Recent News

The way businesses in the industrial sector approach hiring new employees has changed. Companies can no longer rely on posting a job ad and sitting back to wait for resumes to flood in. With unemployment rates at an all-time low after the advent of the Great Resignation, the best candidate...Continue Reading

Recently, Elon Musk announced plans for the Tesla Bot, a humanoid robot that stands 5 feet, 8 inches tall. Musk said the robot “probably won’t work.” I hope he is wrong. Many people have an adverse reaction to discussions of automation and artificial intelligence. While I understand those fears, I believ...Continue Reading

It’s one thing to come up with clever business ideas. It’s another thing to get them smoothly from planning to execution. The road to innovation is paved with plenty of detours, potholes, and one-way streets. While some of them are unavoidable and unexpected—like a global pandemic—others can be anticipated. And tha...Continue Reading

Companies receiving economic development incentives often have a great story to tell. The projects championed by those companies bring much needed jobs and investment to a local community. In exchange, the companies may receive various forms of economic development incentives, such as grants, tax credits, or loans. However, these incentive...Continue Reading

Even though the FTZ program was created in 1934, its relevance today is huge. After the year 2002, when Customs allowed for weekly entry (which greatly increased the demand for zones in warehouse and fulfillment centers), the FTZ program entered an even more lucrative incentive profile. This profile is enhanced b...Continue Reading

Supply chain struggles…labor shortages…rising costs…crises — These are just a few of the massive challenges today’s manufacturers face, paired with some of the greatest demand ever seen. Determining the best path forward for success now and in the future can be confusing and daunting. While there’s no perfect one-size-fits-all solution...Continue Reading

Earlier this year, Rockwell City, Iowa, in Calhoun County, had a reason to celebrate. Fareway Meat and Grocery opened its newest 11,000-square-foot-store location there.  “We are thrilled to be a part of Rockwell City and look forward to serving everyone here and in the surrounding communities,” said David Kistenmacher, Rockwell Cit...Continue Reading

In recent years, record-breaking investment flowing into the life sciences sector has prompted unprecedented growth. As life sciences firms expand their facilities to keep up with demand, available space to accommodate these growing businesses — especially in well-known industry clusters like San Diego, Boston, and the San Francisco Bay Are...Continue Reading

Competing on a national and global scale for large economic development projects — and winning — is a sure sign of a community’s vitality. A community’s ability to position large-scale, shovel-ready land tracts for investment consideration exponentially increases its ability to secure desired jobs and capital investment at the loca...Continue Reading

Over half of a million dollars in works looks set to spruce up downtown Ida Grove. Currently, the city is working to submit a request to Iowa Economic Development for authorization to release Community Development Block Grant money worth $400,000 for revitalization work. Read full article.Continue Reading

Communities throughout the country are facing a housing crisis either due to a lack of housing units, as the result of prices skyrocketing past the level of affordability, or both. Solving this crisis requires creativity and the support of the entire community. As such, leaders who put forth policies withou...Continue Reading

Today, consumers, investors, and even employees are expecting more out of the companies they support. It doesn’t take much browsing on social media to read about brands that have earned widespread ire for falling short. About half of all consumers admit to publicly skewering businesses. Even if those brands ar...Continue Reading

Western Iowa Tech Community College (WITCC) on Monday was awarded a $1 million grant that will go toward the creation of a career academy. The career academy is cooperative effort between WITCC and the Denison Community School District (DCS). The grant was awarded by Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Department o...Continue Reading

Evapco, IA — Located in Sac County, Iowa, in the City of Lake View — is an industry-leading manufacturing company providing a full spectrum of global product solutions for the commercial HVAC, industrial refrigeration, power generation, and industrial process markets.  Founded in 1976, Evapco, Inc. has worldwide locations across the Unite...Continue Reading

For nearly two years, the predominant COVID-19 driven incentive compliance issue looming over companies has been the difficulty to achieve and report on headcount performance as part of economic development incentive agreements. The evolving workplace landscape precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic adds another wrinkle to this process. With the trend towar...Continue Reading

Aconstruction site can be a hazardous place; from slips and falls to material exposure, human workers undertake a certain amount of risk. It is the responsibility of construction site managers to take every precaution available to protect their workers. With the advent of new technologies such as robots, drones, an...Continue Reading

Helping veterans, military personnel, and their families Jathan Chicoine, a state program manager for Home Base Iowa (HBI), visited with the Crawford County Board of Supervisors on April 19 to seek more local support for the program. HBI is a state program designed to assist veterans as they return to civilian life. Th...Continue Reading

Final fundraising push is underway “We are finally nearing the finish line,” said Evan Blakley, executive director of the Chamber & Development Council (CDC) of Crawford County. “We’re on track to be moved in sometime in May, based on current estimates.” The CDC’s project to refurbish the former Community Room building is calle...Continue Reading

Bowery Farming, a leading vertical farming company based in New York City, plans to open smart indoor vertical farms in Locust Grove, Georgia, and Arlington, Texas, it announced in January. Each facility will create more than 100 jobs, and they are to be powered by 100% renewable sources. The compan...Continue Reading

Deal’s Orchard was awarded the Outstanding Retail Experience Award in the rural category at the Iowa Tourism Conference held last week in Des Moines. The Iowa Tourism Office presented 26 awards recognizing excellence in 13 categories, with a recipient in metro and rural businesses. Read full article.Continue Reading

Templeton Rye Spirits, LLC is expanding warehouse facilities with help from funds from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) board. The IEDA approved an award of $13.6 million for an expansion of the warehouse facilities for long term-barreling. The funds are part of $84 million in new capital investment fo...Continue Reading

Entrepreneurship is a tough road that can travel through some dark places. After some initial success, many entrepreneurs find themselves stuck and confused, in a place where they question who they are, where their business is going or when they’ll get there. Some are surrounded by self-imposed walls they’ve buil...Continue Reading

Evolving workforce needs seem to be a “chicken or the egg” scenario. Which came first? For example, was it the creation of new technology that reshaped our business models and needs for workforce? Or did each generation’s increased desire for instant connectivity and gratification cause us to innovate as thes...Continue Reading

Their diligence, strong work ethic and smart problem-solving skills. They are the backbone of the state’s many businesses and have a sense of pride in their work. Many of the state’s workers have long tenures at their employers, which helps improve business performance.  When it comes to creating a stronger busines...Continue Reading