MINNESOTA INDUSTRY LEADERS CHAT WITH IOWA...

www.tamacountyiowa.org

Congratulations to our owners of

New Businesses!

River Valley Tree Service 105—2nd Street, Gladbrook

641-691-3257 Owner: Mark Oelmann

Roy’s Auto

229 South State, Tama 641-484-4887

Owner: Roy Silhanek

Custom Creations, Too 302 Main Street, Dysart Owner: Sheri Guillot

Wobeter Realty

325—2nd Street, Traer 319-478-2776

Broker: Linda Podhajsky

Where Two Corners Meet 323 Main Street, Dysart

319-404-7041 Owner: Russell Grimm

Morris Enterprises, Inc. Clutier

319-479-2126 Owner: Keith Morris

If you are interested in starting a business

or purchasing a business, take a look at: www.tamacountyiowa.org/opportunities

IN THIS ISSUE: Iowa Connections page 1 Highlights page 2 Calendar page 2 Industry Focus page 3 Partners page 4

Tama County Economic Development CommissionTama County Economic Development Commission Winter 2008Winter 2008

Food processing: interest in differentiated private label opportunities is increas-ing. Partnerships with existing Iowa operations that can handle increasing capac-ity is a highly sought after strategy for companies developing new products. Advanced Manufacturing: manufacturers linked to the agriculture industry are in growth mode focusing R&D in optimizing crops and animal products for food, feed, fuel and health purposes. Iowa is positioned to be a strong partner in each respect. Information Technology: the state’s successful recruitment of data centers for Google, and Microsoft, as well as Yahoo (just outside Iowa) is stimulating inter-est in other companies locating secondary data centers in Iowa. Other contribut-ing factors include: differentiating geographically, safety and security, lower land costs, lower energy costs, business friendly tax policies and incentives.

Oct 17, Minnesota was the first time that Tama County Economic Development was in-vited to be a part of an Iowa Department of Economic Development Sell Iowa Trip. High potential growth companies in the Minneapolis area who had either existing subsidiaries in Iowa, or business models capable of benefiting from investing in Iowa assets had this to say:

Tama County Tourism:

New Strategies. New Connections

Oct 22, 2008 Sioux City, IA – Every year about 350 Iowa tourism leaders convene to discuss increasing the capacity of the Iowa tourism industry. 2008 marked the next step of a new era for Tama County Tourism as they hosted the first breakfast to connect meaningfully with the surrounding Tourism practitioners who can act as promotional partners. In 2009 the group will take it fur-ther by working with the Iowa Tourism De-partment in putting together a program that would allow the group to experience unique rural tourism assets of Tama County. Esti-mated economic impact is expected to be over $500,000.

Photos: Mike Adams

Thank you to our Tama County Tourism 2008 Breakfast Partners: Pilgrim Heights, John Ernest Vineyard, Mesk-waki Winding Streams Spa, Matchstick Marvels & Glad-brook Theatre, Tama-Toledo Chamber of Commerce, Traer Chamber of Commerce, Dysart Developers, Cus-tom Creations by Sheri, Marshalltown Visitor and Conven-tion Bureau as well as economic development entities of Benton, Jasper, Marshall, Poweshiek, and Tama coun-ties. More info: www.tamacountyiowa.org/tourism

GRANT PARTNERS

Page 2 Tama County Economic Development, Winter 2008

AREA INDUSTRY SNAPSHOTS: Growth: Thomas L. Cardella & Associ-ates expands direct marketing contact center. 200 jobs and $4M in payroll will be added to the Marshalltown-area economy. Hampton Inn, Marshalltown, and AmericInn, Newton, respectively announces and completes construction on new hotels. Downsizing/Closures: Lennox laid off 300 employees this year. 30—35 posi-tions from surrounding areas are ex-pected to be moved into Marshalltown. Ace Precision closes in Marshalltown laying off 120 employees. Mergers: Ag Bio-Power (Tama) and Sector Five Technologies (Oelwein)

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS: Sunrise Hill Nursing Care Center, Traer, broke ground on 15-unit addi-tion for a assisted living facility. Pro-jected value of completed building: $2.85M City of Dysart’s Dreamfield Village capital raising campaign is underway for a $4.8M assisted living facility. It is planned to include 12 Bases Assisted Living and 19 Assisted Living apart-ments.

INFRATRUCTURE UPGRADES: Tama plans water plant improvements, Toledo plans to improve water quality, Gladbrook plans for a new water tower, Garwin plans to improve sewer system.

HERITAGE PRIDE President Bush signs Code Talker recognition act honoring kin of 8 Mesk-waki Tribal Code Talkers serving in WWII with gold Congressional Com-memorative medals. Meskwaki His-toric Preservation Department also awarded a grant from the federal insti-tute of Museum and Library Services for collection care of traditional Mesk-waki Indian objects and archives. Tama County has been awarded the second most certificates for Century farms where a farm has remained in the same family for 100 years. Roy and Alicia Lidtke, rural Elberon, being the most recent Tama County recipi-ents.

