Iowa Lakes Corridor News & Events

News & Events

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Check out other Women in Manufacturing stories: Demco Products GKN Safco Products Danielle Massukado is an FSQA Manager at Tyson Foods, The Hillshire Brands in Storm Lake. A veterinarian working in the Food Industry for the last 20 years, Massukado has experience with beef, pork and poultry plants. A mentor in her early career encouraged Massukado to make the world a better place through her skills acquired at Vet School, which sparked the idea to improve Food Safety and Quality of Animal Protein offered to the world. “Being a woman in a male-dominated field can pose challenges, but it’s not as intimidating as you think &ndash...

Women in Manufacturing: Safco Products

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Welcome back to our series on Women in Manufacturing! In case you missed it, check out our other features! Women in Manufacturing: Demco Women in Manufacturing: GKN Tiffany Plagman is an Assembly Group Lead at Safco Products. The Laurens native now lives in Spencer and commutes to her job in Milford. Before getting a job a Safco, Plagman only had experience in retail, and she wanted to do something different. Her hands-on job makes the days fly by, and she doesn’t get bored because there is always something new to learn! “I had never worked in manufacturing before and had no idea what ...

Women in Manufacturing: GKN

Monday, October 26, 2020

Both Jody Hobmeier and her husband work at GKN in Estherville. Hobmeier, an Estherville native, enjoys building parts and finished products to contribute to the agricultural and earthmover industries. One of the biggest things she has learned in her time at GKN is that you gain valuable skills. “It’s rewarding as you learn skills that you can use inside and outside of work. I have learned several problem-solving techniques.” “You can come in with no experience and learn the trade through training,” she says. “Keep an open mind that there is room to grow and learn. It’s always great to see wha...

Women in Manufacturing: Demco

Thursday, October 22, 2020

October is Manufacturing Month and the Corridor is excited to share a few features on Women in Manufacturing throughout our region over the next couple of weeks! Today’s feature highlights a few of the manufacturing stars at Demco Products in Spencer. Carrie Engelkes is an Engineering Clerical Assistant at Demco. She’s been at her position for the past six years, but is more than willing to assist in other areas of the business as needed. The growing manufacturing industry that is constantly moving and providing opportunities to improve or learn new skills is what brought Engelkes to her career in manufacturing. “Manufacturin...

Don't Drop the Ball on Recruiting People to Iowa

Monday, October 19, 2020

Trigger warning: Breaking with normal practice, this column will for the next two weeks touch on politics. Some years ago, when reports revealed that nearly half of students at the University of Iowa were from out of state, lawmakers began voicing criticism. The Board of Regents responded with a new funding formula that rewarded our state’s three universities for enrolling native Iowans. It was an unfortunate response to a misguided concern. For decades, Iowa observers had lamented the loss of our best high school and college graduates to other states, the so-called brain drain. By attracting students from elsewhere, the regents universitie...

From the Corridor to the World - Remotely

Monday, October 12, 2020

Economic development is frequently a game of follow the leader. What are the bigger towns doing? We should do that, too. One recent fad is recruiting telecommuters/remote workers/gig workers (pick your title). Often this involves with cash money. Vermont has offered grants of $10,000 to lure remote workers. So have Topeka, Kansas and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa Remote, perhaps the best known of these initiatives, conveys a bit of a mixed message on its landing page: “You’re going to love it here,” comes right after, “We’ll pay you to work from Tulsa.” The COVID-19 pandemic will absolutely accelerate the transition to the digital workplace...

A major opportunity to invest in our people and our businesses

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Most of us involved in business leadership agree that our people are our greatest asset. We also recognize that investing in our people with meaningful professional development often gets lost in the busy-busy-busy nature of daily operations. We spend so much time working IN our businesses that we fail to work ON them often enough to build on what we are doing right and to correct what we are doing wrong. As we practice social distancing and face broad economic restrictions on business activities due to COVID-19, we have a opportunity to invest in our people and our businesses. In particular...

Energy utilities keep the lights on and the jobs coming

Thursday, February 06, 2020

On the edge of many small Iowa towns is an industrial park with a cluster of manufacturing companies. How did they get there? You can thank in part your local energy utilities, essential partners in economic development. The same folks who keep the lights on also keep the economy growing. That’s particularly true here in the Lakes of Northwest Iowa where we are blessed to have energy utilities that are innovative, aggressive and generous. Dare we say they are energetic? The Corridor is proud to include seven energy providers among our membership: Spencer Municipal Utilities, Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative, Corn Belt Power Cooperative...

