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GroWARRENow!
INVESTORS
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PUBLIC INVESTORS
Warren County
City of Carlisle
City of Cumming
City of Des Moines
City of Hartford
City of Indianola
City of Milo
City of New Virginia
City of Norwalk
City of West Des Moines
GOLD INVESTORS
Community Bank
Record Herald & Indianola Tribune
SILVER INVESTORS
C&L Companies, Inc.
Colby Interests
Downing Construction
Noble Ford
Peoples Bank
Simpson College
BRONZE INVESTORS
Bank of the West
City State Bank
Des Moines Truck Brokers
Doug Shull
Knapp Properties
McClure Engineering
MidAmerican Energy
Peoples Company
Snyder & Associates
INVESTORS
A&W Restaurant
Alliant Energy
Capital City Fruit
Cemen Tech
Clarke Electric Coop.
DMACC
etc!graphics, inc.
Great Western Bank
Hubbell Realty
Indianola Municipal Utilities
J.E. Meadows & Co.
James Oil Co. L.L.C.
Mediacom Business
Medicap - GRX Holdings
MRogalla Photography
Norwalk Ready-Mix
Optometric Associates
Regions Bank
Scotch Ridge LLC
Shull & Co
Sternquist Construction
Story Construction
Three-Sixty Group
Vander Linden Real Estate
Walmart
Warren Water District
Weinman Insurance
Wells Fargo Bank
Woodruff Const.
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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
Mayor Larry Bohlen
Jack Bohlender
Rita Conner
Theresa Greenfileld
Diane Hall
Naomi Hamlett
Eric Hanson
Scott James
Jill Johnson
Todd Kielkopf
Stacie LoVan, Ex-Officio
Jim Meadows
Mayor Tom Phillips
Jeff Saddoris
Jeff Schug
Clint Welling
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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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STEPPING UP
 | Jason White
Executive Director |
Thanks to our countless investors and network of partners, WCEDC is making great strides towards the implementation of the GroWARRENow initiative. A recent project has been to update the organization's website, which had not been redone in about eight years. The new website, which brands Warren County as the 'Southern Gateway to the Des Moines Metro', provides maps, utility and workforce information. The website also features an Economic Dashboard, a product not available in many counties Warren County's size, allowing businesses of all sizes to evaluate data such as building permit trends, industry composition, and school enrollment history when making location and investment decisions.
Warren County is also on an upward climb economically. A few examples:
- Warren County laborshed base has increased by 28 percent since 2003 (324,000 total individuals).
- Warren County's employment base has increased by 13 percent since 2003, more than Iowa or U.S.
- Warren County's unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in 2013, the lowest level since 2008.
- Indianola's cost-of-living is only 89 percent of the national cost-of-living average.
- Warren County's population grew by 13 percent between 2003 and 2013, more than Iowa or U.S.
- Warren County's top twenty recent business expansions have created or will create by the end of 2014 a total 638 new jobs and 944 jobs overall.
- WCEDC is working to complete projects which total 260 new jobs and $14 million in new capital investment.
The remainder of 2014 will no doubt be exciting as some of Warren County's biggest expansion announcements over the last several years come to fruition.
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BUSINESS RETENTION & EXPANSION
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WARREN COUNTY BUSINESSES WIN BIG
 
A total of $9,000 was awarded at our first Warren County Small Business Grant Contest. The contest began with 28 applicants that were narrowed down to three finalists in two categories: Existing Business and Start-Up Business. Finalists presented their business idea to a panel of judges at a special event held at Simpson College on June 10.
Norwalk Chiropractic was the recipient of the $6,000 Existing Business Grant and plans to use the funds to help with the construction of a new office. "I am very appreciative and honored to have been awarded the WCEDC grant. It has been a huge help in moving my building project forward." - Dr. Jesse Stumbaugh, Norwalk Chiropractic.
Studio Fusco was awarded the $3,000 Start-Up Grant and used the funds towards the purchase of a high quality printer for their newly opened copy, print and design operation on The Square in Indianola. "The grant award could not have come at a better time as it helped us purchase a new commercial color printer, which really set us up for success. We're truly thankful for the support and look forward to serving the needs of our customers." - Garret Youker, co-owner of Studio Fusco. The grant contest was a project of Warren County Economic Development's Learn|Grow|Succeed small business support initiative.
