Main Street Washington & Bodywrx Fitness Center get $250k I-JOBS rehab grant

Iowa Governor, Chet Culver announced yesterday in a press release that Main Street Washington and Bodywrx Fitness Center were among the recipients of $13 million in I-JOBS grants to support physical infrastructure projects in "Main Street Iowa" communities.

The Bodywrx Fitness Center project, owned and operated by Teri Hartzler, received $250,000 in I-JOBS toward a total project of about $368,000. Additional grant money toward the project was through a Main Street Washington grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation.

The project will include removing the sheet metal from the building front, restoring the original facade to the building, creating a new access to the upper floor, and creating two large apartments. Bodywrx had been working closely with Main Street Washington director, Amy Vetter and other volunteers on developing the project for the past year. The Bodywrx building is a key downtown building on the east side of the newly renovated side of the Washington town square.

Go ahead and "like" Main Street Washington on FaceBook.

IDOT county traffic around Washington County

The Iowa DOT is finishing up counting traffic around Washington County. Every four years, the Iowa DOT conducts extensive traffic counts throughout Southeast Iowa. These traffic counts include state and federal highways, arterial city and county roads, and even some lower use residential roads.

The data collected this summer will not be available until the Spring or Summer of 2011.

Traffic count data is valuable for business planning and for helping local and state government to make programming decisions for maintenance, construction, speed limits, and other policy considerations.

Historical traffic count maps of Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) for cities, counties and statewide are available for download from their website, www.iowadotmaps.gov.  AADT maps are available for download (as PDFs) for Southeast Iowa for the years 2006, 2002 and 1998. Older paper maps are available for order from the Iowa DOT offices in Ames.

Traffic levels are generally pretty stable around Washington County, with the exception of along the US 218 (Avenue of the Saints) expressway, which is continues to grow rapidly.

	2006	1998
- Washington Hwy 92 - by Korner Kreamery	8,300	8,000
- US 218, north of Riverside	16,800	11,200
- Hwy 1, north of Kalona	6,200	5,900
- Hwy 92, between Washington & Ainsworth	3,870	4,120

The Iowa DOT uses pneumatic tubes laid across a roadway to count traffic on this scale rather than using people or cameras.  Its a pretty good system for collecting a lot of data. The Iowa DOT also makes year-round, monthly traffic counts of some locations around the state, including a few key areas around Washington County.

Area businesses or government bodies that was help collecting and interpreting this AADT county data should feel free to contact me, Ed Raber at WEDG. I love working with this data.

Community beautification grants available

Keep Iowa Beautiful (KIB) has announced the KIB Community Beautification Grant Program, a competitive funding source for communities under 5,000 in population. Up to $5,000 will be awarded for beautification projects, and up to $15,000 will be awarded for projects addressing derelict buildings.

In the Washington County area, the eligible communities include Ainsworth, Brighton, Crawfordsville, Kalona, Keota, Riverside, Wellman, and West Chester.

An eligible project must have one or more of the following as its purpose:

• Litter prevention – removal / education / implementation / public awareness 
• Recycling education – implementation / public awareness 
• Beautification programs – flower, tree and shrub planting, painting & fix-up and general landscaping. 
• Public nuisance abatement
• Derelict buildings – removal / renovation including asbestos abatement and removal, recovery and recycling of reusable materials and / or the purchase of recycled-content materials used in renovation efforts.

To review the eligibility requirements click here.
To download to application, click here.

Applications are due at 4:30 p.m., or postmarked, by Friday, August 20, 2010. Project awards will be announced on Friday, September 3rd.

Iowa Small Business loans of up to $50,000 now available

The Iowa Legislature created the Iowa Small Business Loan program earlier this year, and set aside $5 million. The aim is to create and keep jobs in Iowa’s recession-damaged economy by providing financing to eligible small businesses.

- by Jennifer Jacobs (with some editing from Ed Raber)

To be eligible for the Iowa Small Business Loan program, the small business or entrepreneur must:

• be located in Iowa
• be owned, operated, and actively managed by an Iowa resident
• have 35 or fewer full-time equivalent employees
• have a business plan and receive assistance from an Iowa Small Business Development Center or another qualified public or nonprofit business consultant approved by the Iowa Department of Economic Development
• not be in violation of environmental, worker safety, and labor regulations
• employ only people legally authorized to work in Iowa
• not engage in the production, depiction, or distribution of obscene material
• not be in bankruptcy and not be imminently contemplating filing for bankruptcy.

Entrepreneurs and small business owners can apply for a loan of between $2,500 to $50,000 at an interest rate of 3.9 percent. The interest rate drops to 2 percent if the state loan is combined with financing from a local lender who finances at least one third of the total loan package amount.

Iowans must use the loan money to:

• upgrade or modernize equipment
• improve efficiencies in their supply chains
• improve their distribution and transportation margins
• reduce facility costs through increased energy efficiency
• leverage other sources of business financing.

To confirm eligibility and to start a loan application, businesses should contact their local Small Business Development Center. In the Washington County area, that is Paul Heath and Tom Pickering at the University of Iowa SBDC, (319) 335-3742.


Interested businesses and entrepreneurs can also contact Ed Raber at the Washington Economic Development Group at (319) 653-3942 or wedg@iowatelecom.net to get started.

The Iowa Department of Economic Development has contracted with the Iowa Foundation for Microenterprise and Community Vitality to assist with the credit review process and provide recommendations regarding loan decisions. The Department of Economic Development will make final decisions on which loan applications are approved.

