$3.5 million in grants to 7 communities
Downtown Revitalization grants totaling $3.5 million were announced today for seven Iowa communities, including Elkader and West Union.The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) awarded the...
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Complex distribution centers take in and ship out everything from charcoal to...
The Family Dollar Services’s distribution center in Maquoketa hums with activity — cartons trundle along expansive conveyor belts, forklifts heft their loads and workers make certain everything’s...
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Entrepreneurship lessons to be learned at Innovation Expo
Innovation Expo is planned for Sept. 18 helping aspiring entrepreneurs answer the question, “How do I get something going?”The expo, a combination of several events and intended to showcase and educate...
View ArticleA ‘good risk’ to take
By The Gazette Editorial Board—- Cedar Rapids city leaders’ efforts to get an exception to the rules on developing some flood buyout properties has paid off. The Iowa Economic Development Authority’s...
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State asks Linn County role in incentives for local plant
MSI Mold Builders maintenance technician Chuck McManemy checks PLC I/O cards in a Tos Varnsdorf horizontal boring machine at the business in southwest Cedar Rapids. (Gazette file photo)Linn County and...
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HNI, MSI Mold Builders seek state help for expansion projects
A worker readies a piece of office furniture for shipment April 13, 2007, at The HON Co., an office furniture manufacturer and the largest division of HNI, in Muscatine. (AP Photo/Charlie...
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State approves MSI application
A Linn County business will be able to add 18 jobs and retain six jobs after the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IDEA) board on Friday unanimously approved an incentive package for the company to...
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2011 travel-related spending tops $7 billion in Iowa
The Marquette Joliet Bridge crosses the Mississippi River into Marquette on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News) DES MOINES – Travelers spent about $7.2 billion in Iowa in...
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Debi Durham: Iowa could land another $2 billion in capital investments yet...
Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. (Liz Martin / The Gazette)DES MOINES – Iowa already has landed $3.5 billion in capital investments for business projects under Gov....
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New $1.7 billion project largest capital investment in Iowa history
CF Industries plant manager Nick DeRoss, left, and production manager Russ Nordstrom, not seen, look over an area where expansion for rail line loading will occur at Port Neal Rd., March 15, 2011....
View ArticleGrain Millers to expand St. Ansgar plant
Grain Millers Inc. is planning a $24 million expansion of its St. Ansgar operations, with incentives approved by the Iowa Economic Development Authority Friday.The authority’s board approved tax credit...
View ArticleExpense Reduction Analysts misses job goal, rejects state loan
Expense Reduction Analysts has rejected a state loan to expand in Cedar Rapids because it wouldn’t meet its contract requirements with the Iowa Economic Development Authority.The company, known as...
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Iowa development director gets $90,000 in bonuses
Iowa’s economic development director received a $30,000 bonus in each of the last three fiscal years, making her take-home pay 20 percent higher than a state salary cap for that position.Debi...
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Branstad defends $128,000 in director bonuses
The Iowa Statehouse illuminated by floodlights in the early morning Tuesday Jan. 13, 2009. (Bob Nandell/Freelance) Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad says bonuses should reward achievement, but he’s granted...
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Iowa development officials want higher cap on business tax credits
Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority,With $1 billion in potential business investment prospects in the “pipeline,” Iowa’s economic development chief told lawmakers Tuesday...
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Iowa owed $7.5 million by companies that broke incentive deals
A for-sale sign is posted in front of the former Pohaku building on Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, in Washington, Iowa. Owners of the company owe the state $49,516 as reimbursement for incentive funding. (Liz...
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Work begins on 119-unit Cedar Rapids apartment complex
Land preparation, including grading and removal of trees, has begun for a new 119-unit apartment complex on the bluff overlooking the Cedar River near Edgewood and Glass roads NE.An architect's...
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Wind power here to stay in Iowa
Energy Production & Distribution Technology student Austin Wessels of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, begins his controlled descent of Kirkwood Community College's wind turbine during ribbon-cutting...
View ArticleIowa demonstration fund performing well, Branstad says
An effort to help start-up businesses survive and thrive started under the Culver administration got rave reviews Monday from Gov. Terry Branstad and his economic development helpers.Results of a study...
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Study: Main Street Iowa sees $1.1 billion in investments
Building owner Lijun Chadima and Tony Bata meet with members of Main Street Iowa in this 2011 photo. The building, at 1006 Third St. SE., in the New Bohemia District of Cedar Rapids, later was...
