(DES MOINES, IA) – The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) Board has approved an application for a data center in Davenport, which will assist in the creation of 35 jobs and result in $800 million in new capital investment for the state. The board also approved innovation funding in support of two startups located in Granger and West Des Moines. Their actions were announced today (Friday). In addition, IEDA approved assistance from Iowa’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) Innovation Fund for three startups in Ames, Slater and West Des Moines.

Details…

Meta to construct data center in Davenport: Vemerald, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meta Platforms, Inc., will store and transfer user and customer data for their operating systems. The company plans to construct a data center, which will include office space, servers and support equipment. The project represents a capital investment of $800 million and is expected to create 35 jobs incented at a qualifying wage of $28.76 per hour. The board granted the City of Davenport the ability to utilize the High Quality Jobs (HQJ) program provision for value-added property tax exemption for this project.

Awards made to two startups:

Bovi-Jet, based in Granger, makes devices for cattle producers to aid in animal health. Their product overcomes the time and manual labor required to treat livestock throughout their lifetime by using sensors to detect movement of cattle and pour a stream of medicine along the backs with a farmer’s existing chute system. The company was awarded a $50,000 Proof of Commercial Relevance (POCR) loan for IP development and evaluation, proof of concept work, product refinement, key personnel and equipment, and market planning and entry activities.

West Des Moines’ Incentit is an integrated incentive management platform supporting organizations that implement their own programs along with third party program managers. The software offers program management, tracking and reporting as well as a mobile app, application intake portals and a REST API. The company was awarded a $50,000 POCR loan for product refinement.

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

SSBCI Innovation Fund awards to three startups:

Ames-based biotech company PowerPollen focuses on transforming agricultural productivity and sustainability with hybrid seed and grain production systems. The company developed a revolutionary “pollination on demand” technology for the global seed industry. PowerPollen was awarded a $1 million Innovation Acceleration Expansion Fund loan for IP development and evaluation, prototype development and equipment, product refinement and testing, project team and partnerships, and manufacturing.

Tractor Zoom, located in West Des Moines, offers innovate online solutions for the farm equipment and heavy machinery market. Their primary platform, TractorZoom.com, streamlines the process for buyers to find, value and finance equipment. In addition, their cloud-based business-to-business platforms, Tractor Zoom Pro and Anvil Pro, help value, manage and sell equipment assets. The company was awarded a $1 million Innovation Acceleration Expansion Fund loan for key personnel.

Headquartered in Slater, Gross-Wen Technologies provides a patented algae biofilm treatment system under the RAB™ brand. The technology enables the effective and sustainable use of algae to remove nitrogen and phosphorous from wastewater. It can also be used with clean water to grow valuable algae for various uses that include fertilizers, bioplastics and biofuels. The company was awarded a $500,000 Innovation Acceleration Propel Fund loan for key personnel and equipment.

The SSBCI program’s Innovation Fund increases assistance available through Iowa’s innovation continuum to support entrepreneurs through concept, launch and expansion. Award recommendations for these funds are made by the SSBCI Review Committee to the IEDA director for approval. The committee met on May 14, 2024, to review eligible applications.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors were hosted by the Schmidt Family Funeral Home on Thursday, May 16th, 2024. The Ambassadors heard recent business updates and helped welcome their new Funeral Director, Devin Hunter.

Graydon and his father John, took ownership of the Hockenberry Family Care Funeral home in September of 2021. Fast forward to 2024, on April 22, the Schmidt Family Funeral Home purchased Kessler Funeral Homes of Exira and Audubon, which was owned and operated by the Kessler family for 60 years. Schmidt Family Funeral Home now has five locations located in Atlantic, Anita, Adair, Exira, and Audubon. Currently, the Anita Chapel has relocated, and construction is underway on a brand-new building.

