Tag Archives: Waterloo

ALLIANCE & CHAMBER PREPARES TO MOVE TO TECHWORKS CAMPUS

Cedar Valley of Iowa – “It only makes sense that our offices are located in TechWorks”, emphasizes Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber CEO Steve Dust, “we are inseparable partners in Cedar Valley economic development, and TechWorks is attracting tenants that we want to be near.” Dust shows his enthusiasm when talking about the new offices under construction, and to be occupied by the organizations he leads. The Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber is moving their office to the second floor of the Tech 1 Building on the campus operated by the Alliance & Chamber subsidiary, TechWorks Campus.

The 6,000 square feet of space will be occupied by the professional staff of 15 full-time, part-time, and contracted team members. The organizations located there include the Alliance & Chamber and its subsidiaries TechWorks and Leader Valley Foundation, as well as affiliated Cedar Valley Manufacturers Network and Cedar Valley Innovation Network.

Occupying space in TechWorks makes a lot of sense from a number of angles, and supports the work of the regional development, business promotion, and civic leadership organization. The Alliance & Chamber moves to space they have been deeply involved in for over a decade. The new space is immediately above the growing UNI Additive Manufacturing Center and the Design Lab collaboratively managed by Hawkeye Community College and UNI. The Alliance & Chamber space is one floor below the Cedar Valley Makerspace and offices available. And it is immediately next door to the new mixed-use Green@TechWorks project, opening a Courtyard by Marriott, conference center, and themed restaurant during mid-year. John Deere will open its new training center in The Green during the same time frame.

The growth of the riverfront and US 63 corridor fits nicely in the decision to build in Tech 1. “A decade ago when TechWorks began its redevelopment work,” Dust said, “the Campus was in the middle of nothing. Now, it’s central to one of the most active development districts in the Midwest.” He continues, “in addition to everything happening and about to happen on-campus, we’re next to the new Grand Crossing mixed-use project on the former Grand Hotel site, down the street from the new SingleSpeed brewery and restaurant; near all the riverfront amenities and new housing. We’re also right next to the new Hawkeye Urban Campus building. There will be as much collaboration between Tech 1 building users and the Urban Campus as there will be between the Marriott and nearby Cedar Valley SportsPlex, in my view.” concludes Dust.

The new space itself is a fresh change for the Alliance & Chamber. It’s designed in an open style, with minimal enclosed offices and a maximum of collaboration spaces. “We toured a lot of office layouts in new and old structures,” says Alliance & Chamber Vice President of Operations & General Manager Sandi Sommerfelt, “and it gave us a lot of guidance on best practices.” The new space includes huddle spaces for 2 to 5 people to congregate and meeting rooms of various sizes. It also includes some quiet spaces. “Sometimes, people do need to have a minimum of noise and privacy. For those not assigned to an office, we have provided small rooms for crunch time concentration and communications, and small, confidential meetings”, continued Sommerfelt.

The space features a lot of large windows, a part of the historical manufacturing building structure. “We designed the walls in such a way to use the natural light to its maximum,” says Sommerfelt. The project designers also worked to maintain the feel of the John Deere production environment that extended just into the 21^st Century in this building. Sealed concrete floors, exposed brick walls, and open ceilings in most locations provides not only a modern “loft” feel, but pays homage to its history. “We make things in the Cedar Valley, and it’s only natural that we’d celebrate that heritage in the place dedicated to economic growth and improving the business climate,” Dust adds.

“The move-in date has been set at April 24”, says Sommerfelt, who has been the Alliance & Chamber’s project manager. Dust notes, “Sandi has a done a terrific job. I asked her to take on a major project, one she’s not been involved with in the past. She jumped in, assembling the team, acquiring the financing and negotiating the lease.” And as construction began, she shared project management with TechWorks Vice President & General Manager Wes James, who has managed the construction and maintenance in the Tech 1 building since it opened. “His knowledge and experience in working with this construction team, and this building has been absolutely invaluable,” Sommerfelt adds.

The design of the space was led by StruXture Architects, and the general contractor is Cardinal Construction, who utilized Young Plumbing & Heating, Shaw Electric, Hawkeye Alarm & Signal, Budget Blinds of Waterloo, Lindgren Glass Products, and Blackhawk Automatic Sprinklers. The furnishings contractor is Kirk Gross Company. It’s no accident that all of the building team operate in the Cedar Valley. “It’s imperative”, says Sommerfelt, “It’s the point we make with our Value in the Valley initiative. We promote doing business in the Cedar Valley, and our work is funded by membership investments of our businesses. It’s our practice to do business with our investor-members, while watching the costs through competitive proposals in each area of cost”, says Sommerfelt. “We encourage everyone to do the same,” she concludes.