NEW FUNDING: Tama, Toledo, and Traer are 3 of 100 communities eligible for $10.4M spe-cial HUD grants to address housing deterioration and encourage redevel-opment for foreclosed or abandoned properties. Deadline: Jan 31, 2009 Traer Municipal Utilities received $264,500 grant to provide infrastruc-ture for Traer Industrial Park. A Health and Human Services grant is expected to fund $592,377 of the new Meskwaki tribal clinic and $379,355 to the Marshalltown Medical and Surgical Center for imaging equipment.

www.tamacountyiowa.org

WINTER CALENDAR

24 EDIE nominated Tama County enterprises will also appear in the first Tama County Business magazine publication for their exceptional contributions in 2008. Magazines will be mailed to Tama County businesses after Jan 1, 2009, and made available to the public at libraries, wait-ing areas, and display racks throughout Tama County. The bulk will be used beyond Tama County’s borders to stimulate new dollars into the county. This new growth would not be possible without the support of a dozen alpha m o v e r e n t e r p r i s e s o f T a m a C o u n t y .

Thank you to our Advertising Partners: State Bank of Toledo, Iowa Telecom, Pioneer Hi Bred, Covenant Clinics, Rainbow Lake Little Lodge, Sandhill Auto, Farmers Savings Bank & Trust, Tama Toledo Chamber, CGA Consultants, JEV Winery and Iowa Connections.

SAVE THE DATE: THE EDIES FEB 24

[

www.tamacountyiowa.org/calendar

Clean and Crisp S n a p s h o t s o f Q 3 2 0 0 8

NOV. Wed. 19 Sat. 22 Nov. 27- Jan. 3 Sat. 29 DEC Mon-Fri. 1-5 Sat. 6 Sat. 6 Sun. 7 Sat. 13 Sat. 13 JAN Sat.-Sun. 24-25 Sat. 31

Tree Lighting Festivities Santa Claus, caroling, tree lighting, prizes, trolley rides, popcorn, cider Gladbrook 641-473-2802 Give Thanks for the Holidays Mrs. Claus, kids crafts, singers, dinner, movie, Santa in Workshop Traer 319-478-2346 Winter Wonderland Drive Thru Light Display Dusk—10:00 p.m. Thurs, Fri, Sat. Outback Campground $$ Tama 641-484-3611 Ring in the Holidays, Traer Brunch, bell ringers, window dis-plays, Santa in Workshop, dance Artisan Week Mon at 9 a.m. to Fri. at 7 p.m. $$ Pilgrim Heights, Montour 641-492-6165 Christmas on Main 9:00 a.m. tree lighting, Santa, hay rides, sidewalk & store specials all day, drawings, lunch Dysart 319-476-4949 Home for the Holidays Bell ringers, Santa, farmers mar-ket, soup dinner, craft show, cookie sale, new book sale Traer Shake up the Holidays Breakfast, walk of homes Businesses open Traer Lions Club Bean Soup Day Lunch, scavenger hunt, free Christmas movie Gladbrook 641-473-2802 Tama-Toledo Holiday Explosion Breakfast w/ Santa, puppet show, kids crafts, pics w/ Santa, lighted parade downtown, chili supper Reinig Center 641-484-6661 Return the Favor Volunteer quilt assembly, lunch 9:30 a.m. Traer Memorial Building Super Saturday Tourism Event Dinner, silent auction, entertain-ment Traer Memorial Building

? Tue. F

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Reinig Cente

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6pm

MEDIA PARNERS

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Traer Municipal Utilities offers: 1) electronic ballast and T8 bolts for retrofitting equipment at cost (savings of 25-40% over typical fluo-rescent lights.) 2) Rebates: Heat pumps, energy star qualifying air conditioners, and electric water heaters.

Consumers Energy participates in the following programs: 1) Change A Light” in-store coupon campaign, 2) Portfolio Manager: Manage energy and water consumption for all buildings, Rate building energy performance, Set investment priorities, Verify and track progress of improvement projects, Gain EPA recognition 3) GeoHarvest Geothermal Heating & Cooling.

