Washington County unemployment drops to 5%

Washington County's unemployment rate fell to 5.0% in October, 2010.  This is the 2nd lowest unemployment rate in Eastern Iowa, behind Johnson County.  The total laborforce also fell slightly to 12,200 with 11,600 employed persons in the County.

Of the estimated 600 Washington County unemployed persons, only 176 were drawing Unemployment Insurance benefits (down from 215 in September).  For 17 of those receiving Unemployment benefits, their last payment occurred in September, while 26 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.

Scandinavian Interiors furniture store almost ready to open in Riverside, Iowa.

Kelly Wood is getting ready to open the new location for Scandinavian Interiors in Riverside, Iowa's Eastside Commercial Site development.  The planned opening day is Friday, December 3rd, 2010.

The store was a fixture for a number of years on the Coralville "Strip" but has been closed since the floods of 2008 almost (but not quite) inundated the business.  Wood, of rural Ainsworth, considered other locations to reopen the business and settled on Commercial Drive in the new Eastside Commercial Site in Riverside, Iowa just off US 218 and Hwy 22. 

Currently, the other major businesss in the subdivision include the new University of Iowa Health Care - River Crossing medical clinic, and Saints Avenue Custom Homes. The development is just south of the popular Travel Mart fueling station, convenience store and restaurant.

The general contractor for Kelly Wood was her husband, Matt Wood of Wood Construction. Don Marie Electric did the electric work.

The development is owned by the City of Riverside. Additional commercial lots are available through Kenneth Kucera of Riverside Realty.

Washington Schools host 11/16 6:00pm forum for Renovation Plan for Middle School

Here is a great opportunity to get some info and give some feedback on a major Washington School improvement project.

Washington Middle School
Renovation Plan Public Forum 

Hosted by WCSD and Bergland and Cram Architects 

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 6:00pm - 8:30pm 

Washington High School Auditorium

313 S. 4th Avenue
Washington, IA 52353

6:00-6:30 pm Walk-through of (existing) high school. This building is to become the 6-8 grade Middle School.

Meeting Agenda 6:30 - 8:30 pm

• Overview of past meetings 
• School Board renovation priorities 
• View revised schematic design 
• Public Input 
• Outline next steps

Before attending this public forum on Tuesday, be sure to stop by the Washington Chamber of Commerce's Alive After 5 networking event at The Tile Studio, 611 N. 6th Ave. in Washington. Sherry and Maggie Renoux will be glad you did.  This was a great event last year.

More cool building improvements in downtown Washington

There are quite a few building improvement projects in the Main Street Washington Downtown District that are either wrapping up or just getting underway.  All of them are making downtown a more attractive, business friendly, scene.

Zager Plumbing and Heating at 204 S. Iowa Ave. did a facade and entryway project that included a new retractable awning and exposing some of the transom glass block above the entry.  They received design assistance from Main Street Iowa, and received a matching grant of $2500 from Main Street Washington (which they received from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation).  Renoux Builders did the construction work.

Central Park Community Center, next to the new Washington Public Library on Washington St., also did a facade project that exposed some of the intact transom glass block above the entryway. Note the new street light and bench in front of the building.  This project has mostly been funded by an anonymous benefactor!  The Community Center is frequently a polling location in Washington.

Ann Williams' future Farm Bureau Insurance office on North Iowa Ave. is just getting underway.  The vinyl siding has been removed, and at some point cinder block was installed to replace the original brick facade. Main Street Iowa helped Williams develop a new look, and Matt Wood of Wood Construction is carrying out the redevelopment.  In addition to her insurance office, Williams is planning a large second story apartment.  This project also received a $15,000 grant from Main Street Washington (through the Washington County Riverboat Foundation).

Finally, note the changing of the seasons.  The Washington City Park Department oversees the installation of a seasonal metal cover for the iconic Central Park Fountain.  The custom metal cover was built by Evans Welding in Washington and was being installed with the assistance of Franzen Electric, also of Washington.  The Andy Ross family of Ross Auto do a lot of volunteer work to maintain the fountain throughout the summer months, and also get it ready to open in the Spring and ready to close up for the Winter.  During the winter, the Park Department installs a light display that resembles the water spray from the fountain.  Pretty neat.

City of Washington solicits proposals for downtown redevelopment project

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY IN HISTORIC DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON, IOWA
The City of Washington has issued a Request for Proposals on a unique development opportunity in beautiful, historic downtown Washington. The City is offering a site for redevelopment under favorable terms.
If interested, call or email David Plyman, City Administrator, to request a copy of the RFP at (319) 653‐6584 or dplyman@washingtoniowa.net

Proposals are due by December 16, 2010. The following 10-page RFP explains the opportunity in detail.

Downtown Washington RFP

The City's parcels are on S. Marion Ave., just off the town square. This area has recently undergone a major streetscape project, and there has been significant private reinvestment to buildings in the area.

Interested parties may also contact local economic development officials to confidentially discuss questions, ideas, or further opportunities:

Ed Raber, Director (this blog's author)
Washington Economic Development Group
205 W. Main Street
Washington, IA 52353-1722
office 319/653-3942 | cell 319/653-8605
wedg@iowatelecom.net
wedg.blogspot.com

Amy J. Vetter │Executive Director
Main Street Washington
205 West Main Street
Washington, IA 52353
(319) 653-3272 (o) │ (319) 863-3423 (c)
(319) 653-5805 (f) │ washms@iowatelecom.net

Bodywrx building historic rehab gets new windows, new cornices

The Bodywrx Fitness Center building on the east side of the Washington town square is starting to see some visible rennovations.

Last week, new windows were installed. This is after the steel false front was removed, and the cinderblocks in the window spaces were removed.  What an improvement!

Today, the first of two replacement cornices was installed. You can see from the picture that on the right, the bricks where the cornice goes are not nice and neat like the rest of the brick face. Builders used imperfect bricks to fill the space behind the cornice. The original cornices were removed many years ago when the steel facing was installed.

The new awning was installed about a month ago.

This project is making a big difference in the Main Street Washington downtown district.