Executive Committee to Meet - Monday Memo 4/3/17
April 3, 2017
April Executive Committee Teleconference Wednesday; Board to Meet May 3 in Fairfield, Dinner in Fairfield Night Before on May 2
ABI Chair Lori Schaefer-Weaton (Agri-Industrial Plastics Company, Fairfield) and members of the association’s Executive Committee will hold their regularly-scheduled April meeting by teleconference this Wednesday morning. The committee will discuss a number of important items, including the usual reports and metrics.
Reports on these issues will also be on the agenda for the next meeting of the ABI Board of Directors. The board will meet next month, on Wednesday, May 3. Your participation in this meeting is essential in order for the association to take action on many important items. It will be the final meeting of the board prior to the 2017 annual conference.
The May board meeting will be held at the Fairfield Arts and Convention Center in downtown Fairfield. For those of you coming to town the night before the, you will be able to access the meeting hotel on the meeting registration site, which will be available very soon.
The board meeting will begin at 11:00 a.m. on the 3rd and lunch will be served. The night before, on May 2nd, those members in Fairfield are invited to join ABI for dinner, hosted by Lori and Nate Weaton (in fact, you should have received a personal invitation from Lori and Nate by mail). We'll dine at the beautiful Fairfield Golf and Country Club, one of Iowa’s great private clubs. Detailed information will be included in the board packet that you will receive about a week in advance of the meeting.
On behalf of Lori and our other officers, I look forward to seeing you in Fairfield in May.
IEDA Internship Program Again Available
Many ABI member companies have utilized the Iowa Student Internship Program to get students into their facilities in the summer. The program provides grants to small and medium-sized companies in advanced manufacturing, biosciences, and the IT field. The goal is to provide financial support to companies to hire interns with the idea that the internship will lead to full-time employment.
For 2017, applications are due by April 30 and the internships must be completed by September 30. The program is administered by the Iowa Economic Development Authority. For more information, click on: http://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/workforcetraining/student.
Work Continues for Terrific 2017 Convention; Hundreds of Attendees Already Registered
ABI’s 114th Annual Convention will be held in Dubuque City in two months. The convention, the 2017 Taking Care of Business Conference, will be held June 6-8.
Registrations are already pouring in. You will want to finalize your plans now to join your ABI colleagues in June. Go to the association’s website at www.iowaabi.org and click on the front page link to the convention website. You’ll find more information and you can register right now.
As you read in last week's memo, there are some absolutely terrific speakers and venues in store for conference attendees that make the 2017 ABI Convention a must-see event. Again, register and make your lodging reservations now. See you in Dubuque on June 16!
Next Issue of Business Record Iowa Out Soon
Next week and in partnership with the Des Moines Business Record, ABI will publish the next edition of Business Record Iowa. This newsprint publication reaches about 7,500 Iowa business leaders each month.
Many of you have taken the time to comment on this new ABI publication and shared favorable comments and positive ideas for making it even better. The publication has a greatly expanded reach and greatly increased publication schedule when compared to former ABI magazines. Look for it to come to your mailbox inside the Des Moines Business Record.
Leadership Iowa Class Meets This Week
Members of the 2016-2017 Leadership Iowa class will convene in Charles City and Osage this week. The class will meet Thursday and Friday (some will convene on Wednesday) for a session that focuses on economic development. Look for a full report on the status of LI and other ABI Foundation programs at the next meeting of the ABI Board of Directors.
NE Iowa Elevate Ambassador Training Next Week
Hawkeye Community College is hosting an Elevate Ambassador training session at its Waterloo campus. The training will be held next week, on Wednesday, April 12th from half-past noon until 3:30 p.m. ABI members in the area will want to participate in this training. Please RSVP by replying to this message and I will make sure you receive more information and are registered for the event.
NAM Monday Economic Report Notes Stabilizing Manufacturing Economy
For the second week in a row, last Monday's edition of the National Association of Manufacturers'Monday Economic Report carried a lead story about the manufacturing economy stabilizing and growing. Reply to this email if you wish to read the report; I'll get it to you at once.
Lori Schaefer- Weaton Will Mark Birthday
ABI’s top official is celebrating her birthday this week, on Thursday. Best happy birthday wishes to the boss at ABI, Chair Lori Schaefer-Weaton (Agri-Industrial Plastics, Fairfield)!
Diamond Vogel Again Honored for Paint Iowa Beautiful
Two ABI members were in the news last week. Each year, ABI members Keep Iowa Beautiful and Vogel Paint Company sponsor Paint Iowa Beautiful. Vogel Paint’s Diamond Vogel brand was recently honored as the longtime provider of nearly 9,000 gallons of paint for Iowa communities statewide.
This unsung program has resulted in well over 600 Iowa communities bettering themselves. Last week, announcement was made of the communities honored with Paint Iowa Beautiful awards for 2017. Congratulations and thank you to everyone at KIB and at Vogel Paint, especially to ABI Board Member Drew Vogel (Vogel Paint Company, Orange City)!
Chief Executive Article Cites Emerson Example of Closing Talent Gap by Supporting STEM Education
ABI Vice Chair Dave Zrostlik (Stellar Industries, Garner) has a well-deserved reputation as a workforce innovator. By creating its own welding academy, by utilizing varied work hours, by paying some of the area’s top wages, and by doing lots of other things, Stellar has done a good job of keeping its workforce fully staffed. Dave pays attention to workforce issues.
In that regard, Dave this week forwarded an article from Chief Executive Magazine (its CEO Briefing e-publication) that highlights ABI member Emerson for its investment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education as a way to help fill its future workforce needs. It’s a great article and if you wish to see it, please reply to this message and I will forward it to you.
In the meantime thank you for sharing, Dave! And thank you, too, to Immediate Past ABI Chair Paul Gregoire (Emerson Fisher, Marshalltown), who also has shared some of Emerson’s best-practices with ABI over the years!