Washington County laborforce surges, unemployment holds steady at 5.2%

Washington County's unemployment rate held steady at 5.2% in September, 2010.  This is the 2nd lowest unemployment rate in Eastern Iowa, behind Johnson County.  The real positive news in the County was that the laborforce surged by 2.5% to 12,500 in September from 12,200 in August. The number of employed persons in the County also grew by over 200 to 11,800.

It is encouraging to see people re-entering the laborforce, and crisp increases in hiring or rehiring around the County resulted in over 200 more Washington Co. people being employed.

Of the estimated 600 Washington County unemployed persons, only 215 were drawing Unemployment Insurance benefits.  For 20 of those receiving Unemployment benefits, their last payment occurred in September, while 29 received their first Unemployment benefit payment.

The State and County data is from the Labor Market and Economic Research Bureau of the Iowa Workforce Development.

Commercial development - Pizza Ranch - begins on Washington's east side

Construction work has begun on the first commercial development project adjacent to the year-old Super Wal-Mart store on Washington's east side.

The first project is on approx. 2 acres in the Wiley Subdivision on the south side of Hwy 92 (Washington St.) and Wiley Ave., adjacent to Super Wal-Mart. Phase I of the project includes a 5,200 s.f. Pizza Ranch with a drive through. This is a larger location for the successful Pizza Ranch, currently located in leased space next to the regional Iowa DNR office in the old Hy-Vee store.

Phase II on the 2 acre site is planned to include 12,250 s.f. of retail/restaurant custom space.

Jeff Hazelett, of Dalhaze Development and broker at Washington Real Estate, handled the land acquisition and concept.

MMS Consultants of Iowa City did the site design. Delong Construction of Washington is doing the site preparation, including utility extensions and storm water detention area. The Pizza Ranch was financed by Midwest One bank, and a SBA 504 loan through Iowa Business Growth Company.

Greg Wiley has three additional prime commercial lots adjacent to the new Super Wal-Mart, which opened in the fall of 2009.

Paved Bike Shoulder on Wayland Road moving ahead

The Washington County project to pave about 7 miles of Wayland Road(W-55) south of the City of Washington, Iowa is moving along quickly toward completion this fall. Construction started last week.

The 4' paved shoulders will include a rumble strip close to the edge of the motor roadway to improve safety for motorists on this hilly and winding road through the picturesque Crooked Creek (and Skunk River) valleys in southern Washington County. The outside 3' of the paved shoulder will provide an excellent lane for biking, with safe separation from motor vehicles. The Wayland Road has become a popular route for bicyclists.

View Wayland Road Paved Bike Shoulders in a larger map

The project will provide safer biking access for several subdivisions south of Washington, plus improved access to popular County Parks, Sockum Ridge and Fern Cliff. The paved shoulders will end at 320th St. where Wayland Road becomes flat south into Wayland, IA.  32th St. is paved to the east and west, providing good access to other amenities in the region.

The project has been financed with a $500,000 safety grant from the Iowa DOT, a $250,000 grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation in June, plus another $250,000 of local County funding.

The shoulder project is being done by L.L. Pelling Co. of North Liberty, IA.

Montchevre grand opening for anaerobic digester

BELMONT, WISCONSIN - Montchevre Betin, award winning goat cheese producers hosted a grand opening celebration for a new anaerobic digester on October 8, 2010.

The digester utilizes the waste stream from its 100,000 s.f. Belmont, WI cheese plant to make bio-gas, which is then burned to generate electricity.  Alliant Energy is purchasing all of the power from the digester, which is enough to power 200 homes.  The digester was designed by Eric Fessler, P.E., of Procorp Enterprises, LLC in Milwaukee, WI.

In addition to many dignitaries from Wisconsin, Washington Economic Development Group director, Ed Raber, and board director Tom Davey of US Bank, were on hand to congratulate Montchevre on their accomplishment.

Established in 1988, Montchevre has many Amish goat milk producers in Southeast Iowa and Northern Missouri which they serve with several milk routes. In 2009, Montchevre opened a milk transfer station in Washington, Iowa to support its Wisconsin operation. We hope that Montchevre will further expand into cheese production, including a digester, in Washington in the future.

Their cheese is really great!  Montchevre recently won two gold medals in the 2010 Wold Championship Cheese Contest.