Final Executive Committee Meeting of 2024 Wednesday - Monday Memo 12/9/24
December 9, 2024
Executive Committee This Week; ABI Board of Directors to Meet in Five Weeks (January 15)
The final meeting of the calendar year for the ABI Executive Committee will take place by Zoom at 10:00 a.m. this Wednesday (December 11). The first meeting of the Executive Committee and ABI Board of Directors for 2025 will be called to order by ABI Chair Chad Reece (Winnebago Industries, Forest City) on January 15 at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines. This is the same date as the 2025 ABI Legislative Briefing and Reception (see below). You should receive the usual packet of meeting materials in about three weeks and ABI looks forward to seeing you on the 15th.
Strong Pace of Registrants for 2025 ABI Legislative Briefing and Reception
The ABI staff is busy finalizing details related to the annual ABI Legislative Briefing and Reception, one of the association’s most popular annual events. In fact, all indications are that the coming reception will be one of the best ever.
Close to 100 ABI members have already registered for the event and it is clear that over 400 people will attend. The 2025 briefing and reception will be held Wednesday, January 15 at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is expected to appear at the reception, along with legislators and state officials. I hope you can attend.
The reception is an important event and it will be preceded (as always) by the annual legislative briefing. The members-only briefing is your opportunity to hear the latest about legislative news and about ABI's agenda. You can then head right into the reception and share comments with your local legislators. Your participation and interaction with legislators is what makes this event a must for Iowa policy-makers.
Go to the ABI website at Summary - Legislative Briefing and Reception. You’ll find all the information you need and can follow the easy instructions to register right now. Thank you in advance for participating in this very important event. On behalf of ABI Chair Chad Reece (Winnebago Industries, Forest City) and our other ABI officers, I look forward to seeing you in Des Moines on January 15.
Final Session in ABI Pre-Employment Testing Webinar Series Tomorrow
You have been reading about the final session of ABI’s Pre-Employment webinar series for weeks now. For a great many years, ABI hosted a single day conference related to pre-employment testing. After receiving feedback from members, that conference was re-developed as a FREE three-part webinar series. Webinars were held on July 30thand September 17th. The third and final webinar in this series will be held tomorrow, December 10th, and as did the others, will last an hour. Let your HR team know that they can get the latest information and best practices when it comes to effective pre-employment testing and treated issues. To learn more, click here: Summary - Pre-Employment Testing Process Webinar Series (cvent.com).
December Edition of Business Monthly in Your Mailbox
By the end of this week, you should have received in the mail the latest edition of the ABI Business Monthly, published in conjunction with member Corridor Media Group. ABI’s Business Monthly is found inside the Corridor Business Journal and the Quad Cities Business Journal each month. Much of his edition of the monthly ABI journal is focused on leadership, within ABI, at the Statehouse, and in ABI’s Leadership Iowa. If you do not receive the journal, let me know; we'll get it to you. In the meantime, you may also read the Monthly by clicking here: https://www.iowaabi.org/news/business-monthly/. The latest edition should be available on this link sometime this week.
Annual Shine Bros. Holiday Event this Friday
Each year, the good folks at longtime ABI member company Shine Bros. Corp. host a terrific holiday gathering. You, ABI board members and former board chairs, are invited. The 2024 event will be held this Friday, December 13th, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the company’s headquarters at 225 10th Ave SE in Spencer. Many of you have attended this event in past years and know that it is a great time for fellowship and good cheer. Having attended many times, I can confirm it is simply an exceptional event. If you have questions or need information, please contact/RSVP to Vicki at Shine Bros. at (712) 262-5579, extension 113, or vicki@shinebros.com. In the meantime, thank you to former ABI Chair Toby Shine (Shine Bros. Corp., Spencer) and former ABI Board Member Eva Shine (Shine Bros. Corp., Spencer) for the invitation!
Ottumwa LI Session Big Success; ABI Statewide Leaders Event Draws Crowd, Board Members Attend
The 2024-2025 Leadership Iowa Class held its third session last week in Ottumwa and the class heard from a great array of terrific speakers. You will have an opportunity to meet the class at next month's ABI legislative reception.
By the way, a part of the LI session included the latest in ABI’s “Connecting Statewide Leaders” series of events. An address by Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend was a highlight of that event. Special thanks to ABI board members who made the trip to Ottumwa to attend the Connecting Statewide Leaders event, including Kelly Barrick (CIBC Bank, West Des Moines) and Phil Jones (Rada Mfg., Waverly)!
