siouxland business journal march 2011

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Simplified. Secure. Networking. see the difference with us. See our ad on the next page. Vol. 21 No. 11 PO Box 118, Sioux City, Iowa 51102 March 2011 Growing demand Port Neal nitrogen plant manager Nick DeRoos AGRI-BUSINESS ISSUE

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Page 1: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

Simplified. Secure. Networking.see the difference with us.

See our ad on the next page.

Vol. 21 No. 11

PO Box 118, Sioux City, Iowa 51102

March 2011

Growing demand

Port Neal nitrogen plant manager Nick DeRoos

AGRI-BUSINESS ISSUE

Page 2: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

2 Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com

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Page 3: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 3

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Siouxland Business Journal is published monthly by Sioux City Newspapers Inc., in cooperation with the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce.

Requests for a free subscription or address changes should be sent to:Nan StettnichSiouxland Business JournalBox 118Sioux City, Iowa 51102

Editorial copy should be sent to:Dave DreeszenSiouxland Business Journal editorBox 118Sioux City, Iowa [email protected]

For more information:Editorial: (712) 293-4211 or 800-397-9820, ext. 4211Advertising: (712) 224-6275 or 800-728-8588Circulation: (712) 293-4257 or 800-397-2213, ext. 4257On the web: www.SiouxlandBusinessJournal.com

Index

BusinessJournal

Business Know How ........................................page 16

Business People .................................................page 8

Chamber anniversaries ................................... page 14

Chamber investors........................................... page 14

Home & Office ..................................................page 12

On the move .......................................................page 7

Ribbon cuttings ................................................page 18

ON THE COVER

Business Journal photo by Jerry Mennenga Nick DeRoos is shown at CF Industries Port Neal nitrogen complex. DeRoos was promoted to plant manager last October.

Nicpla

Page 4: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

4 Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com

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BY DAVE DREESZENBusiness Journal editor

Earlier this month, the city unveiled plans to demolish the former John Morrell plant, which closed last April.

The 23-acre site will be redeveloped as an attractive business park. The city has signed up its first tenant, Global Foods Processing, which plans to build a new pork processing plant there.

The project would allow Global, which has operated in Sioux City for 17 years, to expand its product line and nearly double its work-force. The family-owned business, which sells 85 to 90 percent of its products abroad, will keep operating its 175-employee plant along Cunningham Drive.

“I have more demand than I can satisfy at our current location, not only for prod-ucts we produce now, but for others,” Glob-al owner David Guest in an interview this

month.Global’s new 67,000-square-foot plant

would occupy about 10 acres in the Yards 1-29 Business Park. There will be room for

Demolition to pave way for new jobsGlobal Foods plans to build pork processing plant at former Morrell site

Submitted renderingThis rendering shows the new landscaping and buildings planned for the former John Morrell site. The largest building depicted would be Global Food Processing’s proposed pork processing plant.

Deal saves utility relocation costsGaining control of the former John Morrell site gives the city of Sioux City an added bonus.

Morrell’s owner, Smithfield Foods, has agreed to turn over the 23-acre site to the city.

The acquistion creates an immediate savings of $463,000 in utility work related to the reconstruction of the adjacent Interstate 29, according to city officials.

The Iowa Department of Transportation, which plans to widen and improve the inter-state through the downtown area, is requir-ing the city to relocate water and sewer lines that run beneath the existing pavement. If not for the Morrell deal, the city would have been required to acquire right-of-way from the meatpacker.

– Dave Dreeszen

Page 5: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 5

two other shovel-ready sites, city economic development director Marty Dougherty said.

City officials say they are talking to other prospects interested in expanding in the park, which will be heavily landscaped.

A site plan prepared by the city shows a new tree-lined street along the western boundary of the Morrell property, parallel to Interstate 29. The design also calls for the planting of additional trees and green spaces.

A weathered wood fence, erected years ago to shield the Morrell complex from the view of interstate motorists, would be removed.

REMOVING AN EYESOREThree years ago, the city put a together a

multimillion-dollar incentive package, in-stalled extensive utilities at a new site and worked to pass at least two new state laws in a herculean effort to convince Smithfield to relocate its aging plant to an industrial park in the southern part of town.

The $200 million project, which would have been the richest economic develop-ment deal in the city’s history, would have created 400 new jobs. But in the summer of 2008, Smithfield Foods abruptly walked away from the negotiation table and never returned.

After the plant closed last April, city lead-ers spent months negotiating with Morrell officials about the future of the site. The company eventually agreed to turn over the property to the city.

If all goes well, demolition could begin as early as this summer.

To finance the tear down and other clean-up costs, the city has applied for a $2 mil-lion grant from the Economic Development Administration. City officials expressed op-timistic about securing one of the competi-tive grants the federal agency awards for job creation projects.

Because of the large job losses from the Morrell closing, the EDA has designated Sioux City as an economically “distressed” community, which raises the city’s ranking on a formula the federal agency uses to award the federal dollars, City Manager Paul Eckert said.

In addition to its unsightly appearance, lo-cal residents had long complained about foul odors from the Morrell plant, which had the capacity to kill up to 14,000 hogs per day. That is not an issue with Global, which buys its fresh meat from other companies.

“There’s absolutely no odor produced by our operation, either here or at the new one,” Guest said. “We’re not even doing any cook-ing or curing.”

‘TIMING IS PERFECT’Global’s expansion was several years in the

making. Guest said he initially considered building an addition to his existing plant, but there was not sufficient adjacent land to do so, partly due to the facility abutting the Floyd River channel.

He acknowledges being wooed by other states, including neighboring South Sioux City, which offered land in its Roth Indus-trial Park.

While he preferred to stay in Sioux City, Guest said he was running out of viable

options until the city struck a deal for the former Morrell site.

“The timing is perfect,” he said. “It all hap-pened quite rapidly.”

The Morrell land, he said, has “all the at-tributes that are essential to our future plans for expansion and diversification,” including close proximity to the company’s existing plant, and access to rail. A main line of the Union Pacific runs through the Morrell site, which also features a track switch.

Guest said a second plant would allow Global to diversify, adding other cuts of fresh pork, including loins and butts.

Demand for those products are growing overseas, particularly in Australia and Japan, he said. Canada, Mexico, Russia and New Zealand are among other countries Global exports to.

In addition to added processing, the new facility would for the first time provide Glob-al with its refrigerated warehouse space. The company currently sends its meat to local public cold storage warehouses.

Guest said Global will be ready to start construction as soon as the city finishes preparing the site. Groundbreaking likely will begin late this fall or early next spring, with completion anticipated eight to nine months later.

The new plant would initially employ around 60 people, and create up to 175 to 200 new jobs in the first two years, Guest said.

Dougherty said the city is preparing a de-velopment agreement to assist Global Foods with its expansion. The city has provided fi-nancial incentives to the company on two previous occasions, when the plant first opened and then for a later expansion.

The Morrell demolition and redevelop-ment is the city’s latest investment in the former stockyards area, which the city has renamed “The Yards.”

In recent years, the city has razed a series of antiquated packing plants, including KD Station last year. The cleanup has led to the development of a new Home Depot, and two warehouse distributors – Johnston Supply and Van Meter Industrial.

