March 18, 2022 (DES MOINES, IA) – Today, the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) Board approved awards for three companies, which will assist in the creation of 56 jobs and result in over $76 million in new capital investment for the state. These projects are located in Ames, Peosta and Underwood. The board also approved innovation funding in support of five startups located in Coralville, Des Moines, Riverside, Waukee and Wayland.

Berdex locates U.S. headquarters in Ames
Berdex USA manufactures livestock trailers with a focus on biosecurity measures and animal well-being. The company plans to locate its U.S. headquarters at an existing facility in Ames where it will manufacture three different livestock trailers for swine and cattle producers. The project represents a capital investment of just over $1 million and is expected to create 20 jobs at a qualifying wage of $28.87 per hour. The board awarded tax benefits through the High Quality Jobs (HQJ) program.

Camso expands product line in Peosta
A subsidiary of Camso Holdings USA and thus a subsidiary of Michelin North America, Camso Manufacturing USA designs, develops and manufactures specialized components, subsystems and assemblies for original equipment manufacturers. The company plans to rework its facility in Peosta with new equipment to implement a new line. The board awarded this $20 million capital investment project tax benefits through the HQJ program. It is expected to create 33 jobs, of which 17 are incented at a qualifying wage of $21.13 per hour.

Link Snacks expands facility in Underwood
Link Snacks, Inc. is a manufacturer of meat snacks operating in the U.S. and internationally. The facility in Underwood serves as a national distribution hub and the company plans to expand it, approximately doubling the current capacity. They also plan to purchase an automated storage and retrieval system. The project is expected to create three jobs at a qualifying wage of $22.94 per hour and was awarded tax benefits through the HQJ program. It represents a capital investment of just over $55 million.

Awards made to five startups

FBB Biomed, doing business in Coralville, is a biotech company with a mission to expand the reimbursable diagnostics market to brain diseases. The company plans to demonstrate the performance of its prototype in a laboratory setting on patients with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The company was awarded a $125,000 Demonstration Fund loan for additional testing and hiring of key personnel.

Riverside-based Harvest Increase Agriculture develops a series of fertilizer additives, called SUPRGrow, to increase corn yields. They continue to investigate the chemical and physical properties of the fertilizer, application rates to achieve the most effective results, and the application itself to save farmers time and money without having the need to make an extra pass over their fields. The company was awarded a $25,000 Proof of Commercial Relevance loan for product refinement.

Des Moines’ Dhakai is a clothing sourcing marketplace that connects small to midsize fashion brands and retailers directly to compliant and verified apparel manufacturers. The technology platform allows buyers to find the perfect fit with regard to materials used, minimum quantity requirements, and sustainability and social welfare practices, which removes the often-inefficient middlemen and significantly saves costs. The company was awarded a $100,000 Demonstration Fund loan for product refinement, market planning and entry activities, key personnel, and equipment.

Bristola, based in Waukee, is a renewable energy technology services company. Their patent pending anaerobic digester technology, known as the Submersible Robotic Cleaning System (SRCS), allows the cleaning and inspection of tanks and covered lagoons. The SRCS does not require a disruption in operations nor human entry, providing a more efficient and cost-effective solution that improves the overall operation and offers significant environmental benefits. The company was awarded a $25,000 Proof of Commercial Relevance loan for product refinement.

Headquartered in Wayland, ChopLocal provides an alternative meat supply chain through an online marketplace that connects consumers to butcher shops, meat processors and farmers. With more consumers purchasing meat online, it is hard for the smaller operations to provide that benefit, so the ChopLocal platform offers those suppliers with easy access to create an online storefront, manage orders and organize information. The company was awarded a $25,000 Proof of Commercial Relevance loan for IP development and evaluation and market analysis.

Award recommendations for these funds are made by the Technology Commercialization Committee to the IEDA Board for approval.

(Ames, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Beef Industry Council report Iowans submitted their nominations between February 14 – March 14, to kick off the quest to find the best burger in Iowa. Nominations were accepted online by the Iowa Beef Industry Council and the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association. The number of votes each restaurant received determined the 2022 Top Ten restaurants. The restaurants making the Top Ten list (in alphabetical order) include:
Arty’s Ice Cream & Grill, Wilton                                                   Pally’s Bar & Grille, Clive
Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, Sac City                                             The Flying Elbow, Marshalltown
Flaming Office Bar and Grill, Toledo                                          The Handlebar, Dallas Center
Foodie Garage Eatery, Dubuque                                                Victoria Station, Harlan
Lachele’s Fine Foods, Des Moines                                             West Towne Pub, Ames

To qualify, the burger must be a 100% real beef patty served on a bun or bread product. Burgers may include any combination of condiments, sauces, cheese or toppings. Kylie Peterson, Director of Marketing for the Iowa Beef Industry Council, said “In total, we had more than 5,400 votes from 265 cities and towns across Iowa. This year’s Top Ten restaurants are award-winning worthy, but are only a few of the many restaurants in Iowa that do an outstanding job of promoting and serving our beef products to their customers on behalf of Iowa’s beef farmers.”