Culver said in the news release: “I am pleased to announce the launch of the Iowa Small Business Loan Program as another resource to support the growth of young companies within the state. These resources will allow them to create new financial opportunities for themselves, their employees and the communities in which they operate. These businesses will create new jobs, make our economy stronger and help move Iowa forward.”

It will take four to six weeks for a decision on an application, according to a news release this morning from Iowa Gov. Chet Culver’s staff.

For more information, go to www.ISBLoan.org, or contact  Jason Yates with the Iowa Foundation for Microenterprise and Community Vitality at (515) 401-8290 or jyates@iowamicroloan.org.

JBS United Acquires Feed Mill in Washington, Iowa

     SHERIDAN, IN, July 22, 2010 – JBS United, Inc., has acquired a feed mill and the surrounding property in Washington, Iowa that was previously owned by Practical Environmental Solutions.  Purchased through an auction on July 21st, 2010, the plant was not currently operating, so no jobs will be lost, and it is likely some jobs will be added in the area by the new JBS United plant opening.  Steve Schneider, JBS United’s Operations Manager stated, “The addition of the Washington, Iowa feed mill facility will complement the company’s existing presence in Iowa as well as regionally in the Midwest.  This will allow JBS United to expand in the region and better serve our customers.”

     The mill and property consists of 2 acres of land, 27,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space, 3,000 sq. ft. of office space, 44,000 cu. ft. of outdoor storage bin capacity, 34,000 cu. ft. of interior storage space, and 13,500 cu. ft. of bulk load out storage.  Additional JBS United employees will need to be hired to staff this mill and no staffing or business changes are expected at any of the other JBS United mills in the region.  “This is a true expansion of the business”, stated Doug Webel, Chief Operating Officer of JBS United’s Nutrition and Emerging Technology division, “This was a planned, strategic acquisition that will position us to better serve the region in the future.”

     Beyond this new Washington, Iowa mill, JBS United operates six additional company-owned production facilities throughout the U.S. focusing on pre-mix and base-mix products.  In the U.S. market, JBS United provides nutrition products manufactured primarily in the form of feed premixes, base mixes, nursery starter feeds and feed additives.  The JBS United feed business has grown substantially over the years through both acquisitions and innovations that have helped the company reach more customers around the globe.

     Speaking on behalf of the company, Mr. Schneider stated, “Adding ths additional feed mill to the list of JBS United facilities is another example of our commitment to providing high quality animal nutrition products and services that exceed the expectations of our customers.  We are excited about this purchase and our continued growth.  This will help us maintain our position as one of the leading animal nutrition providers in the country.”

About JBS United
            Since its founding in 1956, JBS United, Inc. has been dedicated to providing research-based solutions to enhance animal nutrition and livestock production profitability. The company provides products to swine, poultry and dairy producers worldwide. For more information, visit the JBS United website at www.JBSunited.com.

     For more information on JBS United, contact Lisa Coverdale, Marketing Manager, at (800) 382-9909 or Lisa.Coverdale@tektm.com.

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Washington's Keaton Walker receives business development grant from IDED

DES MOINES - A state board Thursday agreed to invest $25,000 in a feasibility study for a proposed Iowa City project exploring a humane way to euthanize horses and process the meat for animal consumption.

The state Economic Development Board gave unanimous support for a grant to Responsible Transportation, LLC, a startup company that intends to "consolidate unwanted horses across the Midwest" and put down the animals free of charge, according to DED documents. The company, which pledged nearly $31,000 for the study to be completed by July 2011, has used innovation to improve animal handling practices.

Board member Jerry Courtney, who handled the application for financial assistance, said "I was pretty skeptical what we are doing this for" but noted the study is covered by board rules and approved by the Legislature. Courtney called the request "a fascinating project" but admitted "when I got this project, I said 'whoa, what did you drop this on me for" fearing the issue will attract the attention of animal-rights activists.

"This is something that is new and different to us. It will be interesting to see how it works," added Courtney, who said the latest research indicated there are about 200,000 horses in Iowa.

Responsible Transportation requested technical assistance funding for third-party research that will allow the company to conduct a feasibility study, plan for the development of a processing plant, perform an export analysis, and design a Website and building design. The activity will facilitate the company application for a U.S. Department of Agriculture guaranteed loan to further the business operation, according to board documents.

According to the University of Iowa News Service, the business plan for Responsible Transport, LLC, was written by Keaton Walker of Washington, Iowa, a May graduate in industrial engineering who won a UI College of Engineering's entrepreneurial startup award this year providing $10,000 in initial financial support. The project also won a $5,000 grand prize in the Bedell Entrepreneurship Learning Laboratory's end-of-year competition.

Mr. Walker has worked with several business assistance organizations, including the Entrepreneurial Development Center in Cedar Rapids, the UI's Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the UI John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (JPEC), and the Washington Economic Development Group in Washington, Iowa.

$1.9 million in I-JOBS funds for Washington County area communities

Five Washington County area communities received $1.9 million in I-JOBS funding for water and sewer projects.

Iowa Governor Chet Culver announced on July 7, 2010 that 71 projects had been awarded around the state for communities under 10,000 population, totaling $35 million. The five area projects represent over 5% of the statewide total.

Congratulations to these communities!

I-JOBS Water Quality Financial Assistance Program Communities with populations less than 10,000
Community	I-Jobs Grant	Project Description
Brighton	$595,000	Construction of additional lagoons and sewer main replacement
Keota	$85,000	Replacement of water mains
RUSS - Lake Trio	$160,000	Replace existing treatment lagoon with re-circulating synthetic filter
Washington	$955,000	Sanitary sewer lines
Wayland	$115,000	Water treatment plant control upgrades and additional power
	$1,910,000