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Journal photo by Dave Dreeszen / Find more photos and buy copies at siouxcityjournal.com) Global Foods Processing employs about 175 people at its existing pork processing plant, above, along Cunningham Drive. The company plans to nearly double its workforce by building a second plant at the former John Morrell site, which the company acquired earlier this month.

By the numbers

0Cost, in dollars, for the city of Sioux City, to

acquire the former John Morrell site

2Size of federal grant, in millions of dollars,

the city is seeking to help finance demolition of the antiquated plant

10Cost, in millions of dollars, of the new plant Global Foods Processing is planning for a

portion of the former Morrell site

175-200Number of new jobs Global expects to create

over the first two years

Page 6: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

6 Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com

BY DAVE DREESZENBusiness Journal editor

Area farmland values soared to all-time highs in recent months, with few signs of peaking yet.

In Iowa and eastern Nebraska, average values rose 16 percent and 10 percent, respectively, in the last half of 2010, compared to a year earlier, according to a survey by Farm Credit Services of America, the largest agriculture lender in the two states.

Some of the nation’s most ex-pensive land is found in Northwest Iowa, where a series of post-har-vest auctions have netted $9,000 or more per acre. One 80-acre tract in Sioux County brought an eye-popping per-acre price of $13,950 in November.

Skyrocketing agricultural com-modity prices, historically low interest rates and hot demand for scarce high-quality ground are combining to the land boom. In the latter half of 2010, prices for corn

and other crops nearly doubled, as exports from emerging nations and increased domestic etha-nol production boosted demand, while droughts and other weather

calamities reduced global supplies to near record lows.

The big run-up in prices came as most area corn and soybean pro-ducers brought in above normal

yields last fall.“We have some farmers who have

done extremely well,” said Roger Klingensmith, an ag lender at Se-curity National Bank in Sioux City. “That means they have cash that they can reinvest in land, which can continue to support the price going forward.”

Producers looking to expand far outnumber existing landowners wanting to sell, however.

“We’re seeing very strong de-mand for farmland with a very limited supply,” said Lee Vermeer, vice president of real estate sales for Farmers National Co., which specializes in agricultural real es-tate. “In most areas, we’re seeing the amount of land available down a third or half from historical lev-els.”

The same low interest rates that have reduced borrowing costs for purchases have given retired farm-ers and absentee owners an incen-tive to put their land on the market.

“If you’ve got ground, why would you sell it when there’s nowhere else to put your money, where it would earn any better?” said Iowa State University Extension econo-mist Mike Duffy, who conducts an annual farmland value survey. Outside investors, such as large hedge-fund managers, have in-creasingly become bullish on farm-land because it offers a better rate of return than government-insured instruments such as U.S. Treasury bonds and less risk than even blue-chip stocks.

Amid growing fears over a de-clining U.S. dollar and record fed-eral budget deficits, many investors view farmland as a hedge against inflation fears.

“It makes more sense for me to invest in land than gold or silver or anything else,” Le Mars auc-tioneer Bruce Brock said. “At least while you’re holding on to it, you’re

ANKRUPTC USINESS LA OMMERCIAL LA ONSTRUCTION LAMPLOYMENT LA NERG NVIRONMENTAL LA WILLS, TRUSTS, ESTATE PLANNING AND PROBATE AMILY LA OVERNMENT CARE

LA NSURANCE NTELLECTUAL PROPERT ITIGATION ERGERS AND ACQUISITION RODUCT LIABILIT SSIONAL LIABILIT EAL ESTATE SECURITIETAXATION WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

R O. GREGERSON WILLIAM G. TAYLOR ARY P. T SEN RADLEY C. GROSSENBURG AMES M. OMET ARALDSON OGER W. DAMGAARD AVID C. KROON AMES E. MOORE KRISTINE K. O’CONNELL LIZ A. LEWI IM R. ELANIE L. CARPENTER WILLIAM G. BECK*+ ROY N. LEONARD Y A. P ANIEL ARMELIN L. WOLLMAN ISA AGUIRE S ENT REGORY S. STARNE AREY A. MILLER*

SCOTT ENDRICKS LEUNING SANDER AN W. SNELL*+ ARY A. AKKERMAN VINCENT ONE S. RAYMOND W P. BOC AMES A. POWER USTIN G. A. MUNSON DAM OIER RAIG KROGSTAD *LICENSED IN IOWA + LICENSED IN NEBRASKA

Rising crop prices fuel farmland values

Journal photo by Jerry Mennenga Auctioneer Bruce Brock takes bids at a farm auction in the basement of Primebank in Le Mars, Iowa, on Feb. 4. The 80-acre tract brought $10,000 per acre, a record price for Plymouth County. Farmland values are soaring to all-time highs across Northwest Iowa, as skyrocketing commodity prices put more money in farmers pockets.

FARMLAND, PAGE 13

Page 7: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 7

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Edward Jones hires financial advisor

The financial services firm Edward Jones has hired Josh Boomsma as the new finan-cial advisor for the Sioux City, Iowa branch of-fice located at 308 West 28th Street.

E d w a r d Jones pro-vides finan-cial services for individual investors in the United States and, through its affiliate, in Canada.

Gospel Mission hires development director

The Gospel Mission an-nouncesthe addition of David Delzell as the orga-nization’s new development director.

In his new role, he will be responsible for donor/fun-draising events, public rela-tions and the scheduling of volunteers.

A Sioux City native and graduate of Sioux City North High School, Delzell earned a B.A. in business administra-tion from Concordia Univer-sity in Seward, Neb. Prior to joining the Mission, Delzell

spent the last 20 years in the industrial packaging indus-try, working as a distributor sales representative.

Physician joins Le Mars clinic staff

Dr. Ellen Catalan-Aqui-no will join the medical staff at Floyd Valley Hospital’s Family Medicine Clinics, beginning in August.

A board certified family physician, Catalan-Aquino will provide all facets of family health care services. She has a strong interest in women’s health, including obstetric care.

Aquino earned her under-graduate, graduate and med-ical degrees and completed a residency in the Philippines. She completed an additional residency in Family Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School, where she is current-ly a faculty member as well as in her own private practice.

Jackson Recovery Center names VP

Carey Snow has joined Jackson Recovery Centers Inc. as vice-president of resource development and executive director of the ad-diction prevention and treat-ment provider’s foundation.

In her new role, Snow will assist Jackson in strategizing its external initiatives, ad-vancing philanthropy, as well as connect Jackson with sup-porters in the community.

Snow has 14 years of ex-perience in non-profit management and was most recently the business admin-istrator/operations executive for Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church in Gig Harbor, Was. She attended Marymount College in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., California State University, Sacramento and has completed studies mediation at the National Conflict Resolution Center, San Diego.

Ad agency promotes two designers

J.D. Gordon Advertising announces the promotion of Stacy Pearson and Ashley Gates to senior graphic de-signer.

In their new roles, Pearson and Gates are responsible for concepting, design and pro-duction of print, web, out of home, point of sale, identity development, interactive de-sign and online marketing, direct response, packaging, signage and other promo-tional elements.