But they’re still not finished even when the group moves in. “We have a large meeting room that we’d like to finish adjacent to our offices.” It is designed to hold about 60 people in a classroom setting. It would be used by the Alliance & Chamber for board meetings, Leader Valley training seminars, and regional collaboration sessions, such as for the Manufacturers Network and Cedar Valley Regional Partnership. It would also be available to other tenants of the Tech 1 building. “We invite businesses and individuals who would like to help make that happen through sponsorship to contact Steve or me. It’s a terrific way to recognize your family or business while providing a meeting room where thousands will meet each year,” encouraged Sommerfelt.

The Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber is a private, not-for-profit corporation working to increase wealth and economic vitality through collaborative economic and community development throughout the Cedar Valley economic area. Details about the many programs and initiatives of the Alliance & Chamber can be found at www.cedarvalleyalliance.com or by calling Steve Dust, CEO at (319) 232-1156.

The TechWorks Campus is a 30-acre advanced manufacturing, research and development, innovation, education, commercial and manufacturing center. Located in downtown Waterloo adjacent to the John Deere Drive Train Operations, the campus is comprised of sites for new development and 300,000 square feet space in two historic John Deere manufacturing buildings. More information about TechWorks Campus can be found at www.techworkscampus.com or by calling Cary Darrah, President at (319) 232-1156.

The Leader Valley Foundation, born out of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber’s priority to develop a strong workforce and to strengthen business and education collaboration, has been formed to lead a business-education partnership to develop the leadership skills of Cedar Valley students to improve and close the skills gap over time, and prepare our students for a career, college and citizenship. More information about Leader Valley can be found at www.leadervalley.org or by calling Dr. Melissa Reade, Director at (319) 232-1156.

Waterloo Business Park Recognized as an Iowa Certified Site

Today, Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds announced five additional
industrial sites to achieve certification through the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) certified site program. The City’s South Waterloo Business Park was among the five announced during Governor Branstad’s weekly press conference at the Capitol this
morning.

The South Waterloo Business Park totals 181 acres and is located immediately south of Highway 20 and generally bounded by Ansborough Avenue, Shaulis Road, and Kimball Avenue. Waterloo is one of only 17 sites certified in Iowa. In an effort to address the lack of project ready industrial sites, the Iowa Economic Development

In an effort to address the lack of project ready industrial sites, the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) created the Iowa Certified Site Program in May 2012. Under the leadership of Director Debi Durham, IEDA retained nationally recognized site selection firm McCallum Sweeney Consulting to perform independent analysis of applicants on behalf of IEDA.

“These five additional sites give Iowa – and Waterloo – an advantage when it comes to growing our state’s economy,” said Gov. Branstad. “The Communities have gone through a rigorous process to become certified and should be proud of what they have accomplished. Each site being ‘development-ready’ means more projects coming to Iowa and, in turn, more jobs.

“We are extremely excited to have the South Waterloo Business Park certified as a ‘development ready site’ said Quentin Hart, Mayor, City of Waterloo. “In partnership with the Alliance & Chamber we have been marketing it as development ready site and now it has the official designation as being such by McCallum Sweeney Consultants and the Iowa Economic Development Authority”. Hart added.

“The South Waterloo Business Park is immediately located off U.S. Highway 20 and near I-380 well positioned for expanding companies to service east-west and north-south U.S. markets.” He said.

Site certification is one of the fastest growing trends in the site selection business, and by introducing certified sites to the market Iowa is better able to compete for large scale projects. By going through this rigorous process, developers — working closely with their local officials, utility partners and consultants — are better prepared to market their sites with specific site-related information and community data. All site due diligence is completed and resulting issues are mitigated, making the site “risk-free” and thus accelerating the development schedule.

With the help of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance and Chamber, the City completed the certification process within 18 months, once McCallum Sweeny Consulting invited Waterloo to complete the required due diligence on the Park. To be certified the Park had to meet eight criteria including the ability to provide at least 5 megawatts of electric energy, fiber optics, and 500,000 gallons of water per day of excess capacity at the site within a 6 month timeframe. The certification process required a close partnership between City planning officials, Waterloo Water Works, Waterloo Waste Water, MidAmerican Energy Co. and Mediacom Communications.

