JEDCO report has good news and bad
By John Jennings Daily News Staff
Craig Hamilton, executive director of the Jasper County Economic Development Corp., presented JEDCO’s annual report for the fiscal year 2008-09 to the Jasper County Board of Supervisors at the weekly meeting Tuesday. Hamilton emphasized the dual nature of the fiscal year.
“We had a strong start to the year with TPI (the wind turbine blade manufacturer) having their grand opening in September and Trinity Structural Towers producing their first tower in late October,” Hamilton said. “Shortly thereafter, however, the national economy spiraled into recession, and although its impact on Jasper County was less severe than in other parts of the country, the downturn has had a dampening effect on the post-Maytag recovery.”
Now, with the recent announcement of layoffs at TPI, Hamilton is still optimistic that due to the nature of the wind industry, that an expansion at TPI could still happen, “sooner rather than later.”
Hamilton also noted the economic downturn has slowed plans for a rejuvenated Monroe Table Co. project in Colfax. JEDCO received a $50,000 forgivable loan for the company, along with a $20,000 local match from the City of Colfax, and a job training grant from DMACC. The company is in the final stages of securing its financial package and hopes to reopen with 16 employees, Hamilton said.
JEDCO, in league with the City of Newton and the Newton Development Corp., has bee responding to a number of new business leads provided by the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Many of the leads are in the wind industry, and have been presented to Newton due to the large available space in the former Maytag Plant 2 building.
JEDCO continues to participate in the five-county marketing region known as Iowa Connections, Hamilton said, and some of those events include the International Machine Technology show in Chicago, and the American Wind Energy Association’s supply chain conference n Cleveland, Ohio.
Hamilton said despite the sluggish economy he remained optimistic.
“Entrepreneurial activity should continue to grow and we should continue to see prospect activity within the county as a result of the large available Maytag buildings,” he said. “Unemployment is up, but not as bad as last year. I’m hoping that next year we’ll turn around. There are still good things going on.”
John Jennings can be contacted at 792-3121 ext. 425 or via e-mail at jjennings@newtondailynews.com.