Pearson graduated magna

cum laude i n M a y 2007 from Morningside College with a bachelor of arts degree in graphic design. Af-ter interning at J.D. Gor-don Adver-tising, she joined the agency full time in May 2007. Gates joined J.D. Gordon in November 2007. Previously, she worked as a freelance photographer and graphic designer.

Gates graduated in May 2007 from Iowa State Uni-versity with a bachelor of fine arts degree in graphic design.

Mercy adding two cardiologists

Two more heart specialists have joined Mercy Cardiol-ogy, Mercy Medical Center’s new hospital-aligned group of cardiologists.

Drs. Donald S. Ruffett and Leonard Stein will join Dr. Ramin Artang and Mercy Cardiology medical director Mick Hurley as the newest

members of the physician group.

Ruffett comes to Mercy Cardiology from Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn. He is board c e r t i f i e d in internal medicine and cardiology. He graduated from Boston Un ive rs i ty Sc h o o l o f M e d i c i n e and has been in private practice since 1977.

He is also an assistant clin-ical professor at the Univer-sity of Connecticut Health Center and has a fellowship at the American College of Cardiology.

Stein has been seeing patients at Mercy Medical Center since late last year, when he joined the staff as a v i s i t i n g p hys i c i a n . He is triple-board certi-fied in in-ternal medi-cine, nuclear m e d i c i n e and nuclear cardiology.

The New York native has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami, a master’s degree

from Rutgers University, a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate from the University of Maryland.

Mercy names emergency manager

Ray Sencenbaugh has been appointed manager of Emergency/T r a u m a /Air Care at Mercy Medi-cal Center in Sioux City.

S e n c e -baugh most r e c e n t l y worked in the Mercy emergency department in a staff position. He complet-ed his ADN at Western Iowa Community College and his BSN through the University of Iowa.

Sencenbaugh has a BA de-gree in business administra-tion and previous managerial experience in transportation and golf course management prior to entering the nursing profession.

Josh Boomsma

Stacy Pearson

Donald S. Ruffett

Ray Sencenbaugh

Ashley Gates

Leonard Stein

OnTheMove

ON THE MOVE, PAGE 12

Page 8: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

8 Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com

Center for Siouxland lists officers, board

Center For Siouxland elected officers for 2011 at its February board meeting.

The board chairperson is Rebecca Nelson, Rawlings, Nieland Law Firm; Vice chair is Cheryle Power, JD Gor-don Advertising; Treasurer is Mike Horner, Siouxland Federal Credit Union; and Secretary is Michaele Lewis, US Bank.

Returning board mem-bers include past chair, John Wagner, Well Fargo Bank Iowa; Kathy Gunderson, Gunderson Jewelers; Vickie Hirchert, Great West Casu-alty Co.; Patrick Tott, attor-ney at law; and Jeff Zyzda, FiberComm LC.

Newly elected Board Members are Helen Lewis, Western Iowa Tech Commu-nity College: Dale McKinney, M+ Architects: Monique Scarlett, Bank of America; Beau Streck Well Fargo

Advisors; and Anne Westra, City of Sioux City.

Center For Siouxland is a non-profit agency that pro-vides an array of services including: Bridges West Transitional Housing for the homeless, prescription and utility assistance, a pantry, 2-1-1 Center, Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, Consumer Credit Counsel-ing, HUD-certified Housing Counseling, and the Conser-vatorship/Representative Payee Program.

Gospell Mission adds board members

Marla Groeneweg and Joel Steenhoven joined The Gos-pel Mission’s board of direc-tors at its January meeting.

Each member serves a three-year term.

The Mission also elected its executive board which now includes: George Wall - President; Tom Fitch - Vice President; Marge Delzell - Treasurer; and Clyde Pritch-ett - Secretary.

Additional board members include: Bill Bouwman, Bob Jensen, Merton Marshall, Steve Martin, Richard Salem, Bill Sautter, Hubert Schul-ler, Gerrit Van Holland and Duane Vander Plas.

WITCC announces foundation board

The Western Iowa Tech Community College Foun-dation has announced its officers and board members for 2011.

Skip Perley has been re-elected president of the foundation. P e r l e y i s president/C E O o f TEC-Corp., which owns T h o m p -son Electric C o m p a n y and Electric Innovations in Sioux City, Omaha, and Sioux Falls.

Jim Rocklin, president of Rocklin Manufacturing Co., was re-elected vice presi-dent, and Troy Jasman, vice president of finance and ad-ministrative services, West-ern Iowa Tech Community College (WITCC), was re-elected treasurer.

New members of the foun-dation are E.B. Baker, presi-dent, C.W. Suter Services; Greg Berenstein, attorney, Berenstein Law Firm; Jane Gilbert, co-executive direc-tor, SIMPCO; Jeana Goos-mann, attorney, Goosmann Law Firm; and Clarence Hoffman, owner, Hoffman Agency.

Members retiring from the Foundation Board are Larry Book, manager, L&L Book Properties; Leroy Schoon, president, Schoon Con-struction, Cherokee; and Richard Waller, CEO and board chairman, Security National Bank.

Other board members in-clude Rick Aadland, CEO, Pioneer Bank; John B. An-derson, partner, Corbett Anderson Corbett Vellinga & Irvin, LLP; Cy Chesterman, CEO and chairman, Ches-terman Company; Deborah Cook, corporate counsel and secretary, Great West Casu-alty Company; Dr. Robert E. Dunker, WITCC president; Mary Ellen Hartman, com-mercial property manager, Klinger Properties Inc.; Dr. Robert Kiser, WITCC president emeritus/honor-ary board member; Justin Meyer, LEED AP, PLaN Ar-chitecture; Ginny Peterson, community volunteer; Lil-lyan Rodriguez, sales as-sociate, United Real Estate Solutions; and Jon Winkel, CEO and vice chair of Long Lines LLC.

Shriners attend Winnipeg meeting

Six representatives from Abu Bekr Shrine recently at-tended the Midwest Shrine

Association winter busi-ness and planning session in Winnipeg.

The representatives in-cluded: David Benson- as-sistant rabban; Joe Petersen-high priest & prophet; R. C. “Rick” Clements-oriental guide; Jack Sorenson-re-corder; Jim Diamond-PP and housing chairman and Paul Kelly-PP.

The Midwest association includes 14 Shrine Temples in six upper Midwest states, plus two provinces of Cana-da. The business meeting in-cluded legislative duties and planning for the Midwest as-sociation summer ceremo-nial to be held in Winnipeg, Aug. 4-6, 2011.

The Midwest association is one of 20 Shrine associa-tions recognized by the Shri-ners International. The Shri-ners International fraternity supports 22 hospitals in the United States, Canada and Mexico that provide ortho-pedic, spinal injury, burn and cleft lip and palate treatment to children up to age 18 at no charge to the parent or child.

Briar Cliff prof has article published

David Wiltse, assistant professor of political sci-ence at Briar Cliff Univer-sity, recently had an article published in Insight Turkey, an international journal of political research and Turk-ish interests.

Wiltse’s article “The Con-gressional Elections of 2010

and Turkish Interests in the Congress” examines the 2010 Con-g re s s i o n a l e l e c t i o n s , how vari-ous Turkish interests are represented in the elec-toral pro-cess, and if the Turkish-American re-lationship might be affected by the change of majority in the House of Representatives

Local surgeon recertified

Dr. Keith Vollstedt, a general surgeon at Midlands Clinic P.C. in Dakota Dunes, received his recertification f r o m t h e A m e r i c a n Board of Sur-gery.