With the recent purchase of Kessler Funeral Homes, Schmidt Family Funeral Home welcomed Graydon’s long-time friend Devin Hunter. Devin graduated from Adair-Casey in 2010 and attended Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny, Iowa, graduating from the Mortuary Science Program. Devin has been a Funeral Director in Corning for 10 years and looks forward to serving the residents of Cass, Adair, and Audubon.

Pictured Left to Right Back Rows: Kennedy Freund, Nina Welter, Scott Bennett, Madeline Schmidt, Alisha Wagner, Krysta Hanson. Steve Anderson, Ann Chris, DeeDee Kalny , Colt Doherty, Kyle Lenderman, Tori Gibson, Dolly Bergmann , Sue Liston, Wesley Anstey , Bill Saluk , John Bricker , Jeremy Butler, Chris Parks, Keith Honke , Lana Westphalen , Chris Karns , Julie Waters, Andrew Martin, Jim Kickland , Megan Sramek
Pictured Left to Right Front Row : Jonn Schmidt, Devin Hunter, Graydon Schmidt, Marlene DeGeest, Chris Karns

Schmidt Family Funeral Home takes great pride in providing personal service that is as unique as the person lost, and treat each loved one entrusted to their care, with the utmost respect, gentleness, and devoted professionalism. Schmidt Family Funeral Home’s Atlantic location is located at 1804 East 7th Street. For more information contact 712-243-4111 or visit their website https://www.schmidtfamilyfh.com/

(Radio Iowa) – This year marks what would’ve been the 150th birthdays of both President Herbert Hoover and his wife, Lou, and a special exhibit will open tomorrow (Saturday) at his birthplace in West Branch to celebrate the sesquicentennial. Aaron Scheinblum, spokesman for the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, says visitors will discover the lives of the Hoovers in a completely new way, highlighting their birthdays over the decades and the celebrations in their honor. “More than 70 items from our museum collection are actually coming out of storage and being put on display,” Scheinblum says, “and what makes them so unique is they all have ties to birthdays over the years for both Bert and Lou Hoover.”

new exhibit is called “Hoover 150: A Birthday Celebration,” and Scheinblum says it will offer a unique perspective on some of the Hoovers’ most intimate moments with friends and family.  “Our museum staff has, without exaggerating, spent weeks researching, diving into the diaries of Lou Henry Hoover,” he says, “trying to figure out exactly what memories match up with what item, to be able to tell such a unique story as you go through the walls and go through the galleries.” From childhood through adulthood, visitors to the West Branch facility will be able to experience some of the Hoovers’ great birthday memories through items that have never before been on public display.

“We’re actually showing a lot of different things as far as thank you cards, birthday cards — these giant birthday cards that he was honored with,” he says, “and a lot of correspondence, a lot of back and forth, sharing these memories with friends and family.” Sheinblum says this is a temporary exhibit that will only be up through the end of the year, and it provides an opportunity for visitors to discover the Hoovers in a remarkable way. “We actually have a number of Lou’s dresses in our museum collection,” Scheinblum says. “We were actually able to find what Lou was wearing, specifically on her birthday, while during her time in the White House, and one of those dresses is perfectly described and actually in our museum collection.”

library and museum will be closing early next year for what’s billed as a complete remodel and renovation. The 20-million dollar project is expected to take 12 to 15 months. For the remainder of this year, it will be open every day, with the only exceptions being Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

https://hoover.archives.gov

(Creston, Iowa) – The Creston Police Department reports a woman from Creston was arrested Wednesday morning, on an Animal Neglect charge. 35-year-old Elda Soraida Lemus was arrested at her residence on a charge of Animal Neglect with Serious Injury or Death. Lemus was taken to Union County Jail and later posted a $2,000 cash or surety bond before being released.

