The 2Q 2009 edition FEDA Quarterly was released on June 17.  The newsletter includes articles on the creation of 70 jobs in Fairfield, a piece on online tools for professional development, FEDA's 2011 strategic plan and much more. 

Click here to see a web page version.

FEDA Executive Director appeared on James Moore's Planet Erstwild  show on KRUU-LP 100.1 to discuss the 2011 FEDA Strategic Plan.  The full interview is available on the KRUU web site here.

This letter to the editor appeared in the May 21, 2009 edition of the Fairfield Ledger.

 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

BUSINESS 34 IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS

The Fairfield Economic Development Association has announced its strategic priorities for the years 2009-2011.  The Priorities, informed heavily by the results of the Fairfield Existing Business Initiative [FEBI], will guide the decision-making process for FEDA over a critical two-year period during which a substantial portion of the $72 million in estimated expansion capital investment identified in the FEBI report is expected to take place. 

Read the media release here.

Click on the icon to read the document

FEDA has formally requested that the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors exempt the two-mile "extraterritorial zone" from consideration as part of the corn suitability rating non-farm land use provision in the updated Jefferson County Subdivision Ordinance currently under review.  See the FEDA's letter to the supervisors here.

 

2009.04.04 update: the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors voted 3-0 to pass the subdivision ordinance with no changes to the CSR provision.

A new video just released by the Southeast Iowa Manufacturers Consortium and Opportunity2 regional economic development marketing group is now available and will soon be put in front and in the hands of area young people.  The 9-minute video, six months in development, showcases the diversity of occupational opportunities in advanced manufacturing in the region and makes the case for an industry far from the dark, dirty, labor-intensive days of manufacturing past.  Featuring area manufacturers utilizing sophisticated software and computers, robotics and graphic design, the video is the first product to be developed as part of a long-ranging economic development marketing plan being jointly executed the Manufacturers Consortium and Opportunity2.  Check it out.

A region- and state-wide survey sponsored in part by the Fairfield Economic Development Association has found that businesses in the Opportunity2 economic development marketing region offer some of the strongest fringe benefits packages in all of Iowa.

Read the FEDA media release for a report summary or, for all the data, check out the report yourself.

Small Towns, Big Ideas is the result of an intensive, yearlong effort to identify and document the stories of small towns that are surviving -- and, in some cases, thriving -- as hubs of civic and economic activity. The Small Towns, Big Ideas project began in mid-2006, when the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government partnered with the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center to identify small towns that were implementing successful or innovative approaches to community economic development.

Fairfield, Iowa was one of the communities selected because of our unique approach to Entrepreneurship and Downtown development/revitalization. A copy of the Fairfield case study can be downloaded by clicking here. To see what other progressive small towns like ours are doing to improve their community download the entire publication by clicking here.

The publication includes stories about planning and implementing economic development strategies in 45 small towns with populations of fewer than 10,000 residents. Case studies also describe a range of strategies for building local capacity for economic development, including innovative organizational structures, partnerships, leadership development and finance. Most case studies include discussion of more than one strategy. 

The final report of the Fairfield Existing Business Initiative has been released. Over the course of six month, FEDA Board members Pat Doyle, Craig Foss, Dave Reiff, Lori Schaefer and FEDA Executive Director Brent Willett conducted surveys and interviews with 41 of Fairfield's top employers.  The result is the most comprehensive view of the Fairfield economy- through the lens of Fairfield employers- ever assembled.

The report, dated February 28, 2009, is now in a special early-release period.

Get the 24-page, full-color report here.  For quicker downloads or printing, we suggest this version, which contains less color.  

Fairfield employer Creative Edge Master Shop has received more than $220,000 in incentives and low-interest loans to expand its operations and add 22 new jobs in Fairfield.  FEDA partnered with the company to help assemble the funding package which leverages every $2.26 in company investment for every dollar of incentives.  Get all the details here.