in tightly targeted business segments. The first phase report will be presented to the Alliance & Chamber Board on November 1^st. Additional information will be reported at subsequent meetings.

The board will adopt a performance measurement system including a balanced scorecard to measure the organization’s progress on goals and priorities. It will also implement a dashboard of economic and socio-economic indicators to measure the relative vitality of the regional economy.

“The best way for the Alliance & Chamber to build its services is to learn more about the market opportunities and challenges faced by our regional manufacturers, services, and institutions. This intelligence, when combined with objective target industry analysis data, permits the Alliance & Chamber team to get our marketing and service delivery plan correct,” said Steve Dust, CEO of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber.

“The scorecard and dashboard tools are emerging as most effective to communicate the organizations progress toward goals while reporting on our impact and the condition of The Cedar Valley economy,” Dust concluded.

For more information contact the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber office at 232-1156 or email info@cedarvalleyalliance.com.

Cedar Valley of Iowa -The 2nd Annual Dream Big Grow Here Cedar Valley contest concluded on the evening of October 18th, 2012 with a “pitch-off” by five finalist of the online popular vote portion of the $5,000 grant contest.

Grow Cedar Valley