And, a little after 10-p.m. Thursday, 39-year-old Samantha Lynn Hayes, of Creston, was arrested for Domestic Abuse Assault/2nd Offense, and for Consume(ing) [an] Alcoholic Beverage in Public Place/1st Offense. Hayes was taken to Clarke County Jail where she was being held without bond.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – A woman from central Iowa faces a felony charge related to Insurance Fraud. The Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau says 39-year-old Sarah Rahm, of Bondurant, was charged with one count of Insurance Fraud – Presenting False Information (a Class D Felony). The charges are the result of an investigation that began in March, of 2024.

According to the criminal complaint filed by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau, Rahm made willful misrepresentations regarding her pet’s medical history and then falsified the onset date of a claimed medical condition in connection with an insurance claim. Rahm was arrested and booked into the Polk County Jail on May 3, 2024.  Rahm posted a $5,000 bond and was released.

Sarah Rahm

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(Pleasantville Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau report a Knoxville man, 46-year-old Theodore Richard Liautaud, Jr., was arrested May 1st on a warrant charging him with: one count of Insurance Fraud Presenting False Information; Tampering with Records, and Theft in the 3^rd Degree. The charges are the result of an investigation that began in May of 2023, after the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau received a complaint against Liautaud, Jr., who was the owner of the Chiropractic Hut-Liautaud Family Chiropractic located in Pleasantville.

According to the complaint, Liautaud had been billing his patient’s insurance providers for dates of services that had not taken place during a period from October 2021 to May of 2023.

Theodore Richard Liautaud, Jr

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Officials with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board decided Thursday, to open an investigation into Melissa Vine’s campaign in Iowa’s 3rd Congressional District. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports Vine, who is running as a Democrat in the district, was the subject of a complaint made by the Iowa Unity Coalition, a progressive PAC, earlier in May. The coalition held a vote April 30 on who to endorse in June 7 Democratic primary between Vine and Lanon Baccam, a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official and Biden campaign staffer. Registered members had to pay $20 to the group to participate in the online vote.

IUC Chair Mitch Henry said in an interview that the PAC saw a sudden increase in members the day of and the day before the vote. During the 24-hour online voting process, large quantities of votes were submitted over the course of one hour. An audit by the Iowa Unity Coalition found that 41 votes were submitted by non-members, and that 43 others were submitted by people who had signed up for the group shortly before the vote and had the same address and credit card information, as well as email addresses linked to Vine’s campaign.

Henry said that 125 new members were registered through ActBlue primarily from April 30 through May 1 as the endorsement voting period began, with 76 registrations flagged as fraudulent. At an emergency board meeting held May 1, the organization disqualified 84 votes from the final endorsement count and the Iowa Unity Coalition officially endorsed Baccam May 7. Henry said the Iowa Unity Coalition contacted four individuals he knew of that were a part of the registration who said they did not register to become a new member, did not pay for membership and did not vote through the coalition’s website in the endorsement process. For many of the other individuals involved in the registration surge, he said, it was unclear how many were real people.

“I voted” stickers are scattered over a table at a polling site in Des Moines on Nov. 3, 2020. (Photo By Perry Beeman/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

The investigation will examine whether Vine’s campaign violated state laws banning a person from making contributions or expenditures in the name of another person. Such an action could potentially violate state and federal law by using federal campaign money to make contributions on behalf of individuals to a state PAC. The actions appear to be tied to Lou McDonald, Vine’s former campaign manager who was fired earlier this week for his actions related to the alleged illegal contributions. In a statement to the Des Moines Register, a Vine campaign spokesperson said that “a staffer took actions that do not reflect our values, and he is no longer a part of our campaign.” The Vine campaign had earlier called the action a “clerical error,” but Henry said that McDonald made claims in a voicemail that the Iowa Unity Coalition had received illegal contributions. Henry dismissed this accusation, pointing to recent audits of the organization that have found no illegal contributions.

Zach Goodrich, the executive director of the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, said that he plans to “expedite” the investigation as much as possible with the goal of completing it before the June primary. He also stated that the complaint is under the jurisdiction of the board, and that a violation of the state law on contributions could amount to a serious misdemeanor.