CLINTON, Iowa – “We do awesome things.”
That was the word from Andy Sokolovich, president and CEO of Grow Clinton, the business advocate group that had its annual meeting on Tuesday, June 13, at NelsonCorp Field in Clinton.
More than 100 people attended the session that centered on the success stories in the community from the past few months. Those stories largely looked at new businesses moving to the community, existing businesses expanding and more jobs being created.
In many cases, those successes took years to become reality.
“Anybody who says economic development is a sprint, happens overnight, they’re lying to you,” said Mr. Sokolovich.
An example of that he said is the recent completion of the Wilson Lofts project.
That transformation of the Wilson Building into 33 apartments and business space on the first floor took $15.6 million and more than seven years to complete. Opening ceremonies for the Wilson Lofts were held in March.
Some of the other “awesome” projects celebrated Tuesday included:
- Last October Nestle Purina announced a $156 million expansion that will lead to the hiring of nearly 100 more workers as part of that project. And a few months ago, the company announced plans for a $110 million investment in the Clinton facility to build a 90,000-square-foot building to support an expansion at the facility. The investment, announced in a news release, includes adding automated warehousing technology to the facility and creating 15 new jobs.
- Last year Big River Packaging added about 33,000 square feet to the company’s 88,000-square-foot building.
- This spring Atlas Roofing Corp. a leading North American manufacturer of building products, announced it will build a new $200 million asphalt shingle manufacturing facility in Clinton. The new facility will be located in the Lincolnway Industrial Rail & Air Park. The company plans to construct a 440,000-square-foot asphalt shingle plant on 148 acres in the park. The project represents a $224 million capital investment and is expected to create 117 jobs that pay $19.57 per hour.
- Also this spring the Lincolnway Industrial Rail & Air Park near Clinton has received site certification from a state agency. That means the site could be ready to attract new businesses. The certification process, conducted by Quest Site Solutions in partnership with the Iowa Economic Development Authority, was an 18-month-long exhaustive and rigorous review of the 460-acre industrial site along four-lane US Highway 30 in Clinton County, according to Grow Clinton officials.
- And last weekend the Tailgate N’ Tallboys country music festival brought in about 25,000 people and millions of dollars to the community, according to estimates from Grow Clinton. “It was a tremendous success. We will continue to invest in (the festival),” said Mr. Sokolovich.
During the annual meeting, Grow Clinton officials said they expect to see more success stories in the coming weeks and months.
“There are so many great things that will happen in Clinton. This is just the start,” said Paula Steward, chair of the Grow Clinton Board of Directors.
During Tuesday’s meeting the most recent graduates of the Leadership Institute were honored. Also, several residents received awards. Those people honored and the awards included:
- Susan Watkins: The Karl Schmitz Memorial Award for Outstanding Ambassador (chosen by fellow Ambassadors).
- Tom Koester: The Al Wise Memorial Award for Outstanding Volunteer.
- Kip Simpson: The Julie Allesee Community Leader of the Year.
- Carrier Donaire: Manager of the Year.
- Brent Brightman: Small Business Person of the Year.
