Tag Archives: TechWorks

Advanced Manufacturing Hub Step Closer with State Funding

The Cedar Valley TechWorks is one step closer to becoming the physical location of an Advanced Manufacturing Hub for the region and state thanks to legislation adopted this week. Nearly $4 million was included in Iowa Economic Development Authority appropriations for the project.

The IEDA’s Iowa Invocation Council, which will administer the funds, has been working closely with the Cedar Valley TechWorks and Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber to establish the Campus as the designated site for the Hub.

The bulk of the funds will construct improvements in the Tech 1 building on the Campus. A portion of the funds will be used for the University of Northern Iowa to purchase a 3-dimensional (3D) printer to fabricate on-demand molds for cast components to support advanced manufacturing , in collaboration with TechWorks.

“With this funding, we can make the capital and infrastructure improvements to the Tech 1 building needed to attract more technology and bio-products related industrial operations and partners to the campus. The investment in building improvements and equipment will prepare space for new businesses and educational programs, and bring tremendous momentum and excitement to the Campus as these projects move forward alongside the previously announced anchor projects,” states Cary Darrah, General Manager of the Cedar Valley TechWorks Campus. “ We are grateful to the entire Cedar Valley legislative delegation for its bi-partisan advocacy for this funding, especially Senator Bill Dotzler who really went to bat for the Cedar Valley and the TechWorks Campus. His work for this and other economic development issues this year is recognized by legislators from both sides of the isle.”

Jerry Thiel, Director of UNI’s Metal Casting Center is also optimistic about the impact of the collaboration on the industry statewide, “The capabilities of having technology like this will undoubtedly increase the overall competitiveness of Iowa manufacturers by allowing them to deliver products to the market at an unprecedented rate.”

Randy Pilkington, Executive Director, UNI Business and Community Services adds,
“This is a substantial investment in advanced manufacturing not just for the Cedar Valley, but for the entire state of Iowa. It also shows UNI’s commitment to advanced manufacturing statewide.”

What this means to the Cedar Valley

“The Cedar Valley is known as Iowa’s center of Advanced Manufacturing,” states Steve Dust, CEO of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber. “With the high concentration of manufacturing in our economic area, and the manufacturing technology -related resources of UNI and our higher education partners, the Cedar Valley is the prime location to establish the state’s hub of leading edge applied manufacturing technologies. As businesses and entrepreneurs from all over the Midwest access our equipment and facilities to improve and produce innovative products, we take another step in innovation led economic development in the Cedar Valley economy, and toward fulfilling the original vision for the Campus. We’re proud to be known as the Advanced Manufacturing Hub,” concludes Dust.

The Governor is expected to sign the bill into law before the end of June.

The Cedar Valley TechWorks is a 30-acre advanced manufacturing and biotechnology research, development and education center, and business and manufacturing cluster. The campus is located in downtown Waterloo, Iowa adjacent to the John Deere operations. The Cedar Valley TechWorks is owned and managed by the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber.

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Historic Tax Credits Awarded To The Green@TechWorks Campus

Iowa Cultural Affairs – State Historic Preservation Office has notified FDP, developer of The Green@TechWorks that $8.8 Million of Historic Tax Credits have been awarded to the project. The state office made the award based on a design that honored the industrial past of the Tech II structure while incorporating the features of the modern …business hotel, and office and educational spaces of The Green@TechWorks project. In addition to the work of Waterloo-based InVision architecture, FDP relied on Tallgrass Historians of Iowa City. Tallgrass Historians also assisted the developer in the process of nominating the site for the National Register of Historic Places.

John Deere & the Cedar Valley . . . What a Partnership!

Celebrate John Deere’s 175 years in business and thank them for their contribution to the economy of the Cedar Valley.

John Deere Fall Fest 2012 will be recognizing and celebrating John Deere Anniversaries on September 6–8, 2012. Come celebrate John Deere’s rich history of tractor manufacturing and product development as it progressed through history in Waterloo, Iowa – the home and birthplace of John Deere tractors.
6,000 direct jobs for talented Cedar Valley People
Supply Chain Jobs throughout the region
Over $150 million annual impact of disposable income alone for services and retailers.
Reinvestment in: Volunteer Leadership, TechWorks Campus, Education Partnerships, Sports Complex, United Way

SO MUCH MORE!

Schedule of events

Farm Crawl to showcase on-farm energy projects.

The Northern Iowa Food and Farm Partnership 2012
Farm Crawl is September 9th from 1 to 5 pm. Eleven
farms in the NIFFP area will be open to the public for an enjoyable
day of exploring the countryside and learning about how
our food is produced. NIFFP is partnering with the UNI CEEE
Farm Energy Working Group to showcase four of the
farms demonstrating innovative on-farm energy projects.
Hansen’s Dairy is one of the showcased farms. Other Farms
included in the crawl from this area are Friedrich’s Fresh
Foods, C’mon Back Acres, Fitkin Popcorn, Hillcrest Farms, and
Rainbow Ridge Farm (another showcased farm.) For more
information call 273-7883 or visit http://www.uni.edu/ceee/
local-foods/farm-crawl/farmcrawl.