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PUBLIC RELATIONS & ADVOCACY
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WARREN COUNTY METRO
Warren County was visited by tens of thousands of visitors over the past few weeks. The Warren County Fair, Des Moines Metro Opera, Central Iowa Home Show, and National Balloon Classic brought in a total of nearly 100,000 people combined. These events are a great opportunity to showcase Warren County's connectivity to the Des Moines Metro and also to rural Iowa. Few counties possess such connectivity to both rural and urban as Warren County. WCEDC was proud to promote these events.
As such, WCEDC launched the 'Warren County Metro' concept during the Home Show, a one-time event which attracted nearly 12,000 individuals to Norwalk and Warren County. The Warren County Metro presentation shows how the county flows into the Des Moines Metro region. WCEDC is also working on a rural concept. Further, for the first time ever, WCEDC sponsored a 'Morning Mingle' to go along with the sponsorship of Warren County Night. A link to the Warren County Metro map can be found here and photos of WCEDC-sponsored balloon events here.
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INVESTOR SPOTLIGHT:
Colby Interests, a Silver-level investor of WCEDC's GroWARRENow initiative, is a family-owned business focused on commercial real estate - participating as owners, property managers, and land developers since the early 1900's. The Colby family owns and manages one million square feet of office and retail real estate within the Des Moines Metro area - particularly in Warren, Polk and Dallas Counties.
Specific to Warren County, Colby owns 1000 acres of farm and development land - including a 174-acre future industrial site called the 'Ferrari' farm within the City of Des Moines incorporated limits, and 920 acres in within the City of West Des Moines in northwest Warren County.
A notable development of Colby's within West Des Moines is called 'Fox Valley', a new Warren County neighborhood, encompassing 275 acres which has been master planned. A total of 25 lots in the current Plat 2 area is in development now, with lots for sale commencing August 2014.
"WCEDC is the leader for economic and community development within Warren County" said Theresa Greenfield of Colby Interests and WCEDC board member. "Colby Interests believes Warren County is a best kept secret of the region with a strong workforce, beautiful communities and excellent schools. We invest in the GroWARRENow initiative because WCEDC brings together regional business and community stakeholders to support new businesses, business expansions and job creation."
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TARGET MARKETING & PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
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$5,000 BOUNTY PROGRAM LAUNCHED
Commercial property owners in Carlisle are offering five thousand dollars as a reward to any person who refers a new business to Carlisle that ultimately builds on participating land. The participating land owners have commercial properties available in two new business parks located at the Highway 5/65 Bypass on the west side of Carlisle.
Scotch Ridge Business Park sits on the north side of Highway 5 with sixty-two acres available and Gateway Business Park is located on the south side of Highway 5 with thirty-one acres available. The bounty initiative is in conjunction with ongoing efforts by the City of Carlisle and Warren County Economic Development Corporation to attract new high quality businesses to Carlisle.
In order to receive the five thousand dollars, the referring individual must supply the business name and contact information to the Carlisle City Administrator. If the referral information leads to the business locating in Carlisle, the referring individual will be paid the five thousand cash bounty when that new business opens. The Bounty Program will be in place through July 2015.
ELIGIBILITY:
- Project must be a new build
- Commercial or industrial (residential not eligible)
- Minimum $500,000 total project investment
- Employees of the City of Carlisle, Carlisle Chamber of Commerce and WCEDC are not eligible
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WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT & QUALITY OF LIFE
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WCLI CLASS CREATES TRAIL ENDOWMENT
Each year the Warren County Leadership Class (WCLI) members complete a community project that benefits Warren County in some way. The class discusses and decides what their project will be and works together to make it happen. This year's class members had a passion for the trail systems in Warren County and created the Warren County Trails Endowment Fund to help ensure the longevity and advancement of trails in Warren County.
Class members worked with the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines to establish the endowment, which will be maintained by Warren County Philanthropic Partnership, the Warren County affiliate of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines. The WCLI class of 2014 raised approximately $5,000 to get the endowment off to a great start. Once the endowment has reached $10,000, it will be considered fully funded, and a percentage of the money will go toward trail maintenance in the county. The county, as well as cities within the county, may apply for money from the endowment by contacting the Warren County Philanthropic Partnership.
Passionate about the trail systems in Warren County? Click here to contribute to the Warren County Trails Endowment Fund.
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