“The Alliance & Chamber continues to see an increased demand by site selection consultants and companies for shovel ready sites versus a traditional greenfield site”, said Steve Dust, President/CEO, Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber. “The Certified Site designation essentially shortens a company’s schedule for new construction. This a location differentiator for the Park”, Dust added.

McCallum Sweeny Consultant will provide Waterloo and Alliance & Chamber officials with
recommendations for marketing and industry targets which will be incorporated in the Alliance & Chamber’s external marketing initiatives for the Cedar Valley. IEDA also undertakes special marketing initiatives to promote Iowa’s Certified Sites. The South Waterloo Business Park is well suited for companies engaged in light industrial, logistics/distribution, and data centers.

Companies interested in receiving more information on the South Waterloo Business Park should contact Noel Anderson or Adrienne Miller with the City of Waterloo at 319-291-4366 or Lisa Skubal at the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber at 319-232-1156.

INVISION Honored with Two National Design Awards

The Following information was submitted by our investor INVISION.

INVISION received a Gold Award and a Merit Award in the national 2016 Association of Licensed Architects Design Awards Program.

INVISION, a planning, architecture and interiors firm with locations in Des Moines and Waterloo, received two awards in the recent 2016 Association of Licensed Architects (ALA) Design Awards Program. INVISION received the Gold Award for work on the Cedar Valley SportsPlex in Waterloo, Iowa, as well as a Merit Award for a mountain cabin private residence in Whitefish, MT.

ALA uses the Design Awards Program as an annual showcase of the power of design by its members nation-wide. A complete list of winners will be highlighted in the 2016 winter issue of Licensed Architect magazine.

Cedar Valley Sportsplex, Gold Award

The Waterloo Development Corporation teamed with INVSION to provide an affordable and high-quality fitness center to improve the health and wellness of the community. One key objective in the design of the Cedar Valley SportsPlex was the expression of movement throughout the project; from the gently curving fieldhouse roof to the transparent glazing throughout the facility—bodies in motion was consistently at the forefront of design thought. A wood datum wall divides the two main volumes and makes a monumental statement inside the space. The use of wood throughout the facility provides cohesion between the basketball court, bleachers, and wayfinding elements while delivering a modern, yet natural aesthetic. The Sportsplex attracts patrons from across the Cedar Valley and houses indoor soccer fields, basketball and volleyball courts, a leisure pool, an elevated four-lane running track, weight and cardio workout areas, fitness studios, a golf practice area, child care, kid’s gym, and departmental offices.

A Mountain Cabin, Merit Award

The design for this private vacation home was done in partnership with Hunter & Company Interior Designs. It caters to an active family whose contemporary style broke the mold of the traditional rustic mountain home. The exterior design is carried through into the interior architecture through strategic use of natural materials and soft colors that complement the mountain views and contemporary lines. Extensive use of glass maintains a strong connection to the outdoors and blends with the interior to create a sophisticated sanctuary.

INVISION is honored to be recognized in this competition and looks forward to the next opportunity to create imaginative and client-focused design solutions that have a positive impact on the people who experience them.

Wubbena Business & Professional Women Woman of the Year

The Alliance & Chamber congratulates Bette Wubbena for being named the Cedar Valley Woman of the Year by the Cedar Falls chapter of Business & Professional Women.

This year’s Cedar Valley Woman of the Year was awarded to Bette Wubenna at the 11th Annual Salute To Women event held on Tuesday, October 18th at the Park Place Event Center and hosted by The Business and Professional Women’s Club of Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Bette grew up in Allison, Iowa and graduated from Allison-Bristow High School. She has been employed with the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber for over 26 years and currently serves as the Events Director. Bette has also been involved with numerous volunteer activities including the My Waterloo Days Parade Committee, the Waterloo School Foundation Trick or Trot Committee, the Waterloo Schools Foundation Breakfast Committee, the Family YWCO Capital Campaign Steering Committee, the Allen Foundation Development Committee, the Unity Point/Allen Capital Campaign Steering Committee and the American Heart Association Go Red Luncheon Committee. Bette is also a member of the Waterloo Downtown Rotary Club.

Each year, nominations from all over the Cedar Valley are submitted to the BPW of Cedar Falls women’s club to be voted on. Past winners of the prestigious Cedar Valley Woman of the Year award include Jean Trainor (2006), Heather Predergast (2007), Kathy Lee (2008), Maureen Collins-Williams (2009), Doris Kelley (2010), Jan Anderson (2011), Velda Philips (2012), Susan Whitson (2013), Kim Manning (2014), and Joyce Coil (2015). The BPW of Cedar Falls holds the annual Salute to Women event to honor professional women in the Cedar Valley as well as to raise scholarship funds for non-traditional students.

