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The 2002 Economic Impact of Travel on Iowa report has been released. Travel generated expenditures totaling nearly $4.3 billion in 2002, an increase of 1.1 percent over 2001. Domestic spending generated $243 million in tax revenue for the state treasury. Full and part-time positions in the tourism industry totaled 61,200 jobs with a payroll of $904 million. Impact information for all 99 counties is available on the tourism web site, http://www.traveliowa.com.

The Iowa Values Fund Board recently elected new officers, naming Craig Lang of Brooklyn as chair of the group that makes decisions on how the $503 million fund is to be used to grow Iowa's economy. Lang, President of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, was the Board's vice chair and had been acting as interim chair. The Board elected Dubuque banking executive Nancy Dunkel as the new vice chair. The changes were brought about by the retirement of Holmes Foster, who was chair. Joining the board was newly appointed board member Jim Hancock, a Scott county supervisor appointed by Governor Tom Vilsack after Foster vacated his seat.

The Iowa Values Board has adopted its final rules. To read the final rules go to: http://www.iowasmartidea.com/docs/IVBfinalrules.doc

A new software tool to analyze the return on investment for public dollars going into major business expansions was unveiled at the recent Iowa Values Fund Board meeting in Des Moines. Data on the three most recent investments of the fund was put into an economic impact model, which was developed by an advisory group for the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Over a 10-year period the model estimates the expansions of Wells Fargo, Trans Ova Genetics, and GCommerce would increase the income of Iowans by $1.4 billion and produce $67 million in new tax state and local tax revenue. The present value in today's money of those 10-year-out figures is $997 million in additional personal income and $40 million in new tax revenue. The income estimates include the "multiplier effect" of other jobs created in the service and supplier economy.

The IDED has recently made changes to the "Pre-application for Business Assistance" form. The changes include making the form easier to complete, re-wording some of the questions to ensure the Department will receive essential information, and changing the name of the document to "Project Review" form. The name change was made to prevent any confusion between the informal project review process that the Department utilizes and the formal pre-application process utilized by some federally-funded programs. The purpose of the "Project Review" form is still to help businesses and communities identify what, if any, state assistance may be available for their expansion/location projects. Link to Project Review Form: http://www.iowasmartidea.com/applications/bus_dev/2003projectreview.doc

BoDeans Baking Company is considering an expansion in Iowa to develop a new product and production process. The Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) Board recently approved a $100,000 Community Economic Betterment Account (CEBA) investment to assist Le Mars in recruiting the expansion, which would eventually create 24 jobs at an average starting wage of $13.98 per hour. BoDeans manufactures sugar cones for the novelty ice cream products of Wells Dairy and other manufacturers. The company plans to invest $10.6 million in research and development and expanded facilities through a three-phase project, if it is successful in creating this new product.

The Nestle Purina PetCare Company's plant in Fort Dodge will receive a $350,000 investment from CEBA. The IDED Board recently invested in upgrading the productivity of the plant to retain 140 jobs. The average wage at the plant is $18.01 per hour.

Book production company Shepherd Inc. recently received a $100,000 CEBA investment from the IDED Board to relocate back to Dubuque. The project creates 39 jobs at an average starting wage of $14.01 per hour. Shepherd Inc. started business as a copy editing firm in Dubuque in 1989, added typesetting services in 1990, and relocated to East Dubuque, Illinois in 1998. Now a full service book production firm with new investors who want to move the company back to Dubuque, the company proposes to relocate to the Weber Paper Building, which would be remodeled for their operations. The project has additional financial participation from the city of Dubuque ($150,000) and job training funds from the community college.

The IDED Board approved new Enterprise Zones recently. Cherokee County received approval of a 10-acre Enterprise Zone in the city of Cherokee; Hardin County received Enterprise Zone designation for a 190-acre area one-mile southwest of Iowa Falls; Howard County received approval of 22 Enterprise Zones in four communities: one Enterprise Zone for Elma, 17 for Cresco, three for Lime Springs, and one for Riceville; a 13-acre area near the community of Galva in Ida County and one-third of an acre in Osage, which is in Mitchell County, have been approved as Enterprise Zones; a 14-acre area near Pocahontas was certified as an Enterprise Zone for Pocahontas County; Winnebago County received approval to designate a nine-acre area within the city of Forest City as an Enterprise Zone.

