March 2014 Newsletter - Lee County Economic Development Group

Lee County Economic Development Group Newsletter
March 2014
Contact LCEDG Team
Steve Bisenius 515-491-9011
[email protected]
Dennis Fraise 319-753-0690
[email protected]
Dana Klesner 319-931-7182
[email protected]
Newsletter
BREAKING NEWS
Franchise tax defeated by
unanimous vote of Ft.
Madison City Council
Tuesday, March 4th, the Ft.
Madison City Council removed the
proposed franchise tax from their
budget.
This proposed tax on natural gas
and electrical use was a major
concern to the industries affected.
Lee County Supervisor Gary Folluo
stated “the projected loss of
revenue for the County was
approximately $82K.”
The Board of Directors of Lee
County EDG joined with the Ft.
Madison Chamber of Commerce,
Ft. Madison Economic
Development and the Lee County
Supervisors to express their
concerns to the Ft. Madison City
Council on behalf of industries in
Lee County.
Lee County EDG Executive Director
Steve Bisenius commented “all
organizations worked very
effectively together on this.”
Key Happenings with Key Players:
Lee County EDG tours leading
molybdenum producer and supplier,
Climax Molybdenum
Keokuk Steel Castings, supplying
highly engineered products to the
world
Courtesy of Keokuk Steel Castings 2014
Regional Workforce Summit:
Recruiting, Regaining and Growing
Talent held in Fort Madison
Courtesy of Lautman Economic Architecture
Courtesy of Keokuk Steel Castings 2014
Charlie Holliday, HR Director at Climax
Molybdenum, gives Lee County EDG
board members a tour of their facility.
The above photos are two of the larger steel
castings Keokuk Steel Castings makes at their
Keokuk facility.
Regional Workforce Summit speakers Lt.
Governor Kim Reynolds with Fort
Madison Mayor Brad Randolph and
national workforce expert Mark Lautman.
Climax Molybdenum Co.
Climax Molybdenum Co., a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan, is the world’s leading molybdenum producer and supplier.
Founded in 1916, tracing its name and origin to the historic Climax mining district in the mountains of Colorado, their global
operations include both primary and byproduct molybdenum mines. Human Resource Director Charlie Holliday commented
“Integrated global operations and local customer care provide our worldwide partners with the most reliable supply and
highest quality molybdenum products.”
Charlie Holliday, HR Director at Climax Molybdenum, gives
Lee County EDG board members a tour of their facility.
Molybdenum is a metallic element mined, converted and upgraded into
marketable molybdenum products. Fort Madison’s conversion
capabilities provide Climax with the world’s premier resource in
addressing the demand for upgraded molybdenum products. Fort
Madison’s products have a wide variety of uses, such as strengthening
steel and making stainless steel. Additionally, the suite of chemical
molybdenum products have a wide variety of uses, such as catalysts
used in refineries to remove sulfur from crude oil, heat sinks in
computers, smoke suppressant in plastics or as a corrosion inhibitor.
There are currently 137 full time Climax associates employed at the Fort Madison facility with one third of the workforce having
25 years of service or more. Associate safety and health, as well as the protection of the environment, are Climax’s core values
and Fort Madison associates actively participate in safety and environmental activities. For example, Fort Madison has a
Certified Wildlife Habitat on the property maintained by a Fort Madison volunteer group. In 2011, Fort Madison was awarded
The Prairies For Tomorrow Award from the National Wildlife Habitat Council for enhancements made in prairie restoration.
Also, Fort Madison holds several international certifications: OHSAS 18001 (Safety/Health), ISO 14001 (Environmental) and ISO
9001 (Quality) and is continually exploring opportunities for improving their management systems, production efficiencies and
product quality. For more information regarding Climax Molybdenum visit www.climaxmolybdenum.com
Keokuk Steel Castings
Keokuk Steel Castings in Keokuk, Iowa, one of three facilities owned by Matrix Metals LLC, supplies steel castings for a variety of
industries and hundreds of jobs in the Tri-State Area. Keokuk Steel Castings currently employs 440 full-time employees at their
Keokuk facility. Matrix also has facilities in Richmond, Texas (Nepco and Corporate HO) and San Juan Del Rio, Mexico (Foundry).
Matrix Metals is a division of the Sanmar Group, an Indian based industrial conglomerate with over $1Billion in Revenue that
specializes in chemicals, engineering technologies and shipping.