Eight of the Top Ten restaurants are new qualifiers. Returning contestants include Arty’s Ice Cream & Grill and Foodie Garage Eatery. The final phase in the quest for the 2022 Iowa’s Best Burger will now begin. All Top Ten restaurants will be visited by a panel of anonymous judges who will evaluate the burgers based on taste, appearance, and proper doneness (160 degrees Fahrenheit). The judges’ scores and comments will be accumulated and the winner will be announced on May 3 to kick off May Beef Month. According to Bob Noble, Iowa Cattlemen’s Association President, “Iowa cattle producers work tirelessly to provide high-quality beef to consumers across the state, country and globe. We are proud to support the Best Burger contest, and would like to congratulate the Top Ten, who serve 100% real beef. We thank you for serving our product and bringing out the best of beef.”

Last year, Bambino’s of Ossian took home the title of 2021 Iowa’s Best Burger. Winners in previous years include: 2020 – Twisted Tail Steakhouse & Saloon of BeeBeeTown; 2019 – Wood Iron Grille of Oskaloosa; 2018 – Café Beaudelaire of Ames; 2017 – The Smokin’ Hereford BBQ of Storm Lake; 2016 – The Chuckwagon Restaurant Adair; 2015 – The Cider House of Fairfield; 2014 – Brick City Grill in Ames; 2013 – 61 Chop House Grille in Mediapolis; 2012 – Coon Bowl III in Coon Rapids; 2011 – Rusty Duck in Dexter; and 2010 – Sac County Cattle Company of Sac City.

To learn more about the contest and the Top Ten restaurants, including addresses and hours, visit www.iabeef.org.

(Radio Iowa) – Republican Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson recently joined with Democrat Congresswoman Cindy Axne in sending a letter to the National Weather Service after reports of technical delays in warnings of severe storms. Those delays came earlier this month on the day that seven people died in tornadoes.  “I want to make sure that everybody has the tools to effectively warn their communities,” Hinson says. “…our emergency managers, our meteorologists, that’s who we are talking to right now to find out where the breakdowns happened in the communication on their end” Hinson says.

The delays in tornado warnings on March 5th were due primarily to a damaged fiber optic cable. National Weather Service staff came up with a workaround and a warning that a tornado was likely to hit near Winterset was issued 20 minutes in advance. Hinson says they hope to hear back more from the N-W-S on how things can be improved. “So we can find out what the actual legislative proposals need to be, to find out what I need to do in terms of resources or policies — so we make sure that we get these problems fixed so we can keep people safe,” she says.

Hinson says her conversations with local and state officials indicate the damage will not rise to the level needed to be approved for a federal disaster declaration. “As of now no — but we will continue to monitor any feedback from our local folks as well,” Hinson says. Governor Kim Reynolds has issued state disaster proclamations for the ten counties hit by the tornadoes on March 5th. Those counties are Adair, Benton, Decatur, Jasper, Lucas, Madison, Polk, Tama, Warren, and Wayne counties.

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Shelby County Board of Supervisors met in a regular session Tuesday morning. According to the meeting minutes (courtesy of Shelby County Auditor Mark L. Maxwell), Chris Nelson of Gronewald Bell and Kyhnn was on hand to present the board the results of the fiscal year 2021 audit to be filed with the State of Iowa. The review concluded that the County was in sound financial shape on June 30th, 2021.

• Two temporary liquor licenses were then approved by the Board after a motion by Parkhurst and a second by Haake. These licenses are for two events at the Pink Petunia North of Irwin near the town of Manilla. A vote was held with Haake, Kenkel and Parkhurst all voting in favor of approval.
• Todd Valline of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce announced that this Saturday will be another legislative coffee and Valline advised the supervisors of other upcoming activities in the Chamber.
• Shelby County Roads Superintendent and County Engineer, Brand Burmeister, presented the 5-year plan for fiscal years 2023-2027 and the currently planned projects.  The Board voted in favor of the proposed 5-year plan.

Supervisor Burmeister presented a Utilities in Right of Way Policy that had not been updated in over 20 years, a bituminous road policy that has needed to be rewritten and a Training Reimbursement Policy to adapt to the new commercial drivers license procedures. The policies were approved by the Board. A change in the Entrance Policy for secondary roads was tabled until more information can be received.