Cedar Valley Honored at Iowa Tourism Conference

The following was submitted by our Affiliate agencies, the Waterloo Convention and Visitors Bureau and Cedar Falls Tourism. These organizations in collaboration as Cedar Valley Tourism, and with the Alliance & Chamber to promote and maintain high-quality amenities that benefit visitors and residents alike.

Representatives from the Grout Museum District and Cedar Falls Community Main Street were honored at the Iowa Tourism Conference, held in Davenport.

Downtown Cedar Falls was honored as the state’s Outstanding Retail Experience and the Grout Museum’s Iowa Veterans Museum was honored as Iowa’s Outstanding Attraction and for Outstanding Marketing Collaboration.

Distinct features leading to the Main Street award include friendly store owners serving up memorable experiences from 30+ unique shops and boutiques and 20+ bars, cafes and restaurants. The charm of the area, endless events and creative strategies employed the Community Main Street to position the district as a great get away destination were also noted.

The Grout Museum District’s 365 & Counting: Iowans in the Vietnam War exhibit enabled the Grout to capture the Attraction of the Year Award for the second time in five years. The Outstanding Marketing Collaboration was awarded for the partnership that was developed between the Grout and the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier for their Vietnam Veteran’s Profile features. The Grout provided content to reporters from the Voices of Iowa interview collection and the Courier featured 50 area Vietnam veterans, one each day, during the fall of 2015, within the duration of the 365 & Counting: Iowans in the Vietnam War exhibit. The features helped shine a light on the stories of the men and women who proudly served our county during one of the most controversial wars in history and also helped spread awareness about a powerful exhibit that educated the public and helped heal those who lived through it 50 years ago.

Tourism is an $8 billion industry in Iowa, employing 67,400 people statewide and generating more than $466.7 million in state taxes. In Black Hawk County alone, visitors spent $351.7 million dollars.

cvtourism

Keith Rahe, Travel Federation of Iowa; Carol Lilly, and Jessica Palmer, Cedar Falls Main Street; Kim Manning, Cedar Falls Tourism and Visitors Bureau; Shawna Lode, Iowa Tourism Office.

Cedar Valley receives Healthy Hometown Founder award

Mayor Jon Crews and Sue Beach receive award on behalf of Cedar Valley Blue Zones. Pictured with Gov. Terry Branstad and Ltn. Gov. Kim Reynolds

Healthiest State Initiative recognize communities’ efforts to improve health and well-being

DES MOINES, IA (Nov. 2, 2016) — The cities of Cedar Falls and Waterloo were presented a Healthy Hometown^SM POWERED BY Wellmark award at the Iowa Healthiest State Initiative Bringing it Home conference on Nov.1, 2016. The award recognizes the Cedar Valley for their dedication and accomplishments toward meaningful health improvement initiatives in their community.

“The Healthy Hometown Founder award celebrates the achievements made in the Cedar Valley,” said Jami Haberl, Iowa Healthiest State Initiative executive director. “Cedar Falls and Waterloo have been a model for other Iowa communities and is an encouraging example of what can be done when the citizens of a community join together to truly transform their environment.”

Some noteworthy achievements in Cedar Falls include:

Integrating brain breaks in the schools as well as removing pop machines and unhealthy food fundraisers.
Building a new pedestrian bridge that connected residential areas with retailers, schools and workplaces.
Achieving a 20 percent increase in volunteering among employees at John Deere PEC.
Passing land protection policies that pave the way for healthy eating via farmers’ markets and community gardens.

Some noteworthy accomplishments in Waterloo include:

Logging 3,428 miles by Orange Elementary students during their first year of promoting physical activity through classroom movement and recess.
Losing a combined 1,661 pounds in one year resulting in 56 employees moving from pre-diabetic to normal range at Bertch Cabinet Manufacturing.
Constructing a multi-million dollar Highway 63 corridor project’s first phase featuring an impressive two-mile stretch with wide sidewalks, landscaping trees, brick pavers, lighting and benches.
Creating 10 gardens thought out the city, four of which are school gardens.

Healthy Hometown program available for all Iowa communities

The Healthy Hometown program is available to all Iowa communities ready to take steps to make the healthy choice the easy choice and improve the overall well-being of their communities.