Vollstedt h a s b e e n p ra c t i c i n g general sur-gery since 1 9 9 2 a n d has a strong, professional interest in bariatric, general, thoracic, laparoscopic and trauma surgery.

He received his original certification in 1993. The Board, an independent, non-profit organization, was founded in 1937 to certify surgeons who have met a de-fined standard of education,

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BUSINESS PEOPLE, PAGE 17

Page 9: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 9

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BY RUSS OECHSLINBusiness Journal correspondent

ALBERT CITY, Iowa – After be-ing forced to store almost 2 mil-lion bushels of corn on the ground here last fall, Ag Partners is adding three 720,000 bushel grain bins to its facility here and two like bins to its elevator in Royal, where the co-op was forced to truck about 1.5 million bushels of grain elsewhere for storage during the last harvest season.

The $5.4 million Albert City project comes as a part of a $20 million expansion program of Ag Partners’s grain storage facilities throughout Northwest Iowa.

The multi-phased investment, unanimously approved by its board of directors last year, is the largest in the co-op’s 100-year history. The cooperative’s owners voted in September to retain 100 percent of their 2010 earnings to help finance a portion of the expansion.

The initial phase of the project got under way here last fall with the construction of the three bins.

The project increases total storage at the Albert City site to 7.7 million bushels.

Each bin will sit on a concrete pad 12 feet off the ground to allow for

above ground-level conveyors in a tunnel.

A second phase will add two 720,000 bushel bins at Ag Part-ners’ Royal location in Clay County.

Both projects should be completed before this year’s harvest, said Fran Marron, Ag Partners’ vice presi-dent of grain.

On its peak days the Albert City site handles about 500 trucks per day about 500,000 bushels. “That’s what we’re geared for. A big non-harvest day is still about 100 to 150 trucks per day,” Marron added.

Based on current volumes and yield trends, Marron said he ex-pects continued construction of storage facilities in the Ag Partners’ system. “Numbers continue to go in one direction,” he said, forecast-ing a continued increase in volume.

“Real trend increase runs 2 to 3 percent a year on the new hybrids. And we’ve seen about 4 percent annual growth. The geographic footprint, as you expand the facil-ity – your draw area – will reach out a little bit further if you’re do-ing a better job of harvest unload speed, and handling and drying facilities compared to your com-peting neighbors.”

Only about a decade ago, Mar-ron noted, about 80 percent of the grain coming to Albert City came in small wagons pulled by trac-tors. Today, he said that has be-come about 80 percent hauled in semi trailers, and only 20 percent in wagons. The change has been most dramatic in the last five years as operations have gotten bigger and combines have gotten bigger to meet the need. They almost need semis to get it away from the com-bine now.

Increased volumes at Alton and several other facilities are being re-viewed for the next phases of this expansion, Marron said.

In addition to Albert City, Royal and Alton, Ag Partners has facili-ties in Sheldon, Matlock, Hospers, Maurice, Orange City, Sutherland, Merrill, Hartley, Calumet, Alta, Emmetsburg, Fonda and Norwest Ag in Boyden.

Construction is done mostly by Ag Partners crews headed by Bill Lyster.

Co-op adds $20 million in grain storage

Photo by Russ OechslinFred Ehlers, superintendent of the millwright crew responsible for the erection of three new 720,000 bushel grain bins at Ag Partners in Albert City, stands atop one of the 12-foot concrete foundation that will provide for above ground grain handling tunnels.

Page 10: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

10 Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com

BY DAVE DREESZENBusiness Journal editor

SIOUX CITY – A semi-trailer truck idled beneath an elevated structure at CF Industries’ Port Neal plant last week, as an over-head spout loaded the truck’s tanker with liquid fertilizer.

An average of 80 trucks per day pull in and out of the facility with loads of nitrogen-based products destined for co-ops and other ag suppliers and distributors within a roughly 150-mile radius of Sioux City.

During the busy spring plant-ing season, the number of trucks can swell to more than 200 daily, production manager Russ Nord-strom said.

Nordstrom and plant manager Nick DeRoos recently led a Busi-ness Journal reporter and photog-rapher on a tour of the Port Neal plant, which CF took over follow-ing its acquisition of Sioux City-based Terra Industries last year.

“Our mainstay is farming,” said DeRoos, an 18-year veteran of Terra who was prompted to plant manager last October. “If the farmers are doing well, we follow

suit. When times are tough for them, it’s tough for us as well.”

Lately, times have been good for Midwest grain

producers. A big run-up in corn prices in recent months has in-creased demand for nitrogen fer-tilizer, which must be applied to add nutrients to the crop.

CF, the largest producer of ni-trogen-based fertilizer in North America, expects 92 million corn acres to be planted in the U.S. this spring, up about 4 million acres from last year.

“Every product we make has high demand right now,” DeRoos said. “For the equipment we have in place, we’re making everything we can.”

Port Neal has the daily capac-ity to produce up to 1,100 tons of ammonia, the basic build-ing block in various nitrogen products.

Most of that production is upgraded into urea ammoni-um nitrate solutions,

or UAN, a liquid fertilizer that has grown in popularity in the last de-cade due to its versatility.

UAN can be applied in a variety of soil types and conservation till-age practices, which are common in the rolling hills and lights soil types of regions such as western Iowa’s Loess Hills.

DeRoos noted a number of pro-ducers still favor anhydrous am-monia. But wet weather condi-tions in the spring prompt some to switch to the higher-margin UAN.

TERRACAIR PRODUCTIONA multi-million dollar expan-

sion project underway at Port Neal has the potential to diversify the plant’s product mix.

Port Neal will become the fourth former Terra plant to pro-duce TerraCair Ultrapure DEF, an additive that cuts pollution from diesel trucks.

A urea-based emissions treat-ment system, known as Selective Catalyst Reduction, has emerged as the dominant technology to comply with U.S. clean air laws that kicked in last year, re-quiring heavy diesel engines to minimize emissions of nitrogen oxides, or NOx. The soot- and

Nitrogen demand keeps Port Neal CF facility expanding to make urea-based solution that curbs diesel exhaust emissions

Business Journal photos by Jerry Mennenga A semi-trailer truck, left, is loaded with a liquid fertilizer called urea ammonium nitrate solutions, or UAN, at CF Industries Port Neal Nitrogen Facility. In the open space to the right, the plant plans to build an additional truck bay to load urea liquor.

CF Industries Port Neal nitrogen facility has the daily capacity to produce up to 1,100 tons of ammonia, most of which is upgraded into nitrogen-based fertilizer products.

Page 11: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

smog-forming pollutant contrib-utes to respiratory and heart prob-lems, according to health experts.

TerraCair, a solution of 32.5 per-cent urea and 67.5 percent demin-eralized water, triggers a chemical reaction in the catalytic converter that converts NOx into harmless nitrogen into harmless water and nitrogen.

Terra had approved the Port Neal TerraCair project in early 2010, but it was temporarily put on hold after CF completed its

$4.7 billion deal for the Sioux City-based company last April.

