DCDC Monthly October 2014

The DCDC is going PINK in October!!

We are selling PINK "I Heart DeWitt" koozies all October long! They are $4 and the proceeds stay

local and are donated to the "Wear Pink For The Cure" fund set up by the Dewitt Community Hos-

pital Foundation !! Get your hands on these koozies before they are gone!

You can also pick up our koozies at these locations: Whisk Away Cafe & Bakery, DeWitt Opera-

house Theater, First Central State Bank, Dewitt Bank & Trust, Dot's Hallmark, DeWitt Fitness Cen-

ter, Graphic Elements, Central High School and Flowers On The Side!

IN THIS ISSUE:

The DCDC is going PINK in October!! 1 Workforce Transformation 6

Autumn Fest 2 SBDC Business Counseling Opportunities 7

Autumn Fest Sponsors 3 Stay Fit in the Workplace Lunch & Learn 8

Save the Date 3 Member Spotlight 9

DCDC Community-Wide Commercial Open House 4 DCDC Revive After Five Events 10

Alliant Energy Offers Free Energy Assessment 4 2015 DCDC Revive After Five Schedule 11

EICC Offers Leadership Training Program 5 DeWitt’s Hometown Christmas 12

BBB Seeks Businesses of Integrity 5 DCDC Mission / Board of Directors / Staff 13

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Autumn Fest is an annual event put on by the DCDC with the help of our sponsors, volunteers and

committee members! Autumn Fest is a "Community Thank You" to all those that support DeWitt.

The night has a variety of activities and attractions: children's games/activities, live music, awe-

some food vendors, a classic car and emergency vehicle display... just to name a few. In addition

to all the fun of Friday night’s Autumn Fest celebration, we added a Family movie in the Park for all

to attend free! What a great weekend!!

Want to send us your feedback about Autumn Fest? Click here to take a short survey.

A big thank you to Photographs by Yours Truly - Catherine Cook for getting some amazing pic-

tures from Friday and Saturday night! Click here to visit our Autumn Fest album on Facebook !

Autumn Fest

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Save the Date

11.11.14 eat Lunch & Learn something – Stay Fit in the Workplace, pre-

sented by Comprehensive Rehab

11.18.14 SBDC Business Counseling Opportunity at the DCDC

11.20.14 Revive After Five at Kunau Implement Company

12.6.14 Hometown Christmas

Click here to view our Community Events Calendar!

DCDC Community-Wide Commercial Open House Deemed a Success!

The DCDC, in cooperation with local property own-ers, organized a first-time community-wide Open House Tour on Wednesday, October 15 in DeWitt. The self-guided tour consisted of 15 varying-sized commercial properties that are currently for sale or lease. The community, its available proper-ties, and the open house event were all promoted to thousands of individuals within a 40-mile radius via commercial realtors, media outlets--including The Observer, QC Times, Clinton Herald--and Facebook advertising. Several interested parties toured different buildings throughout the night and connected with representatives from the Small Business Development Center and Alliant Energy. If you would like to view a list of the different properties currently available for sale or lease, please visit www.dewittiowa.org and go to "Economic Development" and "Commercial Prop-erty Open House".

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Alliant Energy Offers Free Energy Assessment to Clinton County Small Businesses

Energy experts with Alliant Energy will be in Clinton and the surrounding areas over the next few weeks conducting free energy assessments ($500 value) for small business customers. A trained energy professional will visit businesses to evaluate the building’s shell, heating and cooling system, insulation and lighting. Installation of free energy-saving products like compact fluorescent light bulbs and programmable thermostats will be included. Following the assessment, each business will receive a customized report which summarizes the building’s energy perform-ance and makes recommendations for improvements. Information will also be included about re-bates from Alliant Energy to help offset the cost of making the efficiency upgrades. As a bonus, businesses may also qualify for Alliant Energy’s Small Business Energy Solutions pro-gram. This turnkey lighting program pays up to 75 percent of the total project costs. This simple, streamlined process is designed to work within the busy schedules of small business owners. To qualify for these programs, businesses must receive utility service from Alliant Energy, have an-nual billing of less than $50,000 and occupy less than 20,000 square feet. If the building is leased, property owner approval is required.