Energy is an investment we all have stock in. And as support for increasing efficiency increases, real estate infrastructure ages, energy costs increase, and projected discretionary funding decreases, now is a great time to reevaluate our portfolio and see if we can increase our return on investment. This is what Tama County Economic Development electric utility partners offer:

Source: Energy Information Administration, 2008

TEN TIPS Savings per year

10

Use bath & exhaust fans wisely: In just one hour, these fans can pull out a houseful of warmed air. Turn fans off as soon as they have done the job (usually 15-20 minutes)

up to $10

9

Turn it down: set hot water heater at 120 degrees up to $25

8

Find the leaks: repair leaky faucets promptly. Hot water leaking at a rate of one drip per second can waste up to 1,661, gallons of water per year

up to $25

7

Restrict the flow: install energy efficient showerheads and faucet aerators up to $50

6

Turn it down: Lowering thermostat by just one degree can reduce heating energy costs by 4% $42-$69

5

Keep it cold: wash all clothes in cold water up to $100

4

Double up: install storm windows or plastic film over single pane windows $50-$125

3

Use trees: plant 3 strategically placed trees $100-$250

2

Do it automatically: set programmable thermostat to 58 degrees at least 8 hours a day $105-$172

1

Plug them up: seal leaks and add proper insulation. Only 20% of homes built before 1980 are well insulated. $210-$345

Residential incentive programs include: Heating, Cooling, & Comfort Measures; Lighting Rebates; Appliance Rebates; Home Energy Audit & Insulation; New Home Construction; Replacement Doors & Windows; Appliance Recycling; Low-Interest Financing; and Appliance Cycling Business Products & Services include: Business rebates & in-centives; Project consulting & financing; Infrastructure & on-site generation; Power quality engineering; Outdoor lighting; On-site training; Energy usage & tracking; Vehicle maintenance; Interrupti-ble programs; Second Nature renewable energy; and Time of Day pricing.

www.alliantenergy.com

www.tiprec.com

www.grundycountyrecia.com

www.consumersenergy.net

www.traer.net

TIP Rural Electric offers rebates on these products: water heaters, air conditioners, geothermal heat pumps, air-to-air heat pumps,

Grundy County REC offers the following products: Heat Pumps, High Efficiency Water Heaters, “Warm Tiles” Floor Heat, Extended Life Portable Generators

Nick Podhajsky, Chair, Traer Don Lyons, Vice-Chair, Dysart Pat Veit, Director, Chelsea Roger Ochs, Chelsea Gerry Kopriva, Clutier Arlene Vondracek, Clutier Dwayne Luze, Dysart Mark Fisher, Elberon Scott McMains, Elberon Carl Zoffka, Garwin Merle Parks, Garwin Geri Eilers, Gladbrook Mandy Gehring, Gladbrook Roland Fink, Lincoln Jerry Buskohl, Lincoln Susan Holubar, Montour Dale Gericke, Montour Chris Bearden, Tama Josh Youngbear, Tama Pam Wood, Toledo Pete Zmolek, Toledo Ellen Young, Traer Midge Horton, Vining Phyllis Hosek, Vining John Mehlert, Farm Bureau Keith Sash, County Supervisor Larry Vest, County Supervisor Patrick Henry, County Supervisor

Tama County Economic Development Commission

Platinum

Gold

* list as of press date 11/01/08

Please consider partnering with Tama County Economic Development. Form is available at: www.tamacountyiowa.org/PartnershipForm2008

Standard Mail U.S. Postage Paid

Toledo, IA Permit No. 22

The mission of Tama County Economic Development is to coordinate the cultivation and development of Tama County’s business environment by aiding business, agriculture, industry and residents in maximizing their full economic potential

within the county and beyond.

Staff Lindi Roelofse, Exec. Director Joanne Husak, Secretary

Tama County

Abstract Company

TIP RURAL ELECTRIC Tama Paperboard

Tama County Economic Development PO Box 22 Toledo, IA 52342 www.tamacountyiowa.org

Farmers Cooperative Telephone Co.

Economic Development Partners

Silver Bohemian Mutual Insurance Association, Consumers Energy, Dysart Development Corp, Grundy County REC, Adams Photography, Home Federal Savings Bank, Sunshine Laundry/Tama-Toledo Storage, Tama County Board of Realtors, Tama County Farm Bureau, Tama County Mutual Insurance Assoc., Tama-Toledo Chamber of Commerce

Bronze Carl Luze Real Estate, Carl’s Electric, Chyma’s Machine & Welding, Covenant Clinics, Custom Crea- tions by Sheri, Deer Creek Health Center, Deimco Finishing Equipment, Designer Inn & Suites, DeWitt Refrigeration, Eikamp Insurance, Farmers Savings Bank & Trust-Traer, Garwin Community Revitaliza-tion, Gladbrook Commercial Club, Gladbrook Investment Company, Imagine This, Iowa Builders Supply, John Ernest Vineyard & Winery, Kenkel Law Office, King Tower Café, Manatt’s, Pam’s School of Dance, MICA, Mark Harrington CPA P.C., Medicap Pharmacy, Plaza Family Dental Center, Poweshiek Water Assoc., Rainbow Lake Little Lodge, Jim & Mary Roan, Rowan Equipment & Fabrication, Rube’s Steakhouse, S&S Car Wash & Stor-age, Sand Hill Auto Salvage, Sash Auction Service, Sunny Hill Care Center, Tama-Toledo Civic Women, Traer Municipal Utilities, Union Grove State Park, Verocity Wireless, Wolfe Clinic Eye Centers, Wrage Realty.

Iowa Valley Community College