After evaluating the Port Neal project, the new owners gave the green light for it to proceed.

When the work is finished, Port Neal will have the capacity to an-nually produce 38 million gallons of TerraCair, DeRoos said.

Construction is expected to begin this spring on the expan-sion, which includes build-ing a 500,000-gallon storage tank, installing new piping, and

expanding the existing truck and rail loading areas.

An additional truck bay dedi-cated to loading TerraCair will be built next to the existing three UAN bays, Nordstrom said.

The project, scheduled for completion by the end of this year, will not add any jobs at the Port Neal plant, which currently em-ploys 95. The work will create an estimated 30 construction jobs, however.

PURE WATERTo produce TerraCair, Port Neal

also will need to ramp up pro-duction of its demineralized wa-ter, which is also used to cool its

boilers. The plant draws its water primarily from the adjacent Mis-souri River.

The plant’s elaborate treatment process removes ammonia, min-erals and other particulate matter, leaving a crystal clear solution.

“You can’t take dry urea and add some city water and expect to come up with this quality of a product,” DeRoos said of Terra-Cair.

A pure product is vital because impurities can clog filters or foul catalytic convertors, rendering the costly aftertreatment systems

ineffective.To maintain its high purity stan-

dards during shipping, DeRoos said the company is investing in a fleet of stainless steel rail cars.

Two other CF plants – in Mis-sissippi and Ontario, Canada – are already producing TerraCair, and another project is underway at a plant at Woodward, Okla. Port Neal, DeRoos noted, is uniquely situated on the Union Pacific line, allowing direct rail access to the Pacific Northwest.

www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 11

A 200,000 gallon UAN tank is shown at CF Industries’ Port Neal nitrogen complex. CF has operated the plant just south of Sioux City since acquiring Terra Industries last year. Plant manager Nick DeRoos, right, and production manager Russ

Nordstrom, left, talk about the Port Neal nitrogen plant, which CF Industries took over last year following its acquisition of Terra Industries.

plant humming

Page 12: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

12 Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com

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“WE ARE WITH YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY”

Since 1983Holzman Trucking Co.

Specializing in Livestock Hauling

Kristin’s physician, examining her after the birth of her second child, first noticed the suspicious growth on Kristin’s back that was later diagnosed as melanoma. Red-haired and fair of skin, Kristin had always been careful about protecting herself from the sun, but her aunt had died of melanoma and her sister was re-cently diagnosed, so she knew her risk was high. She heeded the warn-ing, and her doctor removed the mela-noma before it had become invasive.

The incidence of melanoma in the United States has been increasing over the past several decades. In 1973, there were 5.7 cases diagnosed each year per 100,000 people; in 2007, there were 20.1 per 100,000. Even with knowledge about the cancer-what causes it, who is at risk and what it looks like-Kristin was unable to prevent the disease, but she was able to protect herself from the life-threatening consequences.

A cancer of the pigment-producing cells, melanoma is the least common of skin cancers but the most deadly. Since it’s on the skin, it’s possible to spot it while successful treatment is possible, but too many Americans fail to do so: more than 68,000 persons are diagnosed with malignant melanoma every year and about 8,500 die.

DON’T FIGHT THE SUNAs with all skin cancers, melanoma is clearly more preva-

lent among fair-skinned individuals living in sunny areas. Frequent and intense exposure to UV (ultra violet) radia-tion is the major environmental risk factor for melanoma, as well as for other forms of skin cancer. UV overexposure also causes sunburn, premature aging of the skin, and cataracts.

Intermittent exposure to intense sunlight is more strongly associated with the development of melanoma than con-tinuous, daily sun exposure. This suggests that people who go on sunny vacations or participate in outdoor recreational activities should be especially careful in the sun.

And, while melanomas are more common after age 40, they also occur frequently in much younger individuals, even adolescents. Melanomas often develop on the sole of the foot, the buttocks or even genital areas that are seldom

exposed to the sun.Perhaps even more important than sun exposure is the

genetic component. Certain individuals have a risk 10 times that of the general population. These include:

■ Anyone who has had a previous melanoma; ■ A person with two family members who have had mela-

noma and ■ Anyone with a large number of pigmented moles, some

of which are atypical-larger than normal or with slightly irregular borders and pigmentation.

■ An even higher-risk group-with a risk more than 100 times that of the general population-includes:

■ Anyone born with a pigmented, hairy mole larger than two centimeters in diameter;

■ A person with three or more close relatives who have been diagnosed with melanoma and

■ Anyone with two family members who have had mela-noma, one of whom had atypical moles.

Knowing she had strong genetic risks, Kristin was wise to protect herself from ultraviolet radiation. And she was also right in realizing that she was still vulnerable.

If you have genetic risks or spent a great deal of time in the sun as a child, you should schedule regular skin examina-tions with your family doctor or a dermatologist.

But even if you have no known risks, it’s important to ex-amine your own skin regularly and to enlist the help of a family member or friend in monitoring hard-to-see areas on your back and the soles of your feet. Become familiar with all of the little irregularities in your skin, and be sure to note any changes.

A melanoma can occur anywhere on the body, although the most common sites are on the trunk for a man and the legs for a woman.

A simple guide to identifying suspicious growths uses the ABCDE mnemonic:

ASYMMETRY: one half is not the same as the other.BORDER: the border is irregular, with notches or a blurred,

ragged edge.COLOR: shades of tan, brown, black with possible dashes

of red, white or blue.DIAMETER: greater than seven millimeters or about the size

of a pencil eraser.ELEVATION: elevated above the skin surface.Even one of these characteristics is cause for concern, and

some melanomas may not meet any of the criteria. Probably the most important sign is a change in size, shape or color of any existing skin lesion. If a mole is inflamed, crusted, bleed-ing, itchy, painful or seven millimeters or more in diameter, it may require biopsy.

Once a doctor has confirmed a suspected melanoma, the patient should be seen by a hospital specialist-a dermatolo-gist, plastic surgeon or general surgeon-within two weeks for removal. When the cancer is detected early enough, as Kristin’s was, surgical removal is usually curative, and fur-ther treatment depends on the depth of the lesion at the time of diagnosis. Careful monitoring is necessary to spot any recurrence.

Once the cancer has metastasized, it’s difficult to treat, and the five-year survival rate is less than 10 percent. Some cancers can grow very slowly over a number of years, then metastasize quickly. If you have any question at all about

Home & OfficeKIRA OREGON

Enlighten yourself about melanomaPointe at Sunrise appoints two

Angie Lewis has joined Sunrise Retirement Com-munity in Sioux City as market-ing repre-sentative for The Pointe at Sunrise. Lewis joins the current m a r k e t i n g director Char Hesse.

Lewis will work with in-dividuals interested in mov-ing into the 62-apartment community, which opened in 2009. Lewis joined Sunrise in 2005 as a registered nurse and has worked in all areas at Sunrise. She earned her associates degree in nurs-ing from Western Iowa Tech Community College, and a bachelor’s degree in health-care management from Bel-levue University.

Elaine Brown is the new wellness nurse at The Pointe at Sunrise. Brown will per-form all resident health screen assessments, admin-ister flu, pneumonia and tetanus shots and perform blood pres-sure checks. Brown will p r o v i d e r e s i d e n t s information on wellness and is there to a n swe r q u e s t i o n s about medications or calls the pharmacists for answers.

