WCEDC News - February 2023

LOVE LOCAL with Warren County Gift Certificates

Accepted like cash
Built in Security
Available for any Amount
More details here

Gift Certificates can be purchased at our office located at:

111 N. Buxton Street in Indianola

on the West side of the square.

Order Here

Congratulations to all chamber award recipients around the county!

Dr. Tyler Villiard of Des Moines River Dental Care accepted the Carlisle Chamber Business of the Year award.

Amy Duncan of the Indianola Independent Advocate accepted the Indianola Chamber Emerging Leader award.

Andrew Winn of Winn's Pizza & Steakhouse Norwalk received the Norwalk Area Chamber Business of the Year award.

Chamber award season just finished in The WC! We attended all three chamber awards events and were blown away by the amazing people and businesses honored at these celebrations:

Carlisle Chamber - carlisleiachamber.org

Citizen of the Year - Tommy Thompson

Business of the Year - Des Moines River Dental Care

Employee of the Year - Nathan Kellogg, Cyber Solutions

Friends of Education - Matt & Gay Laughlin

Indianola Chamber of Commerce - indianolachamber.com

Emerging Leader - The Indianola Independent Advocate

Steve G. Pfeifer Volunteer of the Year - Mack and Libby Rankin

New Business of the Year - Emmalee Bowlin with Whip It Good Catering

Educator of the Year- Stephanie Becker

Distinguished Chamber Leader - Pritesh Patel of Hotel Pommier

Simpson College Emerging Leader - Seth Lampman of ClearPath Financial

Norwalk Area Chamber - norwalkchamber.org

Community Footprint Award - Tom McLaughlin

Teacher of the Year - Angela Davidson

Student of the Year - William (Will) Chase

Citizen of the Year - Women of Norwalk

Chamber Member of the Year - Amanda Reid-Raper, City State Bank

Business of the Year - Winn's Pizza and Steakhouse - Norwalk

Congratulations to all of these award recipients!

VISIT THE HTP WEBSITE

Communities take passionate volunteers

WCEDC now supports the efforts of the Warren County Hometown Pride groups... 7 in all! Carlisle, Cumming, Hartford, Indianola, Milo, New Virginia, and Norwalk.

Volunteer in your community today and keep our communities thriving!

Our County Hometown Pride groups keep the excitement rolling in 2023

This month we are featuring the Indianola Hometown Pride project “Wonder on Buxton” - a 2.5 block path of art, amenities and gathering spaces that tell the story of Indianola’s culture and history. Currently in the fundraising and design stage.

See the vision for this project and donate today!

WCEDC maintains a list of grant and loan opportunities for business and community assistance. Here are five featured opportunities:

High Quality Jobs (HQJ) program provides qualifying businesses assistance to off-set some of the costs incurred to locate, expand or modernize an Iowa facility. This flexible program includes loans, forgivable loans, tax credits, exemptions and/or refunds.
The Iowa Industrial New Jobs Training (260E) program assists businesses creating new positions with new employee training. Eligible businesses may be new to Iowa, expanding the Iowa workforce or relocating to the state.
Prairie Meadows 2023 Legacy Grant, Community Betterment Grant and Youth Sports & Recreational Grant applications are now open. Application window closes on Friday, February 24, 2023.
Indianola Downtown Facade and Interior Improvement Program - The City of Indianola, in its continuing effort to support commercial revitalization and economic development in the Downtown Square, has created this program to provide financial assistance to businesses and property owners for building improvements.
Norwalk Commercial Improvement Grant Program for Building and Facade Improvements. Matching funds required.

Upcoming Workforce Housing Tax Credit Program Application Workshops

The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) provides tax incentives through the Workforce Housing Tax Credit Program to developers for the construction or rehabilitation of workforce housing. Projects are eligible for up to $1 million in incentives and can be used with rental or for sale single family or multifamily homes. Applications will be available on March 1, 2023 and are due by May 10, 2023. There will be $35 million available for this round.

IEDA is offering two application workshops that can be attended virtually or in person in Des Moines. Workshops will include program round details, application preview, scoring tips, information about the post award process, and an opportunity to ask questions about the program or your projects.

February 21 – In Person or Virtual

1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. / IEDA Offices — 1963 Bell Avenue, Suite 200 - Des Moines

March 9 – In Person or Virtual

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. / IEDA Offices — 1963 Bell Avenue, Suite 200 - Des Moines

Please contact Richard Bell at richard.bell@iowaeda.com with questions or to receive virtual attendance details.

FIND OUT MORE

3 GRANTS AVAILABLE

APPLICATIONS DUE MARCH 3, 2023

Open to all 501(c)(3) organizations and 170(b) government agencies.

Three grant opportunities:

1. Community Grant ($500-$5,000)

2. High Impact Grant ($5,001-$25,000)

3. Trails Grant ($500)

GO TO APPLICATION

INVEST TODAY!

Passionate about Warren County?

Take the 5-year investment pledge.

Every initiative we have, every dollar that we are able to pass along to businesses, and every minute we spend working for our county is made possible by our investors.

Our top goal is to create a $1 Million Endowment Fund to assist in economic growth.

TAKE THE 5 YEAR PLEDGE

We LOVE our Leadership!

We want to thank all of our Leadership speakers for their time and efforts. We are pretty lucky to have such a great line up of amazing people willing to share their talent with our group each year.

Here are a few of our expert facilitators:

Alicia Benson, AB Coaching
Sinikka Waugh, Your Clear Next Step
Geri Sieberling, etc!graphics
Tom Smith, Drake University
Seth Lampman, ClearPath Financial
Josh Wilson, Capital City Fruit
Steve Siemens, People Builder
Jon Kallen, Jennings Kallen Advisors
Simpson College - Keyah Levy, Rev. Mara Bailey, Allie Martinez
Patrick Hatting, ISU Extension
Troy Bass - Warren County Emergency Mgmt
Josh Judge I – ACT (Iowa – Active Shooter, Canine, & trauma)
Norwalk Area, Carlisle & Indianola Chambers of Commerce Executive Directors

If you are excited about leadership and learning more about Warren County sign up for the 2024 WCLI Session alerts! We'll get you connected when the new application becomes available.

GET NOTIFICATIONS FOR NEXT SESSION IN 2024

Our WCLI Class of 2022 cares about attracting more visitors to the Warren County Fair

The WCLI Class of 2022 has $25,000 left to raise. These funds will be used to purchase and install a new playground at the Warren County Fairgrounds.

If you are passionate about this project click below to donate or contact WCEDC office.

PROJECT and DONOR INFO

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