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GroWARRENow
INVESTORS
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A&W Restaurant
Bank of the West
C&L Companies, Inc.
Capital City Fruit
Cemen Tech
City of Carlisle
City of Cumming
City of Des Moines
City of Hartford
City of Indianola
City of New Virginia
City of Norwalk
City of West Des Moines
City State Bank - Norwalk
Clarke Electric Cooperative
Community Bank - Indianola
Des Moines Truck Brokers Inc.
DMACC
Doug Shull
Downing Construction
EDJE Technologies
Great Western Bank
Hubbell Realty
Indianola Municipal Utilities
J.E. Meadows & Co., L.C.
James Oil Co. L.L.C.
Knapp Properties
McClarnon Properties
McClure Engineering
Medicap Pharmacy
Mid-American Energy
Noble Ford
Norwalk Ready-Mix
Optometric Associates
Peoples Bank
Peoples Company
Record Herald & Indianola Tribune
Regions Bank
Shull & Co
Simpson College
Snyder & Associates
Sternquist Construction
Story Construction
Summerset Winery
Three-Sixty Group
Vander Linden Real Estate
Vanderpool Construction
Walmart
Warren County
Warren County Leadership Institute
Weinman Insurance
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
Doug Shull
Vice President
Mayor Ruth Randleman
Secretary
Steve Bruere
Treasurer
Denis Frischmeyer
County Supervisor
Steve Wilson
Jack Bohlender
Rita Conner
Amy Duncan
John Fuller
Naomi Hamlett
Todd Kielkopf
Stacie LoVan
Greg Marchant
Jim Meadows
John Parker
Mayor Doug Pierce
Jeff Saddoris
Tom Wagenknecht
Rick Wilson
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WCEDC STAFF
Jason E. White
Executive Director
Hollie Askey
Director of Operations
Rachel Gocken
Administrative & Communications Coordinator
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WCEDC has launched both a Facebook and Twitter page! Join us in the conversation!
Oh, and, don't forget about LinkedIn!
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GroWARRENow! Investors Council Formed
By: Jason White, Executive Director
The GroWARRENow! strategic plan was drafted with high ambitions in mind for enhancing wealth in Warren County. Though already having the second highest household median per capita income in Iowa, the dollar leakage to other communities is significant, and 60-80 percent of the county's workforce population commutes to other communities for work each day.
Seizing upon this implied "call to action", we launched a campaign to secure financial resources for the implementation of the GroWARRENow! program. Mission accomplished! Many businesses and local government entities have shown faith in this plan and the team we have assembled. We have 33 percent more financial means available to us now than prior to the campaign. Further, out of this, we have created the GroWARRENow! 'Investors Council'. We wish to not only recognize these organizations for their investment, but also call on them as our "network of advisors" to keep this initiative moving forward in the best, most successful way possible so that new heights can be attained for the greater Warren County region.
On a related note, I would like to share with you a recent editorial that WCEDC submitted and was printed in the Indianola Record-Herald that presents a progress update on the foundation established for GroWARRENow!.
Finally, as an aside, a colleague of mine, Roger Lee of the Economic Development for Central Oregon, recently created a video called "How Real Economic Development Happens". As economic developers, it explains well the role we have in facilitating economic development and the partnerships that exist within this arena. I hope you will take a moment to view it.
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Business Retention & Expansion
EDJE Technologies Receives Demo Fund Award
 The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) board recently awarded financial assistance to four companies for job creation and expansion projects. One award made was to Indianola's own EDJE Technologies for a recently formed venture AG iTV.
AG iTV was founded in 2010 by Ed Tlach as an extension of the services provided by EDJE Technologies. EDJE helps the country's cattle producers connect with one another and promote their sales via the Internet. Today, EDJE designs, builds and maintains websites for retailers, restaurants, realtors, schools, manufacturers, and many other industries. AG iTV seeks to create current, video-based information about markets, news, and weather - and present the information at one location on the Internet. The company was awarded a $50,000 grant through the Demonstration Fund to develop live-streaming broadcasts that would provide a valuable viewing alternative for its target market. The primary audience will be technological-inclined agriculture producers, as well as others with an interest in commodity markets, agriculture and agribusiness.
"It's very exciting for us to assist what could be some of Iowa's high growth companies of the future," said Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. "Iowa's small businesses play an integral role in the economy, and it is essential that we continue to advance the state's climate for entrepreneurial development".