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Coralville small business wins award from Iowa Innovation Corporation
The Iowa Innovation Corporation has chosen a Coralville technology company as the recipient of its first Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer Outreach program.NanoMedTrix of...
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Mount Mercy University deals with soil clean up at Terex property
Mount Mercy University last week announced it would build a $15 million athletic complex on the former Terex Cedarapids site. But before the private university can begin construction, it must deal with...
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State hires Cedar Rapids organization to study women-owned businesses
After Iowa came in last in a nationwide study of women-owned companies, the public and private sector banded together to try to improve that ranking.Iowa was listed last for cumulative growth in the...
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Grant to help fund 7 Cedar Rapids housing projects
Seven Cedar Rapids housing projects will soon be in the works after a $10.5 million grant was awarded to help replace rental units lost in the 2008 Flood.One of the housing project’s that received a...
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Iowa banking on data storage demand
In the span of three months, two tech giants committed to investing huge amounts of money in Iowa. They both want to build the same thing — a data center.In April, Facebook said it would build a $1...
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Branstad, Durham hope trade mission to Europe pays dividends
Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds and Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, listen as Rockwell Collins CEO Clay Jones speaks during a visit Rockwell Collins...
View ArticleIowa Economic Development Authority Approves assistance to Dutch manufacturer...
The Iowa Economic Development Authority board approved financial assistance Friday for a Netherlands steel and aluminum company that plans to lease a facility in Pella.Castle Metal Inc. is a subsidiary...
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Iowa’s campaign for governor should elevate broadband access issues
You could probably download all I know about broadband pretty quickly. Even with a dial-up connection.But it’s looking like it might become a real issue in the campaign for governor, so I figured I’d...
View ArticleIowa Innovation Corp. looking for manager for new fund
The Iowa Innovation Corp. is looking for a fund manager for a newly created fund designed to encourage investment to assist technology-based businesses in Iowa.“There is now going to be $8 million of...
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Attacks on incentives harm state
By State Sen. Randy Feenstra—– As an advocate for job growth in Iowa, I cannot let the recent misinformation presented by Senate Democrats go unaddressed. I am disappointed that elected officials...
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Five Cedar Rapids projects receive Brownfield redevelopment tax credits
Several vacant lots and abandoned buildings soon will be rejuvenated.On Friday, the Iowa Economic Development Authority approved more than $2.68 million in redevelopment tax credits for five Cedar...
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Debi Durham talks new initiatives, challenges facing Iowa
If you ask economic development director Debi Durham, Iowa has a lot going for it – it just needs to be a little more vocal about it.Debi Durham spoke to the Rotary Club of Cedar Rapids on Monday...
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Cedar Rapids to be pilot city for solar energy initiative
Rich Dana of Guernsey, project manager for the New Bohemia solar project, carries tools while repairing a solar panel on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2011, on the roof of a building in the New Bohemia district of...
View ArticleLarry Noble: Iowa’s public safety agency is “building back”
DES MOINES – Iowa’s public safety commissioner said Tuesday his agency is on the rebound.Larry Noble, who took over the reins of the state’s Department of Public Safety earlier this year, told Gov....
View ArticleGeneral Mills considers $60 million expansion in Cedar Rapids
General Mills is considering converting 10,000 square feet of warehouse space at its Cedar Rapids facility into production space.The $60 million project would create 41 jobs with an average annual...
View ArticleInsurance symposium coming to Iowa
DES MOINES – Insurance company executives from around the country are slated to discuss global trends impacting insurance regulation at an inaugural symposium to be held in Iowa next spring.Iowa’s...
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State economic development director gets third year of $30K retention bonus
Iowa’s economic development director has received more than $120,000 in bonuses over the last three years, including annual retention pay one lawmaker says thwarts a salary cap set for her...
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Shortage of skilled workers seen as impeding growth in Iowa
Debi DurhamIowa’s economic development chief made a pitch Tuesday for more state money to fund targeted apprenticeships, internships and other efforts to address a shortage of skilled workers that is...
View ArticleFact Check: Initial Power Fund jobs count way off
IntroductionWe reviewed a statement by former Iowa Rep. Pat Murphy, a Dubuque Democrat running for the 1st Congressional District. Murphy’s website claim: “As Speaker of the Iowa House, Pat created the...
View ArticleTRAVELERS SPENDING MONEY IN IOWA
Travelers in Iowa spent more money in the state in 2013. That’s according to the 2013 Iowa Welcome Center Survey Report conducted by the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Iowa Tourism Office....
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