Iowa Lakes Corridor News & Events

News & Events

Economic Development Week 2022

Monday, May 09, 2022

For more information, contact: Alyssa Petersen Coordinator of Administration & Communication 712-264-3474; apetersen@lakescorridor.com Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation Announces Recognition of 2022 Economic Development Week The international event will highlight local efforts to increase the quality of life in every community over the course of May 9 to May 13, 2022 The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation (Corridor) marks the week of May 9 to May 13, 2022, as Economic Development Week. During this week, communities across North America will celebrate and recognize the contributions made by professional economic developers to create more economically vibrant and livable communities. Created in 2016 by the International Economic Development Counci...

New Laborshed reports released

Tuesday, April 05, 2022

New report details regional labor pool, wages The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation (Corridor) and Iowa Workforce Development announced the updated “Laborshed” reports for Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson and Emmet Counties for 2022. Conducted every three years, the “Laborshed” study provides detailed information about workforce availability, occupations, wages, benefits and commuting patterns. Iowa Workforce Development estimates that there are 116,046 workers in the Corridor “Laborshed,” defined as the area or region from which an employment center draws its commuting workers. The data is based on mail surveys of businesses in the region and phone call surveys of residents. “Having current and accurate workforce dat...

Corridor supports aspiring entrepreneurs with innovative website service to plan small business openings

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

IOWA LAKES CORRIDOR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION SUPPORTS ASPIRING ENTREPRENEURS WITH INNOVATIVE WEBSITE SERVICE TO PLAN SMALL BUSINESS OPENINGS SizeUpIowaLakes provides free market research to foster local entrepreneurship Tuesday, February 15, 2022 – Just in time for National Entrepreneurship Week, the Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation (Corridor) has announced a new tool to empower local aspiring entrepreneurs through an innovative online service called SizeUpIowaLakes. The service will be available for free to all local entrepreneurs on the Corridor website beginning in early March. A national entrepreneurship boom is now occurring as entrepreneurs starting new businesses has reached historic highs. This is a positive sign fo...

New soy processing plant to be built in Buena Vista County

Monday, August 30, 2021

Alta, Iowa –Aug. 30, 2021—A new soybean crushing plant that will be built in Buena Vista County near Alta, Iowa, pending state and local approvals, will propel value-added agriculture forward in Iowa. Development partners Mike Kinley and Nick Bowdish have joined forces to develop Platinum Crush, LLC, the second, modern soybean processing facility in the state. Kinley is also leading the development of Shell Rock Soy Processing (SRSP), which is under construction in Butler County in northeast Iowa. “Platinum Crush is positioned to extract all the value possible from locally-grown soybeans,” said Kinley, the managing member of Ag Development Group LLC...

Annual Meeting Wrapup

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Capital Campaign Update: Partnership, Progress, Prosperity The Corridor’s goal for the current FY2021-FY2025 capital campaign was $3.5 million over five years, giving the organization an operating budget of $700,000 per year. Dalziel announced that the Corridor exceeded the goal: 88 investors for a five-year total of $3,583,013 46 Five-Year Pledges for $1,770,500 31 Economic Support investors at $355,930 per year 8 In-Kind Pledges Corridor Progress Dalziel updated investors on progress made on the four goals in the Corridor’s Case for Investment. Goal 1: Business Retention, Expansion & Attraction 1 active Business Expansion project 5 active Business Attraction projects 76 small businesses assisted with federal, state and local COVID relief programs Goal 2...

Next Steps: Worker Recruitment

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Three weeks ago in this column, we shared that we are listening to you and that we are preparing to extend our www.GetALakesLife.com program to address your growing worker recruitment needs. Many of you reached out to us, and many others were receptive when we contacted and visited with you about what could be done. Thank you!! As readers of this column know, we are preparing to capture additional videos that share the stories of area employers. We will invest in getting these videos into the hands of prospective employees. But before we do, we need to capture many of these videos. W...

Women in Manufacturing: Tyson Foods

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...

The Measurement is People

Friday, September 11, 2020

The conversation was with a senior executive. Her topic was obstacles to hiring. Her summary was compact and incisive: “Housing, childcare, and air travel, those are the reasons I lose people.” Here at the Corridor, we hear about these issues regularly, but this was the first time someone had tumbled them into a single sentence for me and stated so emphatically their importance. It was jarring, and it made clear the challenge. No, not to provide housing, childcare, and air travel, but to shift attention and effort from jobs, jobs, jobs to continuous community improvement. New technologies and a connected global econom...

Fast Facts About Iowa Lakes

Employment Opportunity

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

Employment-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.

Highway 86-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

News & Events

News & Events

Fast Facts About Iowa Lakes

Employment Opportunity

Highway improvements...

Low cost of living and affordable housing...

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