The fourth annual Iowa Venture Capital Conference on Oct. 7 offered entrepreneurs, investors, entrepreneurial students, community leaders, and economic developers a broad range of networking opportunities, workshops and presentations. The keynote speaker of the Polk County Convention Complex event was Jerre Stead, retired chairman and chief executive officer of Ingram Micro. Venture capitalist John Pappajohn and IDED Director Michael Blouin hosted the conference. Governor Tom Vilsack shared his vision for growing the entrepreneurial economy in Iowa. The conference was sponsored by IDED, Equity Dynamics, the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Centers, Great River Capital LLC, Ernst & Young LLP, Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, MidAmerican Energy, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Ames Economic Development Commission, Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce, Greater Dubuque Development Corporation, Mason City Economic Development Group, and Quad City Development Group.

Representatives from the Quad Cities, Technology Corridor, Mid American Energy and IDED staff visited Europe to conduct business recruitment meetings and meet with executives at European headquarters of companies with Iowa locations October 8-17. The group attended the ANUGA tradeshow, the largest food processing and food equipment manufacturers show in Europe.

The Export Trade Assistance Program (ETAP) of IDED's International Office provides funds for Iowa companies participating in overseas marketing opportunities. A qualified company may receive up to $4,000 in financial assistance for each pre-approved event. ViraQuest, North Liberty; NewLink Genetics, Ames; Pharmacom Corp., Iowa City; Advanced Analytical Tech, Ames; and Integrated DNA, Coralville all received funds for the BioMission to Osaka, Japan. Mrs. Clark's Foods, Ankeny received funds for ANUGA in Germany. Other marketing requests approved in September are Trucker Mfg., Cedar Rapids, for CMS -2003 in Germany; Stonebridge Ltd., Cedar Falls, for the Food Grade Soybean Mission to Japan; TeamQwest Corp., Clear Lake, for trade shows in France; GOMACO, Ida Grove, for Brazil; Intraco, Oskaloosa, for Costa Rica; Burke Corp., Nevada, and Sioux-Preme Pork, Sioux City, for Cuba; and MicroSoy Corp., Jefferson, for Japan.

The CoreNet Global Iowa Dinner was held October 14 in Atlanta, Georgia. IDED hosted the invitation-only dinner for those involved in site selection attending the CoreNet international conference. Additionally, attending developers and IDED staff participated in company visits in the area during the week.

A Taste of Iowa® is working with five Iowa food service distributors to promote the Iowa foods stocked in their warehouses, beginning with the October 27 Martin Brothers Food Show in Cedar Rapids. A Taste of Iowa® developed incentive coupons that were distributed to Iowa restaurant/facility owners prior to the show. The coupons were for special gifts, item pricing for attendees presenting the coupons at the show, and to help increase show participation for the food service distributors.

Applications for the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards, which recognize leadership and innovation in the protection of Iowa’s water, land and air, are due soon. The Iowa Department of Economic Development is one of the award sponsors. Awards are presented for overall environmental excellence and special recognition in water quality, waste management, energy efficiency/renewable energy, air quality, and habitat restoration/development. Applications are available from the Department of Natural Resources 515.281.0879. The deadline for applications is November 10.

Consultants Johnson & Segel have concluded the on-site technical assistance visits to Main Street Iowa communities. A total of 26 cities participated with two communities scheduling two days of consultant time. Participating communities have reported good attendance at the public presentation "How to Make Money in Small Business Today". For more information, contact Thom Guzman at 515.242.4733.

The IDED Infrastructure Team received 106 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) pre-applications totaling over $31 million in requests. Invitations were sent for 63 of those projects to submit a full application. Applications are due on December 4, 2003. For more information, contact Hank Manning at 515.242.4836.

The IDED Infrastructure Team is currently reviewing 46 pre-applications requesting $15.2 million from the CDBG community facilities & services fund. For more information, contact Hank Manning at 515.242.4836.

Housing Fund applications are due December 10, 2003. The tentative award date is March 3, 2004 with our Recipient Workshop tentatively scheduled for March 25, 2004. For more information, contact Terry Vestal at 515.242.4850.

The AAA Four Diamond Awards were presented to three properties during the Iowa Tourism Conference. The awards went to The Abbey Hotel in the Quad Cities, The Hotel Pattee in Perry and the Ameristar Hotel and Casino in Council Bluffs.

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