IN THIS ISSUE:Ethanol’s Progress pg 1Pioneer Expands pg 1Highlights pg 2Calendar pg 2Industry Focus pg 3

www.TamaCountyIowa.org Spring 2007

TAMA ETHANOL BREAKS GROUND ON $160 MILLION PLANT

December 14, 2006 Tama Ethanol held a ceremonial ground breaking in the Tama Industrial Park East of the City. The event was well attended by key members of local government, sur-rounding communities and project par-ticipants. Additionally State leaders Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Leo-nard Boswell made an appearance.

In a January 19, 2007 Newsletter Tama Ethanol’s parent company Alpha Hold-ings, LLC reported progress to date: The NPDES/Construction Stormwater permit has been issued. AIR Permit application from the Dept. of Natural Resources is anticipated to

be issued by the end of January. Jurisdictional Determination on the property’s wetlands and Natural Re-

source issues from the Dept. of Army Corp of Engineers is still under review. Allender Butzke completed the on site soil borings and are in the process of

completing the geotechnical designs and soil profile reports.The seed capital drives have been deemed a success, and Alpha Holdings is now entering Phase II of asset accumulation.

Congratulations to our

New Ventureswho recently opened their doors:

Blue Grass Café, Tama200 W. 3rd Street

(former Ben Franklin Building)Good meals & live music

Caring Cans Redemption Ctr.511 McClellan, Tama

M 4-6pm, W 2-6pm, F 9-2pm2nd & 4th Sat 9-2pm

Gathering Place, Dysart302 Main Street

(formerly Coffee Bean)Hot Coffee & Homemade Food

M-F 6am-2pmSat. 6am-11am

Jim Edwards 1040 Co, Traer556 2nd Street

(formerly PaPa’s Lighter Side Café)Personal & Small-Biz Tax Prep,QuickBooks Advising & Training

Two Grandma’s Kitchen, Garwin226 Main Street

(formerly Jason’s)Home Cooked

meals

PIONEER PLANS FOR EXPANSION IN DYSART

January 18 Pioneer Hi-Bred International made public plans for a multi-million dollar expansion of the Dysart Plant. The move is brought about on account of closing Pioneer’s aging 68-year-old plant in Marengo in order to remain cost ef-fective. Workers from the Marengo plant will relocate to Tama County’s Dysart and Toledo plants, as well as to Reinbeck.Quick Facts about Pioneer:

Pioneer’s Industry Focus: A Subsidiary of DuPont, Pioneer is the world’s leading developer and supplier of advanced plant genetics to farmers worldwide.

Tama County Focus: A top employer in Tama County.

Awards: in 2005 growers planting Pioneer brand corn hybrids won 23 of 27 National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) titles.

Tama County Economic Development CommissionTama County Economic Development Commission

Page 2Tama County Economic Development, Spring 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR!Highlights as we plan for development in 2007

MEMBERS ARE OUR BEST REFERRALS

LOOKING BACK

Annual Report: Please stay tuned for the publication of TCEDC’s Annual Report offering insight on the past year’s achievements, and vision of the road ahead.

New Director: Jan. 2, 2007, Tama County Economic Development Commission hired Lindi Roelofse to serve as its new Executive Director.Hailed from the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas, Lindi returns to Iowa where she received her MBA from Tippie School of Management, University of Iowa.Lindi is replacing Deb Calderwood who is now working for Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo.

Housing: In June 2006 TCEDC announced that $412,490 of grant money was available for home pur-chasing and rehabilitation. Since then numerous grant applicants have applied for and received as-sistance. In February/March 2007 Region 6 will announce whether additional partial funding may be made available. Tama County will be eligible to apply for this specific Iowa Economic Development grant again in April 2008.

LOOKING FORWARD

Tama County Community Foun-dation: Grant Applications are now available for almost $50,000 for programs/projects that would serve nonprofit and public service com-munity development efforts in Tama County. Deadline is March 15. You can pick up the application at your City Clerk’s office, banks or contact TCEDC.

Workforce Development: Jan 19, 2007 Alliant Energy announced a $1 Billion plant expansion in the Marshalltown area west of Tama County. At the peak of construction an anticipated 1,000 workers would be employed. A significant increase in demand for workforce skilled in welding is anticipated over the next few years.

Housing Development: Mon. Feb. 26, Dirks Real Estate & TCEDC are presenting a free bi-lingual in-formational session on USDA-RD Housing Programs at the Reinig Center in Toledo at 6:30pm.