Women in Clean Energy Awards Program

The Department of Energy in parnership with MIT: The Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Program, or C3E MIT is running a C3E Awards program to recognize outstanding efforts to advance women’s mid-career leadership in six categories across the clean energy spectrum, each with a $10,000 cash prize. To find out more information about the awards program and eligibility, please visit this MIT website. Nominate someone you know bu July 2, 2012.
Find out more at http://web.mit.edu/mitei/c3e/index.html.

Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber Launches New Online Resource

(06/14/2012, Waterloo, IA) – The Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber announced today the debut of their new business-focused website. The Alliance & Chamber brought the features and related information from multiple economic development and chamber of commerce sites, into one integrated web presence (www.cedarvalleyalliance.com).

The Alliance & Chamber’s website serves as a resource for new and growing businesses, important economic and community data including economic profiles, demographics, major employers, cost of living and more. In addition, it will highlight tools and resources for members including legislative advocacy efforts, quality of life amenities, education and workforce resources, as well as business education and networking events and promotional opportunities for member/ investors.

To increase traffic, this media-rich website has maximized search engine optimization, social media integration, and value-added features such as a events calendar and enhanced membership directory. The directory now includes links to investor websites, video, introduction, and social media. These features, along with tools to promote events and products will provide greater exposure and drive more traffic to member/investor websites and locations.

Fresh content, relevant to the business community will be posted frequently including the latest press releases, community and economic news, TechWorks and legislative advocacy updates, and timely postings from the CEO. The new media center allows visitors to access links to online versions of print publications and newsletters with Courier Communications and other Cedar Valley media partners. The video and photo galleries give viewers a more complete picture of the Cedar Valley communities and resources.

The flexibility of the new site allows information about the entire Cedar Valley economic area to be added.

To further enhance the sites value proposition to investors and users, a mobile application will be launched later this summer. The application, will allow smart phone users to access the fully searchable investor business directory, find businesses closest to them, access information about current promotions, provide single click mapping and dialing to businesses, plus news and event reminders.

“The new website is an advanced tool for providing resources and information to our investors, the Cedar Valley and businesses considering locating to our region,” explains Steven J. Dust Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and Chamber CEO, “It helps us achieve our primary goal; to provide information instantly that accommodates both today’s product selection and buying decisions as well as business location decisions.”

The Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber brings together nearly 900 businesses, local governments, healthcare and educational institutions to make the Cedar Valley of Iowa one of the nation’s best places to do business and enjoy life. With the support and efforts of the investors and member volunteers, the Alliance & Chamber serves as a conduit for information about the region, its businesses and the issues that affect them and provides opportunities for significant professional networking, business education and promotion. The Alliance & Chamber supports workforce & talent development, and aggressively works to improve our positive climate for business expansion and growth.

The Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber encourages interested parties to Be Part of Something Greater by visiting www.cedarvalleyalliance.com.

TechWorks site plan change gets initial OK

By TIM JAMISON, tim.jamison@wcfcourier.com

WATERLOO, Iowa — Plans for a major downtown manufacturing, research and tourism center breezed through the first zoning test this week.

There was no opposition during a public hearing Monday before City Council members voted 5-0 to approve the first reading of a site plan amendment for the Cedar Valley TechWorks campus, including the John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum.

“This basically covers the redevelopment and reuse of the existing buildings in the TechWorks campus,” said City Planner Aric Schroeder.

The site plan covers two six-story buildings and a 27-acre parcel Deere & Co. donated for the project on the western edge of downtown between Westfield Avenue and an extended Commercial Street.

Plans call for the “Tech 2” building to be turned into a 100-room hotel, restaurant and “green” office space, while the “Tech 1” building would house the University of Northern Iowa’s National Ag-Based Lubricants Center and other manufacturing tenants. The Deere museum, on the northeast end of the campus, is seeking a special permit and is expected to be open by the spring of 2013.

And the entire campus is expected to be fitted with wind towers and solar panels to attract “green-oriented” businesses.

Planning, Programming and Zoning commissioners endorsed the site plan last week. Schroeder said additional approvals, including platting out lots and special permits for the wind towers, are expected in the future.

“This is just one of the steps we have to go through,” said Cary Darrah, TechWorks general manager. “But we feel like we’ve got a pretty solid package and we will be both disappointed and surprised if there’s not some construction going on by this fall.”

The site plan allows platting to split off some of the original 40 acres so it can be returned to Deere & Co., including parking for the museum and some property on the other side of Commercial Street from TechWorks.

Darrah said officials and investors are working on completing the funding package for the estimated $50 million project. The key is getting tenant commitments to secure the financing for construction.

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

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