On a recent visit in October 2013, Governor Terry Branstad when referring to Keokuk and Keokuk Steel Castings stated “This is
American manufacturing.” He also noted that “It’s such a world economy. You see companies like this one try and make the
adjustment to the international economy while providing good jobs.”
Keokuk Steel Castings and its counterparts serve the valve, nuclear, military, oil
field, construction, mining, locomotive and transit industries. Most of the
castings they supply are highly-engineered products.
The advent of “fracking” and the continued high demand for natural gas has
driven the valve markets positively. The company’s existing military market
remains steady, with recent quoting for future projects, repairs and upgrades on
existing components. Though Keokuk Steel Castings has seen a huge slowdown
in the construction and mining market segments, the locomotive market is
predicting a bit of an uptick over last year’s builds. While passenger transit cars
are a long-term, cultivated type business where we have projects on the horizon
for 2015/2016.
Courtesy of Keokuk Steel Castings 2014, All Right Reserved
From left to right: Vice President of Keokuk Steel
Castings Allan See, Governor Terry Branstad, Lt.
Governor Kim Reynolds, and CEO of Matrix Metals
LLC Rob Kukowski.
Keokuk Steel Castings strives for continuous improvement through process and quality improvements. The purchase of a flowcoat system for their molding line recently has proven to be a good investment, enabling them to keep pace with their
customers’ increasing requirements.
For more information about Matrix Metals LLC and Steel Castings, go to www.matrixmetalsllc.com.
Lee County EDG hosts Regional Workforce Summit
In conjunction with the sponsorship of other members of the Great River Region Partnership, Lee County EDG hosted a
comprehensive workforce conference to address the critical issues facing the employers in this region. The objective was to bring
together business, industry and educators to begin to develop a course of action that would positively address this very pressing
issue.
This wide cross section of manufacturers, hospitals, government officials, educators,
community leaders and students from SE Iowa was recognized by the key note speaker,
national workforce expert, Mark Lautman, as one of the best representations he has
ever seen assembled for such discussions.
Mr. Lautman gave a very sobering overview of how serious the shortage of skilled
workers is becoming for all types of industry – stating “building a qualified workforce is
something that needs to be done in order for the region to survive.” Mr. Lautman noted
“the goal is to grow the economy more than the population and ensure the benefit is
spread over all of the population, not just a select few.”
National workforce expert Mark Lautman
presenting at Regional Workforce Summit.
“Times have changed, businesses are going to where the qualified workers are instead of the workers going to wherever the
business is. One of the major recruiting factors for industries to locate in a particular area is the supply of qualified workers.
Everyone who you will employ in the next 10 years has already been born, now we must train them to be the workers you need.”
He stressed the importance of industries working together with educators in order to
encourage students to be more involved in subjects such as math, science, physics and
engineering.
Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds discussing
workforce with Mark Lautman.
Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds spoke on the state’s efforts to increase a student’s skills in
science, technology, engineering and mathematics through the STEM program. Reynolds
commented “STEM will make a difference on not only our students but the economic growth
of our state.”
Excellent presentations were also made (pictured right, from left to right) by:
Greg Smith Principal of Fort Madison High School, Cara Sanders representing the
Mississippi Valley Human Resource Association, Jeff Johnson from the veterans
placement group Hero 2 Hired, Dennis Hinkle representing Southeastern
Community College and CBiz and David File from Iowa Wesleyan College.
A special thanks to all of the sponsors that helped make the Regional Workforce Summit a success: Alliant Energy, IowaWorks,
Southeastern Community College Center for Business, Northeast Missouri Electric Power Cooperative, Fort Madison Partners,
Greater Burlington Partnership, Mount Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance and Keokuk Economic Development Corporation.
This Regional Workforce Summit was just the first step of many to help address the very important workforce issue in Southeast
Iowa. This is an issue that will not be corrected without everyone working together. If you would like to become involved in the
process please contact Dana Klesner at [email protected].
Southeast IA Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Math (STEM) Festival
April 26, 2014 10:00 am—2:00 pm
Southeastern Community College
Register Today to host a hands-on exhibit!
Contact Kristine Bullock at [email protected]
Contact the Lee County EDG Team:
Steve Bisenius 515-491-9011 [email protected]
Dennis Fraise 319-753-0690 [email protected]
Dana Klesner 319-931-7182 [email protected]