A registered nurse for 35 years, she earned her bach-elor’s degree in nursing from Briar Cliff University and spend most of her nurs-ing career at Mercy Medical Center.

ON THE MOVE FROM PAGE 7

Angie Lewis Elaine Brown

HOME & OFFICE, PAGE 13

Page 13: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 13

For over forty years, the Siouxland Community Blood Bank has served hospitals and communities in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Now, as LifeServe Blood Center, your help is needed now more than ever.

LifeServe Blood Center is bringing confidence, dedication and a commitment to excellence to almost 100 hospitals throughout the Midwest.

Donate blood now…we are depending on you to be there when you are needed the most.

getting a return on the mon-ey from the cash rent.”

Though their ranks are growing, non-farmers still only account for less than 15 percent of farmland pur-chases.

“The farmers are still out-bidding the investors in most cases,” Vermeer said.

Vermeer said farmers are willing to pay a premium price for the “farm next door that probably only comes up for sale once in a lifetime.”

Vermeer is originally from Sioux County, which is home to some of the Midwest’s most valuable farmland. In Mike Duffy’s 2010 survey, farmland in neighboring O’Brien and Sioux had the highest average value among Iowa’s 99 counties, at $7,148 and $7,048 per acre, respec-tively, up 18 percent from the previous year.

A large concentration of livestock in the region is helping drive up prices in the two counties. In addition to

beef cattle and hogs, there also has been a resurgence in dairy operations in that region in recent years. State regulations require large livestock confinements to file manure management plans, and have sufficient acreage to dispose of the waste.

O’Brien and Sioux were the first counties in the 60-year history of the survey to top the $7,000 mark. It was also the first time since 1977 that Scott County, located

on Iowa’s eastern border did not have the highest aver-age land values. Duffy, who conducts the annual survey of 479 real estate brokers, ag lenders and others familiar with farmland.

Of the state’s nine crop reporting districts, the 12 county-area in the extreme northwest tier – Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Palo Alto, Poca-hontas, Lyon, Plymouth, O’Brien, Osceola and Sioux City – reported the highest average value of $6,356 per acre, up 18.5 percent from the previous year.

Individually, all 17 North-west Iowa counties in the Journal’s circulation area saw average gains between 16 and 20 percent. In addition to Sioux and O’Brien, eight other counties had per-acre average prices above $6,000 – Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Lyon, Osceola, Plym-outh, Pocahontas and Sac.

Farmland: Livestock drives up pricesFROM PAGE 6

a suspicious mole or other growth, don’t delay in having your family doctor or derma-tologist check it out.

You are never too old or too young to protect yourself from the damaging effects of UV radiation and therefore lower your risk of melanoma. It is particularly important to protect infants, children, and teens, since about 80 percent of lifetime sun exposure is received by age 18. Studies show an increased risk of melanoma is strongly asso-ciated with blistering sun-burns between the ages of 10 and 19. It takes 10-15 years for your skin to manifest the damage that was caused by

excess sun exposure. So, skin that was damaged in a person’s teens and 20s may not show up until they are in their 30-40s.

The most effective way to protect yourself from harm-ful UV radiation is to stay out of the sun. Stay indoors or look for shade in the middle of the day when UV radiation is strongest, usually between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Seek shade under an umbrella, tree, or other shelter before you need relief from the sun. Try to plan outdoor activities for the early morning or late afternoon, when UV radia-tion is typically one-third of what it is at midday.

If you are going to be in the

sun, cover up! Long-sleeved shirts, long pants, wide-brimmed hats, and sunglass-es offer the best protection against UV radiation. If you can’t cover up completely, be sure to use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protec-tion factor (SPF) of at least 15 on all exposed skin.

For more information about scheduling Mercy Business Health Services’ DermaScan Skin Screening at your work-site, contact Kira Oregon, co-ordinator of Worksite Health Promotion at 712-274-4261 or via e-mail at [email protected]

Home & Office: Protect yourself from the sun’s harmful raysFROM PAGE 12

“We’re seeing very strong demand for farmland with a very limited supply. In most areas, we’re seeing the amount of land available down a third or half from historical levels.”

LEE VERMEERFarmers National Co.

Page 14: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

14 Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com

712-202-0795www.premier1one.com

Premier One Rental: Sioux City’s Premier Lawn Care Shop

Equipped for Spring Yard Work?

ChamberInvestorsALEXANDER OPEN SYSTEMSSteven Nelson 1608 Jack Nicklaus Drive Elk Point, SD 57025 (605) 675-2276 www.aos5.com Computers & Electronics-Networking

ALL ABOUT ME BOUTIQUEJennifer Lang 4301 Sergeant Road, Suite 214 Sioux City, IA 51106 (712) 224-4676 Shopping & Specialty Retail-Clothing Gifts

PHYCARE MANAGEMENT SERVICES LLCMichael Hurlburt

612 Sioux Point Road, Suite 400 Dakota Dunes, S.D. 57049 (605) 217-4800 Hospitals & Medical Centers

RECOVER HEALTHKathie Petrie 2212 Pierce St., Suite 200 Sioux City, IA 51104 (712) 233-5494 Specialty, Health & Medical/Nutrition

RUSH LANESDale and MaryAnn Rush 3828 Stadium Drive Sioux City, IA 51106 (712) 252-4545 www.lewisbowl.com Attractions, Entertainment &

Recreation

THE NETWORK TODAYRebecca Feauto 4646 Talbot Road Sioux City , IA 51103 712-898-9727 www.thenetworktoday.com Professional Services-Training/ Speaking

WHAT WOMEN WANT BOUTIQUEDeb Speckmann 521 Fourth St. Sioux City, IA 51101 (712) 560-3541 Shopping & Specialty Retail

ChamberAnniversaries5 YEARSFBG SERVICE CORPORATION Darrin Hay 401 Douglas St., Suite 508 Sioux City, IA 51101

TIMBERLAKE DEVELOPMENT COMPANY Tad Maxwell 2555 120th St. Moville, IA 51039

10 YEARSBETH’S FLOWERS ON FOURTH Beth Schwaderer 1014 4th St Sioux City, IA 51101

15 YEARSSTATE FARM INSURANCE Angelo James

1524 Pierce St. Sioux City, IA 51105

HOLLAND LAWN CARE INC. Doug VanHolland 4200 Floyd Blvd. Sioux City, IA 51104

20 YEARSKJELDSETH DESIGN Kevin Kjeldseth 1011 4th St., Suite 302 Sioux City, IA 51101

PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF THE HEARTLAND INC Deb Fegenbush 4409 Stone Ave. Sioux City, IA 51106

25 YEARSMCDONALDS RESTAURANTS

OF SIOUXLAND Keith Petrie 891 Two Rivers Drive Dakota Dunes, SD 57049

185TH AIR REFUELING WING/ IOWA AIR NATIONAL GUARD Brian Miller 2920 Headquarters Ave. Sioux City, IA 51111

40 YEARSCNOS PC Mike Hurlburt 575 Sioux Point Road Dakota Dunes, SD 57049

PRAHL WALTON HARTZELL & TOFT DDS J C Prahl 2928 Hamilton Blvd. Sioux City, IA 51104

The following are observing anniversaries as Siouxland Chamber of Commerce investors.