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Business Retention & Expansion
WCEDC Partner Receives BRE Award
On May 3, 2012, the Professional Developers of Iowa awarded the City of West Des Moines with a Business Retention & Expansion Award in the Single Business Retention and Expansion Project/Success Category, which recognizes a community for the successful outcome of a project in which a community mobilized to retain or expand an existing business or used data collected from local companies for a specific project.
The City received the award for its Executive Call Program, a business retention effort in which the City, Chamber, and Greater Des Moines Partnership staff have face-to-face meetings with West Des Moines businesses to assess the business climate and strengthen relationships.
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Public Relations & Advocacy
WCEDC Transportation Lobbying Efforts
Recently a group of Warren County representatives met with constituents at the federal and state level to lobby for key transportation projects around the county. Beginning with the Greater Des Moines Partnership trip to Washington D.C. in May followed by a presentation in front of the Iowa DOT June Commissioners at a meeting in Des Moines. Click here to see photos
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Target Marketing & Product Development
Energy Independence Partners Creates Partnerships
Energy Independence Partners (EIP) is an American based company which provides public and private entities with innovative products and systems that address important environmental challenges. Working with technology solution provider ItN Nanovation, a German company that has developed the core technology, EIP has secured exclusive rights to the intellectual property for the U.S. market and is working to develop that market with a number of partners who will provide engineering, business development, manufacturing and service.
EIP recently gained approval from the City of Carlisle to continue utilizing their Waste Water Treatment Plant Lagoon as a test site for
their moving bed bio-reactor waste water filtration container.
Additionally, the company was just awarded a $500,000 Iowa Innovation Fund Loan by the Iowa Economic Development Board. Funds awarded will be used towards the commercialization of ItN's MBBR Filtration Container in the U.S. - a modular system that provides complete wastewater treatment solutions for small and/or decentralized wastewater systems.
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Target Marketing & Product Development
New Cumming Interchange Fuels Future Growth
Cumming, Iowa grew 117 percent in the last decade according to the most recent U.S. Census. While Cumming has only 350 residents, being located in northwest Warren County, where Norwalk and West Des Moines are also growing quickly, ranks the community among the fastest growing in the Des Moines Metro region. In the area served by the Des Moines Metropolitan Planning Organization, Cumming has the fourth fastest growing population rate since 1990.
As growth continues, with plans being furthered for new residential, commercial and industrial growth, the need increases for new and enhanced infrastructure. In January the Iowa DOT plans to let in a $13 million project which will involve new, wider, and longer bridge and approach pavement, grading and paving of new interstate ramps, and side road construction.
Cumming is a part of the Des Moines Wastewater Reclamation Authority, which is made-up of 17 metro area municipalities, counties and sewer districts. They work together to protect public health and to enhance the environment by recycling wastewater and being the preferred treatment facilities for hauled liquid wastes.
WCEDC has received several leads in recent months for projects in the Cumming area, ranging from retail, service, agribusiness/agritourism, and small business expansions. In nearby West Des Moines, also in Warren County, developers are planning a 35-unit housing subdivision called Fox Valley.
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Quality of Life & Workforce Development
Warren County Updates Laborshed
WCEDC purchases the services of Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) every two years to complete an updated laborshed for the county. The data is gathered through two steps: 1) Warren County employers communicate to IWD where their employees live, and 2) IWD makes phone calls to residents within the areas (i.e. zip codes) that employers indicated their workers live. A few of the key findings from this year's Warren County Laborshed Report include:
- Laborshed base of 290,33(more than six times the county's population)
- Workforce draw that stretches south to the Iowa/Missouri border, north to Ankeny, west to Winterset, and east to Pella
- The top three industry classifications for workers are: 1) Education, 2) Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, and 3) Public Administration & Government
- Willingness to commute an average of 22 miles for the right work opportunity
- 92.4% receive some kind of health/medical insurance
WCEDC receives customized reports from IWD, by industry, to help companies identify target areas to recruit potential workers and offer competitive employment packages.
WCEDC received the financial partnership of several organizations to complete this support, notably Alliant Energy, Des Moines Area Community College, MidAmerican Energy, the Greater Des Moines Partnership, and the other economic development groups from throughout the Metro.
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