2020 Healthiest State Annual Awards finalists announced

Tuesday, January 07, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT: Lauren Kollauf Healthiest State Initiative lauren@iowahealthieststate.com 563-495-0357 2020 Healthiest State Annual Awards finalists announced Lyndsey Fennelly will give keynote speech at Feb. 6 ceremony DES MOINES, IA (Jan. 6, 2020) — The Healthiest State Initiative has announced the finalists for the 2020 Healthiest State Annual Awards. Individuals, communities, K-12 schools, early care providers, out-of-school programs and workplaces will be recognized for their efforts to improve the physical, social and emotional well-being of Iowans in their respective sectors at an awards ceremony on Feb. 6 in West Des Moines. The finalists in the eight categories include: Healthy HometownSM Powered by Wellmark Community Award Creston Dallas Center Dickinson County Manning Washington Waverly West Union K-12 School Irvin...

Iowa Prison Industry and Prison Industry Enhancement program visits

Wednesday, December 04, 2019

Last week Corridor Business Retention & Workforce Partnership Coordinator Joanne Follon and Bob Becker, Spencer IowaWORKS, traveled to the North Central Correctional Facility in Rockwell City. They had the opportunity to meet with Daniel Clark, Director of the Iowa Prisons Industry (IPI) Program and see the IPI training programs available for inmates to gain the education, soft and hard skills needed to be successful citizens upon their release. There are three private-sector work partnerships available through the Prison Industry Enhancement Certification Program: 1) employers transport offenders to/from the workplace 2) employers subcontract with IPI 3) employers set an operation inside a prison. The Stat...

Hiring & Honoring Veterans

Monday, November 18, 2019

Two local entities have recently been recognized: one business for their commitment to hiring and retaining veterans, and one business owner who has served in the military and is now committed to serving his local community. Iowa Lakes Regional Water awarded Platinum Medallion Award Iowa Lakes Regional Water was one of five Iowa businesses that received a Medallion award, and one of three that were awarded the Platinum Medallion Award from the HIRE Vets Medallion program. The Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans (HIRE Vets) Act was signed into law in May 2017. The Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment an...

Workforce Resources 101: Federal Bonding Program

Thursday, March 28, 2019

What is it? The Federal Bonding Program provides a business insurance policy to protect employers who hire "at-risk" individuals that can be hard-to-place in the workforce. This fidelity bond covers loss of money or property that is due to employee dishonesty such as theft, larceny, forgery or embezzlement. Who does it cover? The program covers individuals involved in the justice system, those in recovery from substance abuse, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) recipients, those with poor credit, economically disadvantaged individuals without work history, and dishonorably discharged military. What doesn't it cover? Poor workmanship liability, job injuries, work accidents, bail bond, contract bond, performance o...

Fast Facts About Iowa Lakes

Healthy Income

Median household incomes in Dickinson Country are greater than the Iowa and nation median incomes. Clay, Buena Vista and Emmet Counties have median household incomes ranging from $44,556 to $50,289.

Household Income-new

Low cost of living and affordable housing...

The cost of living and housing prices in the Iowa Lakes Corridor are below the US averages.

Affordability-new

After 5 p.m. you are on vacation!

The Iowa Lakes Corridor offers balance in life. Spend time with loved ones, meet career objectives, and enjoy scenic commutes, excellent schools, safe communities and endless recreational opportunities.

Life-new

Highway improvements...

Safe and efficient highways are throughout the region for commercial, resident and tourist traffic. Recently improved roads include Iowa 86 and 9, and US 20 and 71.

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Employment Opportunity

The Corridor offers career opportunities in the key industries of agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and health services.

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Trails, trails and trails. . .

There are more than 200 miles of trails throughout the Iowa Lakes Corridor region for the cyclists, runners, walkers, cross country skiers and snowmobilers.

Trails-new

News & Events

News & Events

Fast Facts About Iowa Lakes

Healthy Income

Low cost of living and affordable housing...

After 5 p.m. you are on vacation!

Highway improvements...

Employment Opportunity

Trails, trails and trails. . .

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