Page 15: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 15

We help generations continue their family farm operations.

How can we help you?

pioneerbanks.comMember FDIC

We’re Siouxland’s 1st Choice

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BY DAVE DREESZENBusiness Journal editor

WAYNE, Neb. – A northeast Nebraska maker of kits for old-fashioned barns keeps growing at a torrid pace.

Sand Creek Post & Beam’s recent acquisi-tion of Texas Timber Frames offers oppor-tunities for even more growth.

Sand Creek’s sales jumped 50 percent in 2010, compared to the previous year. Forty-five percent of last year’s gross sales came during the final four months, producing the largest single quarter in the company’s six-year history.

Through February, the company had five straight months of record sales, said chief operating officer Bud Reynolds.

“We’re adding dealers like crazy,” Reynolds said. “Last month, we had 1,200 leads come in. We can’t even ser-vice them all.”

A substantial portion of the barn kits sold last year are scheduled to be manu-factured, bundled, shipped and constructed this spring and summer.

Reynolds said Sand Creek has stepped up marketing of its high-quality products through a redesigned Web site and other electronic communications such as social media and mass emails.

“We’re constantly reaching out to people who may not known we’re here,” he said.

Texas Timber Frames, based in San Anto-nio, has been in business for 20 years, selling its big timber homes and other structures throughout the South and Mountain West.

Reynolds noted that Texas Timber Frames is one of the few companies that still pro-duces traditional mortise and tenon timbers. The method involves taking a solid rectan-gular piece and cutting a corresponding cav-ity to receive it in the adjoining piece.

Texas Timber Frames’ products can be customized to provide spectacular entries, striking great rooms, or decorative timbers to enhance the look and feel of multiple spaces, from homes to commercial buildings.

Sand Creek sells its pre-cut post and beam kits throughout the United States and several other countries. The kits allow customers to build structures that look like barns of old but with the interior comforts of today.

The company was founded by Len Dick-inson and his wife, Jule Goeller. Dickinson’s lifelong fascination with the big wood and post framing of old barns dotting the coun-tryside provided the inspiration for Sand Creek, which was named for the creek that runs through parts of northeast Nebraska.

A $1 million expansion project in 2009 tripled the size of Sand Creek’s assembly plant on the east end of Wayne, pop. 5,289.

Sand Creek’s corporate staff are housed in a newly-renovated office building in down-town Wayne that also opened two years ago. The company purchased the structure, a for-mer bank and drugstore that dates to the turn of the century, to replace its former cramped offices.

To help manage the company’s rapid growth, Dickinson and Goeller in 2009 handpicked Reynolds, a former executive at North Sioux City computer maker Gateway. The couple recently promoted Reynolds to chief operating officer.

More recently, Reynolds has been traveling back and forth from Siouxland to San Anto-nio to oversee the new Texas Timber Frames operations.

Area company’s barn business still booming

Submitted photosSand Creek Post & Beam of Wayne, Neb. recently purchased Texas Timber Frames. One of the San Antonio, Texas-based company’s big timber homes is shown above.

Courtesy photosA Sand Creek Post & Beam barn is shown near Dakota Dunes, S.D.

Sand Creek Post & BeamHEADQUARTERS: Wayne, Neb.

TYPE OF BUSINESS: Maker of kits for old-fashioned barns and other structures

FOUNDED: 2004 by Len Dickinson and Jule Goeller

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: Bud Reynolds

ON THE WEB: www.sandcreekpostandbeam.com

Bud Reynolds

Page 16: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

16 Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com

St. Luke’s Center forOccupational Health Excellence

Trust St. Luke’s for Quality Care in:

Employment Physicals

Work Injury Care

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For more information call Mike Schmidt 712-490-3352.

We Care For the Employees You Care For

DOUGLAS MARTIN, MD RICHARD THOMPSON, DO TRACEY PICK, CNP, ARNP

St. Luke’s Occupational Health Providers offer 41 years of combined service in serving Siouxland businesses!

How many of you would like to reduce your daily stress level and muscle tension, while at the same time increasing your energy level? Would you like to have less muscle pain and joint stiffness as you age?

You can achieve these benefits in less than 10 minutes with St. Luke’s Industrial Athlete WorkSmart stretching program.

Industrial Athlete WorkSmart stretch-ing offers multiple benefits including those above.

Since 2001, St. Luke’s Health System has seen a 78 percent reduction in their OSHA recordable Musculoskeletal Disorders. St. Luke’s has also seen an 86 percent reduc-tion in injuries requiring restricted duty, a 79 percent reduction in days employees were on restricted duty and a 30 percent reduction in lost time claims.

St. Luke’s Industrial Athlete WorkSmart stretching program, safe patient handling program and health challenge wellness pro-gram have all been a large part in achieving these outstanding results in MSD injury pre-vention and management at St. Luke’s.

WorkSmart stretching of the hips, tho-racic spine, neck, shoulders, wrist and fore-arms, and lower back are important to keep a proper blood and nutrient supply to your working muscles and tissues throughout the workday.

Brief Industrial Athlete WorkSmart stretching breaks work to prevent excess muscular fatigue and discomfort, thus re-ducing the risks for MSD injuries such as sprain/ strains and tendonitis. Improved blood supply (nutrient pathway) to the working body also helps to reduce stress and increase your energy level by improving the oxygenation to your muscles and your brain, keeping you thinking smart each workday. It is one of the keys to an extremely success-ful IMPACC WorkSmart Industrial Athlete stretching program.

American culture has often overlooked the importance of stretching daily, however, in the last three to five years, more and more companies across the United States are im-plementing WorkSmart stretching programs (or others like it) into their daily work prac-tices and seeing many excellent work injury reduction benefits.

A source from Ball State University noted that workplace stretching programs in-creased flexibility and strength of workers and decreased the risk of back injuries by six times.

One of the best overall benefits of WorkSmart stretching is that you stimu-late the formation of joint synovial fluid in your joints, which makes your joints easier to move and reduces any pain that you may have in your joints. This may significantly reduce your risk of developing arthritis pain as you age, and if you already have arthritis, you will reduce pain and stiffness caused from arthritis and improve your quality of life.

Osteoarthritis is the number one cause of disability worldwide, so this is a very impor-tant reason to make daily Industrial Athlete WorkSmart stretching a lifestyle habit. Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen, authors of the book “You, Staying Young,” say if you perform a good lifestyle habit for three years, it will have the same effect on your body as if you would have done it your entire life. Even better, within three months (or 90 days) of chang-ing a behavior, you can start to measure a difference in your life expectancy.

WorkSmart stretching can also help build functional strength and flexibility. Research has shown us that it is never too late to im-prove your functional strength and flexibil-ity.