“One of the best parts of the Healthy Hometown program is the ability for Iowa communities to make improvements that are important to them,” said Laura Jackson, Iowa Healthiest State Initiative board president. “The program offers various levels of support — including assistance from experts if they choose — and guides them to existing resources so they can make their hometown an even better place to live.”

There are three ways communities or organizations can get started. The first is an online self-assessment tool for communities to review where they are at today and how they can connect with existing resources to make enhancements. In 2017, two additional options will be available to help communities put a plan in place for either a specific project or a complete community transformation.

More information about the Healthy Hometown program, including the assessment and resources, is available at: www.iowahealthieststate.com.

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, service organizations and other 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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High-Capacity Broadband from Mediacom Business Powering University of Northern Iowa Metal Casting Center

The following information was released by Mediacom Business

New additive manufacturing and design facility utilizes bandwidth intensive applications to train and prepare manufacturers and students

Waterloo, IA – June 28, 2016 – Furthering its commitment to drive economic growth in the Cedar Valley corridor, Mediacom Business, a division of Mediacom Communications Corporation, today announced the installation of a high-capacity broadband connection at the new University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Metal Casting Center on the TechWorks Campus in downtown Waterloo.

Randy Pilkington, Director of Business and Community Services for UNI, said manufacturers and students alike will learn necessary design software skills at the UNI Metal Casting Center to develop products and prepare CAD documents in conjunction with Hawkeye Community College for 3D printing. The facility houses the largest sand mold 3D design printer in the country, and is installing three new 3D printers over the next several months using a variety of media.

“Our goal is make the facility at the UNI Metal Casting Center the go to place in Iowa, if not the Midwest, to expand additive manufacturing training of this kind. This is a huge initiative for Iowa. We feel confident that by partnering with Mediacom Business, we’ll receive the high-capacity broadband necessary to make this happen,” Mr. Pilkington said.

Dan Templin, Senior Vice President for Mediacom Business, said his company’s partnership with UNI exemplifies how critical it is to have a high-capacity broadband connection to power advanced technology platforms. “The design software needed to fuel expertise in sand mold printing used by companies like John Deere or Rockwell Collins requires high speed data. Without it, you simply can’t conduct the training needed. We’re especially glad to play such an important role in bringing business and education together via our proprietary fiber-optic network.”

Cary Darrah, TechWorks Vice President and General Manager, said Mediacom Business powered a TechWorks Campus StartUp event last November with 5 Gigabits of fiber connectivity. “Fast broadband was a necessity for the event – the first time StartUp Weekend was held on the Campus. Mediacom Business delivered the fastest connection to data that we’d used. Mediacom Business came through for TechWorks Campus and StartUp Weekend Cedar Valley participants. I believe that gave the Metal Casting Center a clear indication that Mediacom Business was a good solution at this location.”

About the University of Northern Iowa Metal Casting Center

The University of Northern Iowa Metal Casting Center was established in 1990 with a grant from the Iowa Lottery to serve foundries and foundry suppliers in Iowa. The UNI MCC has been a leader in foundry innovations and added 3D sand mold printing capabilities in 2014. Since then, the UNI MCC has worked with more than 100 small and medium enterprises across Iowa and the Midwest as well as with all branches of the US military.

About the TechWorks Campus

TechWorks Campus is a 30-acre advanced manufacturing, research & development, innovation, education, commercial, and manufacturing center located in downtown Waterloo, Iowa. The campus is comprised of 20 acres of development sites, and 300,000 square feet of flex space for innovation and development.

About Mediacom Communications

Mediacom Communications Corporation is the fifth largest cable operator in the U.S. serving about 1.3 million customers in smaller markets primarily in the Midwest and Southeast through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Mediacom Broadband LLC and Mediacom LLC. Mediacom offers a wide array of information, communications and entertainment services to households and businesses, including video, high-speed data, phone, and home security and automation. Through Mediacom Business, the company provides innovative broadband solutions to commercial and public sector customers of all sizes, and sells advertising and production services under the OnMedia brand. More information about Mediacom is available at www.mediacomcc.com.

Contact
Tom Larsen
Senior Vice President, Government & Public Relations
Phone: 845-443-2754 | Email: info@mediacomcc.com

Confidence High in the Cedar Valley

With building permits on the rise, new businesses opening, and investment being made in the Cedar Valley, Steve Dust, President and CEO of the Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber says confidence is high in the Cedar Valley business community. Listen to Steve’s comments in this June 21st interview with Tim Harwood on News Talk KXEL.