By PETER HUSSMANN
Economic development activity in Jasper County took "one step back" in the last fiscal year as the area was rocked by substantial layoffs at the TPI wind blade manufacturing facility and the reduction in force initiative under way as part of Windstream's takeover of Iowa Telecom and its Newton-based headquarters.
That analysis will be provided to the Jasper County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday in JEDCO Executive Director Craig Hamilton's annual report to the board and his request for $35,250 for first half funding.
"Fiscal year 2009-2010 continued the trend established during the previous year of slow or no growth," Hamilton's annual report leads off. "The past year would have to be classified as one of 'one step back.'"
Hamilton makes note that while economic development activity had been relatively stagnant in the early part of the last fiscal year, "the news grew worse in the second half of the year" with the announcements of TPI's reduction in its workforce from approximately 500 to 233, "primarily due to continued uncertainty in the wind industry and to restructure their Newton operations."
Hamilton, who said TPI's reduction in force helped push the area's unemployment rate to 8.2 percent in May (down from levels near 10 percent in months prior), states that TPI is asking the Iowa Department of Economic Development for a one-year exteion of the three-year period it has to create and maintain their pledged 500 jobs. TPI said it plans to meet that level in early 2011. The request goes before the IDED board on Thursday.
Though the economic downturn had previously stalled TPI's plans to expand their Newton facility, the county economic development director hoped a rebounding national economy would spur both of the county's wind energy facilities, including Trinity Towers which showed steady growth throughout the past year.
"As the national economic recovery gains momentum and manufacturing activity increases, the added demand for electricity should help the wind industry to achieve the growth levels it had prior to the economic downturn," Hamilton writes. "This will help Jasper County's two major wind turbine component manufacturers and other suppliers to re-establish prior growth levels as well."
The report goes on to note that the impact of Windstream's purchase of Iowa Telecom is still not fully known on the local economy. After the sale was finalized on June 1, Windstream announced the elimination of 35 local jobs though "more are expected to be notified in the months ahead," Hamilton said. (The City of Newton was provided with notification of the layoff through the Federal WARN Act that requires companies with more than 100 employees to provide notice when it plans to eliminate more than 500 employees or 33 percent of its workforce. A new Iowa law now in effect requires companies with 25 or more employees to give notice when it plans to permanently reduce their workforce by 25 or more.)
Hamilton said the entrepreneurial support training services offered by JEDCO and the Newton Development Corporation might act to "spur new business growth by former Iowa Telecom employees."
Not all the news was bad Hamilton said, noting that a 200-megawatt wind farm was announced for the northeast part of the county and that Key Cooperative, the new name for the merged Heart of Iowa Cooperative and Sully Cooperative Exchange, is constructing a 50-car grain transfer station on the former Iowa Interstate Railroad's intermodal facility.
Further, Hamilton said interest continues to be shown in the former Maytag manufacturing facility and more than 20 leads were produced for the area from the IDED, more than half pertaining to the wind industry. Serious interest is also being shown in the county farm property adjacent to Iowa Speedway, he said.
Hamilton said the county continued to be active in marketing the area through its invovlement with the Iowa Connections but said its recent decision to join the Greater Des Moines Partnership should prove beneficial.
"[I]t made good economic sense to develop the natural economic ties between Jasper County and the Des Moines metro region," Hamilton said. "The Iowa Speedway was already a member of the Partnership and leads were being developed from the Partnership that were good fist for the former Maytag properties, both the manufacturing and corporate headquarters facilities."
In the year ahead, Hamilton said work has already begun on Central Iowa Water Association's 500,000 gallon water tower adjacent to the biodiesel plant taken over in the past fiscal year by Renewable Energy Group from Central Iowa Energy. He hopes too that a one mile section of North 39th Avenue East might be able to be paved "to provide another entrance to the growing industrial area in Jasper County and northeast Newton."
"While no one can forecast the next 12 months with any certainty, let's hope 2010-2011 is better than the year just concluded," Hamilton ends the report.
A full copy of the report can be read here.
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