Rick Young made a promise to himself back in the ’80s when he witnessed the stress brought on by the great farm crisis that might not have caught the attention of the rest of the world, but was a focus in Hamilton County.
His goal was simple: Make things better.
Well, things got better on Tuesday. There was Young, who is now a Hamilton County supervisor, standing between Webster City Mayor John Hawkins and Dan Culhane, president and chief executive officer of the Ames Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development, all three signing an agreement that promises to keep the ’80s where they belong: In the past.
The signing brings not only Webster City and Hamilton County into the fold of the Ames Economic Alliance, it promises to serve every one of Hamilton County’s smaller communities in the surge forward.
“I’ve got a story to tell,” Young told the vast group gathered for Tuesday morning’s signing at the Briggs Woods Conference Center.
He recalled for them the days in Hamilton County that were not so fine and the fractures that exacerbated what needed to be healed. Later, when revisiting his comments in private conversation, he talked about families that had fallen apart because of the economics of life in Hamilton County.
“The reason I tell the story is I’ve heard that same scenario all over small towns in the United States. Things that divided communities. Small things. Sometimes big things that tear communities apart.”
Young began to work for the opposite. Consequently, he was key in bringing Hamilton County into the new alliance that also includes Story and Boone counties.
“This,” he said, “is very good.”
For weeks, Ottie Maxey has been making local contacts. Maxey, a former education professional, is the new Alliance’s contact locally.
“Our organization can bring experience, knowledge and relationships to this region,” he told the audience just before the signing. “But without the energy of the community’s elected officials and strategic partners, we can only go so far.
“The combination of the collective skill and the collective will,” he said, “that is the formula for success in Hamilton County. In closing, I thank you for being here and look forward to working with you in the coming months.”
“This is a big deal,” Webster City’s Interim City Manager John Harrenstein said later.
Earlier in the month, Hamilton County and Webster City each voted to join the Ames Economic Development Alliance; now the contracts are signed.
At the time, Culhane explained that the Ames Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development, of which he is the head, will legally become the Ames Economic Development Alliance in June.
“We just helped Boone attract Daisy brand out of Dallas, Texas,” he said then. It will “build a 702,000-square-foot facility in their community and create a whole bunch of really meaningful employment opportunities.”
Cottage cheese and sour cream maker Daisy Brand LLC announced in May that it is investing $626.5 million toward construction of the manufacturing facility in Boone, according to Food Business news. The company expects that site to create approximately 106 new jobs in its beginning. It projects the number of jobs may eventually grow to 255.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority board approved $7 million in direct financial assistance in addition to tax benefits for the company.
Culhane emphasized then that jobs in Boone benefit the entire region, and that is a vision of the future he believes will make this newly-named alliance crucial.
With representatives from every town in Hamilton County listening, Cuhane outlined a vision that would attract not only the Daisy-level job-producers, but also cultivate the smaller local business opportunities.
“Eighty percent of the job growth is going to be from people who are already here,” he said.
“We’re very interested in locating businesses, period,” he said. “There’s all sizes of businesses that we facilitate every day. We had one two months ago that I sent to (John Harrenstein, Webster City’s interim city manager). It was a company that needed about 15,000 square feet. So we were looking for an existing building. And an existing workforce.”
An existing workforce is key, as is a job that pays a living wage.
Culhane said, “I can tell you as an example, the Daisy project and most of the projects, all the projects we work on … they’re going to pay over the average wage in the county that they’re located in.” In Boone County, that wage is over $24 an hour.
“So almost all the jobs tied to the Daisy project are over $24,” he said.
“We’ve got 70 investors on our board of directors and they’re predominantly large employers that write pretty big checks to support the work that we do. And so I’m always mindful of that. We don’t want to completely cut from our existing employers, but at the same time economic development is about raising the wage for better quality of life, and so the only way that happens is that people are making meaningful wages.”
Many of the same Hamilton County leaders who heard Culhane talk about regional economic development earlier in the month witnessed the signing on Tuesday.
The plan between Hamilton County and Webster City is to split the three-year contract fees between them. Those fees are projected at $145,000 the first year, $160,000 the second year, and $175,000 the third year. Each entity would pay half.
View this article as it originally appeared in the Daily Freeman-Journal.
Last modified: May 29, 2024