Maxwell reports the Shelby County Board of Supervisors has been presented the Tentative Agreements with AFSCME 1014-4 Iowa Council 61 concerning the Shelby County Emergency Management and Shelby County Sheriff’s office employees as well as AFSME Iowa Council 61 Local 1014-2, Secondary Road employee organization. It was moved by Parkhurst , seconded by Haake , to approve the Tentative Agreements for three-year contracts, effective July 1, 2022, with these Unions and to authorize the Chairman to sign the final contracts, pending signatures from the Union representatives. There were no objections. A Resolution (presented below) regarding the publication and hearing date for an amendment to the fiscal year 2022 budget, was approved as written.

RESOLUTION 2022-19 ENTRY RECORD OF THE FILING AND CONSIDERATION OF THE COUNTY BUDGET AMENDMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022

BE IT REMEMBERED on this 15th day of March 2022, the Board of Supervisors of Shelby County, Iowa, met in scheduled session for filing and considering the amendment of the County Budget for Fiscal Year 2022. There was present a quorum as required by law. Entry record for filing of said budget amendment was established and approved for publication. The Board, being fully advised, find that the date of the hearing on said amendment should be fixed, and it does fix, the 5th day of April 2022, A.D., at the hour of 9:00 a.m. as the date and time of hearing to be held in the Supervisor’s Chambers in the Courthouse in Shelby County, Iowa. The proposed service areas amended are as follows:

Explanation of Changes: Revenue from bond proceeds and ARPA proceeds and expenditures.

(March 18, 2022) – Iowans interested in issues vital to rural communities are invited to attend the 2022 Iowa Rural Summit, organized by the Iowa Rural Development Council. The event will be held on April 12th and 13th at the Gateway Hotel and Convention Center in Ames, Iowa. Communities are encouraged to register teams of three, though individuals are also eligible to attend the event. New for the 2022 Summit, college students interested in rural issues and economic development can register at a reduced price.

To register for the event as an individual, a team, or a student, visit www.iowardc.org/summit. The cost for a three-person team is $210. Individuals can register for $190 and students for $25. The registration fee includes admission to all Rural Summit events, breakfast on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, and lunch on Tuesday. Bill Menner, Iowa Rural Development Council executive director, says “We’re looking forward to a great Summit this year in Ames. Last year’s Summit brought together nearly 250 Iowans, and we hope Ames’ central location will encourage more to attend this year.”

• Pre-Summit events on April 11 include a Rural Housing Readiness Assessment Workshop and a tour of Iowa State’s Digital Manufacturing Lab. Another pre-conference tour will feature Gross-Wen Technologies and a demonstration of its algae-based system used to treat city wastewater.
• Tuesday the 12th features sessions on making rural places more welcoming and recruiting and training rural leaders. Other Day One topics include growing rural ag-tech businesses, building broadband for all, housing success stories, and aging and living in place. The day wraps up with the presentation of the inaugural Rand Fisher Rural Leadership Award.
• Wednesday’s events include a roundtable focus on the impacts of the 2020 U.S. Census. Also, the popular “45 Ideas in 45 Minutes” session allows communities to share their success stories. The day wraps up with a closing keynote address by Iowan Brenda Clark Hamilton on the need for dynamic leadership in rural Iowa. The Summit adjourns at noon.

The Iowa Rural Development Council was formed in 1992 as part of a Presidential Executive Order. Today a broad range of public-private partners supports its focus on empowering small towns and building capacity for rural leaders. Sponsors for this year’s summit include the Iowa Farm Bureau’s Renew Rural Iowa initiative, ITC Midwest, Iowa’s Small Business Development Centers, D.A. Davidson, the IADG Community Foundation, Impact 7G, Grinnell Mutual, AARP, Iowa’s Cultivation Corridor and Monkeythis.

(Radio Iowa) – Members of the Iowa House have held a bipartisan tribute to a legislative staffer who died a week ago following a brief illness with COVID. Forty-eight-year-old Josh Bronsink  had worked as an analyst for Senate Republicans since 2011. Representative Ann Meyer, a Republican from Fort Dodge, read Bronsink’s obituary and shared her own memories. “Josh was a kind and calming prescience, even in difficult negotiations,” Meyer says. “Many of you also know Kelly, who works in Human Resources for the Iowa House.”

Bronsink and his wife married 19 years ago and are the parents of two children. House Democratic Leader Jennifer Konfrst of Windsor Heights says she and her husband have been close friends with the Bronsinks for years. “We disagreed about politics, but — wow — life is about so much more than politics and his passing reminded us of what’s really important.”  Konfrst said. “…Josh was one of the most kind-hearted and deep thinking souls I have ever known. He cared a lot and he cared deeply.” On Monday, Senator Jeff Edler of State Center led the senate in a moment of silence.

