Thank You For Helping Us Make the Most of 2025!

Legislative Roundtable 

In December, Western Iowa Advantage held a legislative roundtable at Region XII Council of Governments. Senator Tim Kraayenbrink, Representative Craig Williams, and candidate Rachel Burns discussed important regional issues including housing, economic development and TIF, community development, and transportation.

Meetings 

WIAD held 11 monthly meetings throughout the year to discuss economic development challenges and opportunities. 

Custom Content Creation

Golden Shovel Agency crafted eleven Business Feature Articles for our website throughout the year, including: 

• January: Celebrating the Life and Outstanding Accomplishments of Late Founding Partner Shirley Phillips
• February: Western Iowa Tech’s Career Academy Anticipates Grand Opening in August 2025
• March: Growing Together: National Agriculture Month Honors Iowa’s 84,000 Farmers and Industry Leaders
• April: Western Iowa Dishes It Out During Farm-to-Table Fundraisers
• May: Did You Know? Western Iowa Advantage is Your Business Resource for Growth!
• June: Carving Out His Niche: RVP 1875 Revives Lost Art of Furniture Making
• July: That Sounds Fair! Iowa Gets Ready for Whirlwind of County Festivals
• August: Farmers’ Markets Bring Fresh Boost to Local Economy
• September: Oh, Go Take a Hike! Western Iowa Trails Are a Breath of Fresh Air
• November: Does Shopping Local Actually Make a Difference?

WIAD Newsletters

Three WIAD Newsletters were crafted in 2025 as a summary of news, events, awards, and sites and buildings. Are you signed up? If not, let us know! 

Housing Development Recruitment Piece: Awards (MAEDC and NADO)

• Region XII Council of Governments has recently been recognized with a 2025 Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Award from the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) for the Western Iowa Advantage Collaborative Marketing to Address a Housing Crisis.
• MAEDC Award: Marketing Program Small Community award in December 2024.

Community Venture Network Events

Community Venture Network (CVN) exists to connect rural communities with businesses searching for opportunities to expand and grow their operations. Economic Development professionals from communities throughout the Midwest region have joined CVN to be exposed to qualified business development leads. WIAD attended three of these events. 

Guest Speakers

Educational and Program presentations were given to increase partner knowledge and skills from:

• Iowa Area Development Group, Brian Tapp, V.P. Value-Added Agriculture
• Agracel Inc., Richard Blackwell, V.P. Business Development
• Iowa Tourism, Stephanie Neppl, Tourism Liaison

Tour of Global Precision Parts

In September, Western Iowa Advantage partners toured Global Precision Parts (GPP) in Audubon. Global Precision Parts, Inc. was established in 2006 and recently acquired Quality Machine in Audubon. GPP operates over 200 state-of-the-art production machines, delivering highly efficient services at the quality its customers deserve. In addition to domestic facilities, GPP works closely with Asian joint ventures to provide unmatched quality and volume capacity that only a multi-site company can offer. The company’s Audubon facility supplies high-precision and complex machining services with tolerances ranging five tenths to two thousandths.