Membership Drive: Please con-sider making your company/business a leader in Tama County’s growth potential. Info to follow. Our new FY08 development concept will be unveiled before the next newsletter.

www.TamaCountyIowa.org

CALENDAR ‘07

Spread the word about the TCEDC FREE Business Assistance ser-vices for business owners, decision makers and consultants.Let your clients know that TCEDC can help them with site selection, cost containment, economic research, financing, human resources, and technology assistance.More info about these services is available at www.tamacountyiowa.org, contact our office directly at (641) 484-3108, or e-mail us at tcedc@iowatelecom.net.

Fri. 2nd

Sat. 3rd

Sun 4th

Mon 5th

Wed 7th

Sat 10th

Sat 17th

Fri-Sat, 16-17th

Sun 1st

Sat 7th

FebruaryAnnual CSA Stag at the CSA Hall in Vining from 6-9 p.m.; Rocky mountain oyster & fish dinner, baked beans, potato salad, games, raffles 641-489-2674.

Tama-Toledo Business, Farm & Home Show at Southard Imple-ment, Highway 30 East, Tama from 10-7; Over 30 exhibitors, food vendors, entertainment, kids’ activity booth, door prizes, draw-ings 641-484-6661.

Old Time Dance at the Dysart Community Center from 1-5 p.m.; Jim Busta Band will be playing polkas, waltzes, schotishes & fox trots.

Women, Land & Legacy event at the N. Tama Activity Center in Traer at 6:30pm. Please RSVP at 641-484-2702. FREE

Tax Prep Services from 2-8 p.m. at the Reinig Center in Toledo; For individuals and families with lower and moderate incomes 641-484-2703. FREE

Valentine Dinner & Dance be-ginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Glad-brook Memorial Building; silent auction, hosted by Crayon Corner Preschool 641-473-2875

Love Your Library Valentine Fundraiser social hour at 6:00 p.m., dinner at 7:00, dance at 8:00 at the Reinig Center in Toledo; Entertainment by Mila Bearden, Dolores Harris, Cat Trax; limited seating 641-484-3362.

March Traer Home Show at the Traer Memorial Building from 4-8 p.m.; over 20 exhibitors, drawings, door prizes, food 319-478-2346. FREE

AprilVining Flea Market at the CSA Hall in Vining from 8-4; Vendors indoors & outdoors, lunch, bake sale, consignment auction at 10:00 a.m. 319-479-2202.

Easter Egg Hunt at the Dysart city park 319-476-3418. FREE

Page 3 Tama County Economic Development, Spring 2007

www.TamaCountyIowa.org

1010 GREAT TOURISM ATTRACTIONS IN TAMA COUNTY

Matchstick Marvels 319 2nd StreetGladbrook, IA 50635

641-473-2410 or 888-473-3456Currently on display are Matchstick Mar-vels built by Pat Acton, Gladbrook. For 25 years, Acton has built large-scale intricate models made entirely of wooden matchsticks. His creations have been featured in numerous magazines and are displayed in Ripley's Believe It or Not museums around the world. One recent creation now on display in the new tourist center is a 1/65 scale model of the U.S. Capitol, measuring 12 feet in length and 6.5 feet in height. Other models in the tourist center include the battleship USS Iowa, the space shuttle Challenger, Ter-race Hill mansion, a P-51 Mustang, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, and his new-est creation, the French cathedral Notre Dame of Chartres. There are approxi-mately 15 large models on display. www.matchstickmarvels.com

Rubes Steakhouse

118 Elm St., Montour641-492-6222 Since Rube’s first opened it was obvious that the one feature that could not be compromised was the quality of the steak, not only the quality of the meat but the quality of the c u t a s w e l l . www.rubesmeat.com

Traer Historical Museum

514 2nd Street, Traer319-478-2346 email: traerchamber@hotmail.com The mu-seum features a display on Traer's most fa-mous son, Tama Jim Wilson, who was a U.S. Secretary of Agriculture for 16 years under 3 presidents. School exhibits from Geneseo, Dinsdale, and Buckingham are also displayed along with settings of an old time kitchen and living room. www.traer.com

Brick-A-Brack Shops

302 Main Street, DysartBlacksmith Boutique & Gar-den Studio, The Gathering Place, MeMa’s Attic & Coo-per Photography, Thyme Together.Discover the treasures of small town Iowa via hearty home-cooked meals, black-smith services, custom made jewelry, gifts and sea-sonal garden shops.www.dysartiowa.com

WFLA-ZCBJ Czech Museum 501 Main Street Clutier,

IA 52217 319-479-2929, 319-439-5432 The museum is located on the sec-ond floor of the meeting hall. Exhibits feature an old cookstove and dishes that were formerly in the meeting hall, old pictures, and books (many of which are in Czech).