Businesses may visit alliantenergy.com/startsaving or call 1-888-267-7516 to schedule an energy

assessment.

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EICC Offers Leadership Training Program

Eastern Iowa Community Colleges (EICC) is once again offering a Leadership Training program for

Team Leaders in DeWitt. This 11-session program begins November 20 and will meet one day

per month from Noon to 4 pm at the DeWitt Community Center.

The cost to participate is $605/person, which is just 35% of the total cost. The remainder is paid

for through an EICC grant. One or more employees from a business can participate.

Topics include:

Defining Me As A Leader Improving Active Listening Skills

Expressing My Message Effectively Effective Performance Reviews

Constructive Feedback Coaching To Grow Employees

Positive Recognition Conducting Effective Meetings

Resolving Conflict

Handling Disruptive Emotional Behavior Effectively

Defining Roles, Responsibilities, & Performance Expectations

To learn more or sign up, please contact program coordinator Denny Schnoor at 563-441-4368.

BBB Seeks Businesses of Integrity

Individuals and business owners can nominate businesses online at www.bbb.org/iowa. Estab-

lished in 1993, the BBB Integrity Awards give public recognition to businesses and organizations

for their outstanding commitment to fair, honest and ethical marketplace practices. The awards

celebrate marketplace role models who exemplify BBB principles and uphold our ideals on trust,

reliability and ethics.

Nominations for businesses are due December 15. Any company doing business in BBB’s service

area for at least three years is eligible to be nominated, no matter how big or how small. Following

the open nomination process, nominated businesses will receive a formal application packet. An

independent panel of volunteer community leaders will select this year’s recipients, who will be

recognized at a ceremony on April 22, 2015, at Jumer’s Casino and Hotel.

Last year’s winners were DeWitt Bank & Trust, Bush Construction Company, D’ Suoza-Krutzfeldt

Q.C. Dentistry, Humility of Mary Housing & Humility of Mary Shelter, Kaplan University, and Mid-

America Basement Systems.

BBB also recognizes tomorrow’s leaders through the Students of Integrity awards. The awards

are given to three high school seniors, nominated by their guidance counselors and principals,

who personify high character and ethical behavior in their leadership and contributions to their

communities and schools. Student honorees are selected by a panel of judges to receive a $2,500

scholarship to an accredited school/college of their choice.

For more information, contact Jamie McKenzie at 563-355-1705 or email

jamie@quadcities.bbb.org .

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Does your workplace have issues

with employee recruitment and re-

tention? If this is part of your real-

ity, the DCDC would like to encour-

age you to take advantage of a re-

gional opportunity to learn from

other industries and businesses

about what they are doing to over-

come this obstacle.

Our five county (Clinton, Jackson,

Dubuque, Jones, and Delaware) eco-

nomic development organization,

Prosperity Eastern Iowa, is hosting

the below event. The DCDC has had

the opportunity to hear both speak-

ers and can assure you it would be

well worth your time to attend!

Is it Time to Look at Your Workplace Culture Differently?

Dave Maxheimer is the Director of Human Resources for Hagie Manufacturing Company, a manufacturer of innovative crop production solutions. During his 13 years with Hagie, the Clarion, Iowa, company has experienced significant growth while also being named as a Top Iowa Workplace for three consecu-tive years from 2011-2013. Throughout his 23 year career in Human Re-sources, Dave has experienced numerous challenges in recruiting and retain-ing talent within the Transportation and Agricultural industries – until now! A recent innovative focus at Hagie uniquely positions employee happiness, en-gagement, and purpose before profitability. This nontraditional initiative has created a distinctive company culture that draws in and retains the right talent while also driving those who may not fit the culture to either adapt or leave. Although this family owned company has been rooted in tradition since 1947, Hagie is not your typical company in many ways, and the recruiting efforts are quite… “unconventional”! Renee Poppe is the Vice President, Customer Service for Medline Industries, Inc. She has overseen the operation since 2002. Renee has hired and grown the Medline Dubuque operation from 53 – 450 employees over the past almost 14 years. She enjoys all aspects of leading her team but most important is devel-oping a 1:1 relationship with each employee and creating a culture where each person feels valued and appreciated.

