progress: BUSINESS & INDUSTRY
B7
CHARLES CITY PRESS | WWW.CHARLESCITYPRESS.COM | FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2025
Prairie Poultry. On March 31, 2022, CCADC submitted a letter of support for Pure Prairie to the USDA Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program. We stated that the project would be viable with infusion of USDA dollars. The fi rm was awarded $47 million in USDA grant and loan guarantee. We thought this award suf fi cient to maintain operations. And that the USDA would continually monitor company performance. We were mistaken. A notable Pure Prairie Poultry facet is the existence of $2 million remaining in Iowa New Jobs Training Program. A company purchasing the plant would avail themselves of these funds. We sympathize with those employees who lost their jobs, with some of them not being paid for work performed. CCADC attempted to step in under tenets of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Noti fi cation [WARN] Act of 1988. Companies are required to give 60 days’ notice of layoffs. However, Pure Prairie did not provide this noti fi cation until it had been shut down for three
weeks. Therefore, the workers did not receive any consideration for that span pertaining to Iowa Workforce Development job training and placement services. We tried to intervene, but Pure Prairie construed itself a “faltering” company and therefore exempt from these strictures. CCADC lacked standing; the only means of intervention would be for an aggrieved worker to fi le suit in federal district court. Good news in this situation, if there is any, is that Floyd County’s unemployment rate did not spike post-closure. Hopefully those separated workers found suitable employment rather than dropping out of the workforce. At a regularly scheduled Board of Directors session of August 24, 2022, I stated that Charles City needed housing more than job expansion and that the remainder of the Southwest Development Park may be a viable housing option. Thereafter Charles City was designated a “Thriving Community” by the Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Finance Authority – yielding bonus points in Low-Income
Housing Tax Credits and Workforce Housing Tax Credits applications. Thereafter we partnered with the city of Charles City in sharing the costs of Charles City Southwest Housing Master Plan, with WHKS Inc. of Mason City formulating the plan. The study greatly improved our capacity in ful fi lling housing developer needs as they critically examined Charles City’s housing potential. Commonwealth Development Corp. was awarded low-income tax credits for its The Collective on 13th, a 40-unit affordable housing project. It will be situated south of the newly installed 13th Street abutting Corporate Drive in the Southwest Development Park. CCADC sold property to Commonwealth Real Estate Acquisitions LLC as we strive to better conditions in that all citizens deserve a quality, safe and secure place to live. Charles City successfully petitioned Iowa Economic Development Authority and Iowa Finance Authority for
bonus points extension for Workforce Housing (market rate) Tax Credits through 2025. We fully expect a workforce tax credit application to emanate from Charles City – and that it will be a highly competitive one. We are anticipating an application from a very successful housing developer in 2025. The project includes all the property owned by CCADC and City of Charles City north of 13th Street to 11th Street. Housing progress in Charles City can rightly be depicted as phenomenal. Many residents of these housing developments will have employment in proximity to residence. There also exists grocery store, fi nancial institution, trail system and hospital nearby. CCADC’s Human Resources Roundtable is an ongoing concern, comprising HR professionals from varying businesses. 2025 will be attuned to child care. It is realized that child care is an economic development factor, and the impetus will be upon evaluating child care
models and programs that have worked in other communities. Still vexatious is the hazardous liquid pipeline proposed by Summit Carbon Solutions. Nothing signi fi cant happened on this front in 2024 at the local level other than CCADC joining other entities in petitioning Summit Carbon Solutions and the Iowa Utilities Commission in the Northern District Court of Iowa to reroute the pipeline, so it does not bisect The Avenue of the Saints Development Park – which we hold diminishes the park’s marketability dramatically. Our expectations of 2025 are that companies will continue to enquire about Pure Prairie Poultry plant status, housing developments shall be substantive, and our manufacturers will continue to operate pro fi tably. Please contact me as appropriate with question or comment at 641-228-3020 x1002 or tfox@charlescityia. com. We appreciate your interest in our activities.
In March 2024, CCADC Administrative Specialist Christy A. Laube represented the community positively at the College of Continuing Education of the University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute at New Orleans, Louisiana. Christy is always quite enthusiastic in gaining new knowledge and skills. CCADC Is fortunate to have her. We worked extensively with three small businesses and provided Revolving Loan Fund assistance. • Aces Entertainment is a startup bar/restaurant in Rockford, Iowa. • Daniels Auto Collision of Charles City realized an expansion. • Gintz Garage LLC relocated to a facility on Charles City’s South Main Street. We wish entrepreneurs Brittany Wolters, Jason Daniels and Sammy Gintz Jr. ongoing successes. Likely the most notable happenstance of 2024 is, regrettably, the demise of Pure DEVELOPMENT Continued from page B4
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