“Josh was an important member of our (Republican) caucus staff and our senate family,” Edler said. Bronsink’s funeral is scheduled for next Thursday at a church in Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa) – To avoid further litigation, the Marshalltown school district is agreeing to pay 25-thousand dollars the to family of a student who was allegedly injured by a school bus aide. Sandra Lurvey was fired from her position as a school bus aide for the district after an investigation was conducted into the incident. She faces a criminal trial, although an exact trial date involving the case has not yet been set. Lurvey faces charges of child endangerment – bodily injury, a class D felony; and assault causing bodily injury or mental illness; which is an aggravated misdemeanor. The case stems from an incident that occurred on January 30th, 2020 when a student on a special needs bus felt overly warm and took her coat off while aboard the bus.

According to records, at that point Lurvey allegedly became involved in a physical confrontation with the student in an effort to convince her to put the coat back on due to the cold temperatures. The student suffered undisclosed injuries during the incident, according to a police incident report. Marshalltown school superintendent Theron Schutte said the situation was unfortunate, but further added that offering a monetary settlement made the most sense from the district’s perspective.

(Radio Iowa) – Major party candidates for state and federal office have until 5 p.m. today (Friday) to deliver their nominating petitions to the Secretary of State’s office in Des Moines. In order to run in November’s General Election, Republicans and Democrats either have to win their party’s primary election in June or be nominated at party conventions in the following weeks. Most candidates haven’t procrastinated and have already dropped off binders full of petition sheets signed by eligible Iowa voters. The number of petition signatures varies based on the office a candidate seeks. Candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate have to submit at least 35-hundred petition signatures and have to show they’ve collected at least 100 signatures from 19 counties.

Under new rules, candidates from other political parties have to submit petition signatures by today’s deadline to qualify for the November ballot. By the close of business Thursday, the Libertarian Party has candidates running for governor and lieutenant governor and four legislative seats. Four other candidates who intend to run for state offices in November are listed as “no party” or independent candidates. Candidates for COUNTY offices have until NEXT Friday, March 25th, to deliver their nominating petitions to the auditor’s office in their county.

(Radio Iowa) – A project by the Bur Oak Land Trust to bring Pawpaws back in Iowa is entering its second year. Executive Director Jason Taylor says they planted seedlings in the first year and had people foster them. “They took care of them generally between April and October — then they would return them to us. So we were able to receive about 800 saplings that were grown over the summer,” Taylor says. Pawpaw trees were once common in Iowa as bison and giant sloths that would eat the fruit and disperse the seeds. Taylor says the Iowa City-based organization is hoping to expand on the number of trees they grow.

“This year we were actually able to get about four-thousand seeds…but we really just don’t have the capability to pot four-thousand seeds, it’s too big,” according to Taylor. “And so we are actually starting to sell seeds to the community for those who are interested in putting them in their own yards.
And then we also are potting around 600 this year so we will have another group of fosters working with us to grow them over the summer.” He says the Pawpaw trees like shady areas with wet soil.

“And so they are often found naturally growing near streams. But they definitely do work well in an urban environment. There are a number of locations in Iowa City where people have planted them in their yards. And sometimes when they are getting started you need to give them a little more water than you normally would,” Taylor says. Taylor says you need to have a least two trees to pollinate and create the fruit.

“It’s a very interesting fruit. Most people do like it. It’s about the size of a russet potato — they can be fairly large. It’s the largest native fruit to North America — so it’s a little bit unique there. It’s kind of a yellowish-green color, and then when it’s ripe, they will fall off the tree.” He says the Pawpaw tastes like a custard that is a mango-banana mix. Taylor says the Pawpaws can be planted in a patch. “They like to grow close together, and so you can actually grow a little colony of these if you have a ten-foot patch of land in your yard. You can grow five or six of these trees together and that allows the beetles that pollinate them a better chance of finding another tree,” Taylor says.

Taylor says you can go to their website at buroaklandtrust.org and buy Pawpaw seeds, or you can volunteer to help foster the seeds into saplings. He says the Pawpaw will grow well in all but the northern counties of Iowa where it would be too cold for them to properly grow.

(Creston, Iowa) – Police in Creston report the arrest at around 9:20-p.m. Wednesday, of 39-year-old Mathew Louis Scherer, from Creston. He was arrested at a residence in the 300 block of N. Pine Street, and charged with two-counts Domestic Abuse Assault, along with Criminal Mischief in the 4th Degree. Scherer was brought to the Union County Jail, and was later released on bond.

Authorities said also, 38-year-old Curtis Lee Lamasters, of Creston, was arrested for OWI/1st offense, Interference with Official Acts, Driving on a Revoked License, and Assault (without injury) on a person in a certain occupation. His bond was set at $3,300.