Contribute To ABI Foundation, Elevate
This is the time of year that folks consider their personal tax planning. If you need to make some end-of-the-year contributions, please consider the ABI Foundation. Thank you to those who have already contributed.
Contributions to the ABI Foundation help advance terrific programs such as Leadership Iowa, Business Horizons, Elevate and Leadership Iowa University. These programs have been described as “life-changing” by participants and they have certainly helped make Iowa an even better place to live, work, and raise a family. Click here for more information: https://www.iowaabi.org/abi-foundation/pay-online/.
ABI Foundation Board to Meet on the 12th; Leadership Iowa Class in Des Moines in January; Annual LI Dinner January 15
The ABI Foundation Board of Directors will meet this Thursday (December 12) by Zoom. And, ABI’s Leadership Iowa program is quite active. Next Wednesday, December 18th, the Leadership Iowa program will host another in a series of LI Connect programs, this one is focused on economic development and workforce. Click here for more information: Meeting Registration - Zoom.
Also coming up is the January session of the current Leadership Iowa class. The 2024-2025 LI Class will hold its fourth session January 15-17. The class will focus on state government and will join you for the ABI Briefing and Reception on January 15.
Lastly, another LI event will be held on January 15. From 6:00-8:30 that evening, the annual Leadership Iowa Alumni Dinner and celebration will be held in Des Moines. LI’s anniversary will be celebrated and other special things will make the night a lot of fun. Congratulations to the Leadership Iowa program, which is bigger and better than ever!
ABI “Advocacy 101” Webinar Will Help You Prepare for 2025 Legislative Session
The 2025 session of the Iowa General Assembly is fast-approaching. In that regard, the ABI public policy team will help get you ready to advocate for Iowa business in 2025. At 9:00 Friday morning January 10th, ABI Vice President Public Policy JD Davis and ABI Senior Director Public Policy Brad Hartkopf will host a one-hour webinar to share information about the legislative process and tips for engaging your legislators. This interactive, members-only discussion will provide a deeper dive into the legislative process to help you feel prepared as the Legislature convenes. Register here for this FREE webinar: Advocacy 101 Webinar (Members Only) | Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
NAM: Durable Goods Orders Remain in Positive Territory
Last Monday’s National Association of Manufacturers’ Monday Economic Report shared interesting data. While orders for new goods increased in October (the most recent month for which data is available), manufacturing remains sluggish compared to last year at this time. Even so, the NAM reports that generally, manufacturers remain positive about the coming year. That mirrors the attitude shared by those who attended last month’s board meeting. To read the report yourself, simply reply to this message and I’ll forward it to you right away.
It’s Another Great Edition of BCC’s baton; Read about the Big Ten
At ABI, we enjoy your company newsletters and appreciate learning about what is happening at your company. One of the best newsletters is BCC Advisers’baton. The latest edition is another good read and you can find it for yourself here: Baton+21.2.pdf.
The newsletter is full of valuable information, but two items stuck out to me. The first is another great column by company president and longtime ABI Board Member Steve Jacobs (BCC Advisers, Des Moines). Steve recaps the year in M&A and provides some insights about what may lie ahead. The second is a neat article comparing various Big Ten football programs to acquisitions by the conference. It is a very fun read.
Thanks much to Steve and the team at BCC Advisers!
Story to Purchase L&L Assets
Longtime ABI member Story Construction announced last week that it is acquiring the assets of L&L Builders Company in Sioux City. Story will retain the L&L workforce as it expands in to the Siouxland area. Read more about this acquisition here: Story Construction to Acquire Sioux City Firm L & L Builders Co. - Story Construction.
Congratulations to everyone at Story, including company president and longtime ABI Board Member Mike Espeset (Story Construction, Ames)! By the way, ABI member BCC Advisers assisted on this acquisition.
Welcome Theodore John Hartkopf!
The ABI ranch was buzzing last Wednesday. That’s because ABI Senior Director Public Policy Brad Hartkopf and his wife, Brooke Hartkopf, welcomed a new baby boy early that morning. Theodore John Hartkopf was born at 3:53 a.m. At birth, he weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and was 20 inches long. Mother and son are both doing well and we are all ecstatic for two wonderful people, Brad and Brooke, and for their brand new son. Welcome, young Mr. Hartkopf!