Lincoln Highway Bridge

East 5th Street off Highway 30TamaRoadside park is nearby. On the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1915 as part of the first U.S. transcontinental highway, this is the only Lincoln Highway bridge still in exis-tence. www.tamatoledo.com/attractions

Designer Inn & Suites

403 Highway 30, Toledo641-484-5678 Treat yourself to a night of romance in one of Designer Inn’s themed Fantasy Suites. Award winning designer, Gary Strobusch, hand-crafted wall murals, molded walls, hand formed sinks, counters, mir-rors and his signature starlight val-ances. Pick amongst suite themes like: Crystal Cave, Heart’s Delight, Rainforest, Roman Retreat, The Gambler, and Penguin’s Place.www.designerinnandsuites.com

John Ernest Vineyard & Winery

3291 N Avenue, Tama641-484-8048 641-484-4797 faxemail: jamiebusch@yahoo.comOpen April 1 - October 31Hours: Tuesday -Thursday 2-6; Fri-day-Sunday 11-6:00; Taste wine while overlooking the beautiful Iowa River Valley. Located two miles east of Tama just off Highway 30. Experi-ence Chardonnay to Merlots and Iowa wines in the spacious tasting room and gift shop.www.johnernestvineyard.com

Union Grove

State ParkNorth of Garwin641-473-2556Swimming beach and large picnic area. Camping and fishing. Open to any size motor but must use ‘no wake’ speed.www.state.ia.us/dnr/organiza/ppd/union.htm

Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel

Hwy 30, Tama1-800-728-GAMEFrom slots, table games, craps, roulette, bingo, to top performers and plenty of room for seating, Meskwaki offers a plethora of

entertainment at Iowa’s only full service casino.www.meskwaki.com

Tourism Raffle Drawing Feb 12: Three baskets chock-a-block with tourism related goodies valued at around $300 are being raf-fled. Funds will be used to market Tama County as a destination attraction in an effort to increase dollars spent inside the county, as well as increase awareness of Tama County’s quality of life strengths for prospective business expansion efforts. Raffle tickets are $5 and can be purchased at Tama County Banks, and many of the Tama County Tourism attractions. For more info or to make a donation, please contact TCEDC (Tama County Tourism is a department of Tama County Economic Development Commission).

Industry Focus Feature:

Tama County Economic Development

1007 Prospect Drive PO Box 22 Toledo, IA 52342641-484-3108641-484-5127 faxtcedc@iowatelecom.netwww.tamacountyiowa.org

The mission of Tama County Economic

Development Com-mission (TCEDC) is to coordinate the cultiva-tion and development

of Tama County’s business environment

by aiding business, agriculture, industry

and residents in maxi-mizing their full eco-

nomic potential within the county and

beyond.

TCEDC Members Thank you to TCEDC for their leadership:

Roger Ochs, ChelseaPat Veit, Chelsea Gerry Kopriva, Clutier Arlene Vondracek, Clutier Dwayne Luze, Dysart Don Lyons, Dysart Mark Fisher, ElberonCarl Zoffka, Garwin*Lori Leytham, Garwin Geri Eilers, Gladbrook, (Chair)* Mark Lowry, Gladbrook Roland Fink, Lincoln Tony Smith, Montour Dale Gericke, Montour Chris Bearden, Tama Robert Tyynismaa, Tama, (Vice Chair)*Bill Christensen, Toledo Pete Zmolek, Toledo Ellen Young, Traer Nick Podhajsky, Traer LeAnn Boldt, Vining John Mehlert, Farm BureauKeith Sash, Board of Supervisors Larry Vest, Board of Supervisors Patrick Henry, Board of Supervisors

* denotes executive committee

Platinum

Gold

Bronze Traer Municipal Utilities, Designer Inn & Suites, Senator John Putney, H & R Block, Sandhill Auto Salvage, Bohemian Mutual, Kenkel Law Office, Manatt's Inc., Custom Creations by Sheri, Plaza Fam-ily Dental Center, James E. Roan, Eikamp & Associates, Deer Creek Health Center/Grinnell Regional Medical Center, Iowa Builders Supply, Ag Bio-Power, LC, Mark Harrington, CPA, F & M Bank, Wrage Realty, LLC, Dysart Development Corporation, Carl Luze Real Estate, Rube's Steaks, Deimco Finish-ing Equipment, Poweshiek Water Association, John Ernest Vineyard & Winery, Tama County Mutual Insurance Association

SilverTama County Farm Bureau, Consumers Energy, Home Federal Savings Bank, Gethmann Construction Company, Inc., Sunshine Laundry, Inc., Lincoln Savings Bank, Farmers Savings Bank & Trust – Traer, Medicap Pharmacy, Central Counties Coop, Tama County Board of Realtors

Tama County Abstract Company

Grundy County

REC

Farmers Cooperative Telephone Co.