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Member Spotlight: Rock Valley Physical Therapy

Excellence Every Time! Rock Valley Physical Therapy is dedicated to making better lives by fostering a timely optimal outcome in a customer focused environment. Our highly skilled and compassionate team provides individualized one-on-one care for each patient.

Patients mean everything to us

The patient is at the center of our efforts, not just a number on the bottom line like you'll find

in some large healthcare companies. This is why our owners consist of practicing therapists

instead of bean counters--our leadership team went to school to learn how to care for pa-

tients, not maximize profits. Thousands of loyal patients can attest to the difference.

We're great at what we do

Not all physical therapy clinics provide the same level of care. For many corporations, therapy

is just one of many lines of business. This is not the case at Rock Valley—it is all we do. Our

therapists are highly credentialed and recognized as regional experts who routinely teach and

guest lecture in doctoral programs at Midwest universities. For nearly 30 years, we have main-

tained a stellar reputation among physicians who trust their patients with our care. Nationally,

Rock Valley is recognized as a leading physical therapy advocate.

We genuinely care Rock Valley is not the largest physical therapy provider, nor the newest, but when it comes to care, we believe we are the most sincere. From our therapist-centered leadership team to our newest hires, we stress the importance of care. Patients feel this authentic concern when they work with our staff, our employees feel it when we thank them for their efforts, and our com-munities see it in our extensive volunteer work. It's not uncommon for insurance companies and physicians to comment on how easy it is to work with Rock Valley. This does not happen by accident, we are an organization of care providers, led by care providers, who firmly be-

lieve in our mission to improve the health of the communities where we live and work.

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Last Revive of 2014, November 20th : Kunau Implement Company

CLICK HERE TO RSVP NOW!

A big “Thank You” to Flowers on the Side for holding the September Revive and Rock Valley

Physical Therapy for hosting the October Revive After Five event. Check out a few photos from

the nights and plan on attending the next Revive in November at Kunau Implement. All DCDC

member employees are welcome and encouraged to attend these worthwhile and relaxed network-

ing events!

DCDC Revive After Five Events

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Thank You!

Mission Statement

The DCDC’s mission is to lead, inform, advocate and advance business interests and promote commu-nity growth. Our core focus is to support existing businesses, attract new businesses, and assist in

enhancing the quality of life for our community.

DeWitt Chamber & Development Company

1010 6th Ave

DeWitt, IA 52742

Phone: 563-659-8500

Email: info@dewittiowa.org

Website: www.dewittiowa.org

Hours: M-F, 9-4

DCDC Staff

Tami Petsche, Executive Director

Emily Schmitt, Programs & Events Coordinator

Stephanie Sagers, Administrative Assistant

Madeleine Blandin, Marketing Intern

DCDC Board of Directors

Greg Gannon, DeWitt Bank & Trust, Chair

Wayne Stuedemann, Ag Spectrum, Vice-Chair

Brian Volkens, First Central State Bank, Treasurer

Don Thiltgen, DeWitt Mayor

Mary Rueter, The Observer

Dave Deke, Deke Insurance

Dawn Marcus, City Council Representative

Merle Ocken, DeWitt Resident

Dan Peterson, Central Community School District

Steve Lindner, DeWitt City Administrator

Tina Lively, DeWitt Bank Tax & Accounting Services

Garey Chrones, Office Machine Consultants

Luanne Smith, City Council Representative

Joe Tabor, ITW Fluids North America

Kasey Kleinsmith, Flowers on the Side

Kim Broders, Ruhl & Ruhl Realtors

Connect with the DCDC www.dewittiowa.org

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