If your company would like to start an Industrial Athlete WorkSmart stretching program specific to your company’s type of work and to prevent the types of MSD injuries you are seeing at your company, contact Erik Nieuwenhuis at 712-279-1842 or email him at [email protected]:

1. St Luke’s WorkSmart Stretching Plan 11x17 poster and handout created by ErikNieuwenhuis MS, PT in 2001 and updated last in January of 2008. 18 WorkSmart stretches for your whole body. www.stlukes.org

2. Lauren Hebert DPT, OCS from SmartCarePT in Maine The Work Injury Practice and Developer of the IMPACC WorkSmart Industrial Athlete Program in 1982, www.impaccusa.org

3. Making Workplace Stretching Programs Effective from the Well Workplace Healthletter from WELCOA August 2008 at www.welcoa.org

4. Stretching What’s in it for me? And Stretching Basics from the Well Workplace Healthletter from WELCOA March 2009 at www.welcoa.org

5. How multiple interventions reduced injuries and costs in one plant by De Weese C from Work 2006; 26(3):251-3

6. You Staying Young by Michael Roizen MD and Mehmet Oz MD by Free Press 2007.

WorkSmart stretching for the workplace

Business Know How

ERIK NIEUWENHUIS

Page 17: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 17

MidAmerican Energy Company’s EnergyAdvantage® programs are designed to encourage the use of high-efficiency space and water heating equipment, central air conditioning, lighting and other measures in commercial and industrial buildings. The installation of new energy-efficient equipment will save you money on your energy bills and can make your business more comfortable for your customers and employees.

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training and knowledge.Vollstedt is a fellow with

the American College of Sur-geons and the International College of Surgeons.

Jung elected to sustainable board

Jim Jung of Sioux City has been elected to the board of directors for Center on Sus-tainable Communities.

After a 23-year career in the Navy, J u n g r e -turned to his h o m e tow n o f S i o u x City. He is chair of the Sioux City Historic Preservation Com-mission where he is pursu-ing methods of training new preservationists, as well as contractors in sustainable practices.

As a board member of the

Siouxland Housing Devel-opment Corp., Jung sup-ports its mission to seek op-portunities to build new in the inner city while valuing preservation. He recently headed a task force to ex-plore techniques for dealing with numerous foreclosures in the area.

Morningside prof has chapter published

Dr. Jen Peterson, assis-tant professor of English at Morningside College, re-cently had a chapter pub-lished in the book “Ap-proaches to Teaching the Works of Tim O ’ B r i e n ,” which was edited by Alex Vernon and Catherine Cal-loway.

The Modern Language

Association published the book in December as a re-source for teachers and stu-dents. It offers a number of different approaches to teaching the works of this contemporary American author. Peterson’s chapter, “Identity in 10,000 Miles of Nameless, Faceless Space: A Postmodern Approach to ‘In the Lake of the Woods,’” applies two prevalent post-modern theories to the text. She details specific ways in which an instructor can draw students into analysis of the novel’s form as well as into the narrative itself.

P e t e r s o n c a m e t o Morningside College in the fall of 2008 after eight years at the University of South Dakota.

BUSINESS PEOPLE FROM PAGE 17

Jim Jung

Jen Peterson

712-255-8063

Page 18: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

18 Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com

Call Wes or Nate to get this project started

Now’s the time to start planning that remodel

Keep your wife in hot water, she’ll love you for it!322 West 7th Street | Sioux City, IA 51103 | 712-258-3388 | www.foulkbros.net

RibbonCuttings photos courtesy of the Siouxland Chasmber of Commerce

GOODWILL INDUSTRIES3100 W. FOURTH ST.Goodwill Industries recently hosted a ribbon cutting and open house for its new Connection Center, located in the main store at 3100 W. Fourth St.. The center offers classes on resume writing, online job search, interview skills, dress for success and computer skills. There is no charge for these services and the hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sunday, noon-4 p.m.

MERCY CARDIOLOGY 801 FIFTH ST.Mercy Cardiology hosted a Business After Hours for “Heart Month.” The Red Dress Ambassadors served wine and hors d’oeuvres and provided information for a free yearly cholesterol screening and discounted vascular screening to help diagnosis problems early and save lives.

PREPAID LEGAL SERVICESOwners Keith & Lindi Neilsen cut the ceremonial ribbon marking their investment in the Siouxland Chamber. PrePaid Legal Services is a provider of identity theft, legal and consulting solutions to families, individuals and companies across North America. Company officials have more than 20 years of combined experience. Contact the firm at 712-577-3969.

MAYOR’S YOUTH COMMISSIONMembers of the Mayor’s Youth Commission, above, met with Sioux City area legislators and Debi Durham, fourth from left in the front row, director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, in Des Moines on Feb. 24.

Page 19: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 19

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Page 20: Siouxland Business Journal March 2011

20 Siouxland Business Journal, March 2011 www.siouxlandbusinessjournal.com

10

Vice President

Colonel Krage

712-251-1451

PresidentMBA, CCIM

CCIM

302 JONES, SUITE 100, SIOUX CITY

Tune into KSCJ 1360 Talk Radio Saturday mornings from 8:10

to 8:30 a.m. to hear interviews with the “movers & shakers” of

Siouxland or go to www.kscj.com for streaming live broadcast.

NEW

Warehouse--could be developed into office/warehouse/auto storage. Rear 4,000 sf warehouse is for lease @ $800/mo. Good traffic location.

5408 Military Road

Restaurant - fully operating including franchise rights, lease rights, equipment. Located at Lakeport Commons shopping area.

Lakeport Commons

NEW

This 1,600 sf space sees over 20,000 VPD. Join tenants such as Dollar Tree, Braunger’s Steak Co., Sushi Bamboo and many others.

1432 Hamilton Boulevard

NEW

NEW

302 Jones

Congratulations to United Center on leasing 11 of its 12 corporate lofts. Lofts include underground parking, full kitchen, washer/dryer, utilities & trash. Furnishings optional. Only one loft still remaining! These transactions were brokered by Chris Bogenrief.

New pricing & extensive renovations under way at MidAmerican Energy, one of Siouxland’s highest quality & most full-service office buildings. 727 sf to 9,450 sf offices for lease w/incredible views of Missouri River & expansive interior atrium.

Very nice brick general purpose building on 7 acres. Use as church or convert. 3,000 sf open space on 1st floor + mtg. rooms. Lower level is open space w/ large kitchen & mtg. rooms.

Contractor’s, truckers’ office & shop (4,080 sf) on 9.7 acres of level land just 1/2 mile north of water treatment plant in the new South Bridge Development south of Sioux City airport. For lease or sale.

Bar & grill operating business for sale including building and all bar & kitchen fixtures. Within 25 miles of Sioux City. Long term present owners. Ideal for an owner/operator with noon meals.

2000 Military Road 2243 Andrew Ave, Sgt. Bluff Restaurant for Sale

401 Douglas

NEW

NEW

Nice brick office building in heart of Dakota City. 1,023 sf well-maintained office with good parking, all at a very affordable price of $49,950.

1414 Broadway, Dak. City

NEW

208 N Derby Lane, NSC1,000 square foot 4-station hair salon just off SD Exit 2 across from McDonald’s and Taco John’s. Dakota Plaza’s only vacancy can easily be converted to office.

Former daycare zoned RG20 in densely populated Northside neighborhood. 7,590 sf on main & 2,070 sf in walkout basement. Large parking lot & fenced area. Priced below assessed.

3441 Jones Street

NEW REDUCED REDUCED