Deming's Chain Reaction with Gary Nesteby and Scott Nicol of The Iowa Quality Center

The Buyer-Supplier Connection and AccessMyFuture.com
The presenter this month will be Kelsey McElroy-Anderson, the new Regional Economic Development and Sustainability Coordinator from Prosperity Eastern Iowa (PEI).  

AccessMyFuture.com is an interactive website that explores careers in the region and provides links to a variety of job search sites within the region.

Two great resources for business leaders!

The Buyer-Supplier Connection provides an online venue where regional companies can post RFPs, search for suppliers in the area, and connect using an online message board. 

Meet & Greet the New Executive Director, Dustin Embree

The next JCED meeting is Tuesday, April 12th, from noon - 1:00 p.m. at the Renaissance Center in downtown Monticello. Lunch will be served for $5.  Please RSVP to the Monticello Chamber at 319-465-5626 or chamber@macc-ia.us

This month’s topic is “Meet & Greet the New Executive Director, Dustin Embree”.   Embree has a BA in Public Administration and Political Science from UNI, a Masters of Public Policy Administration from the University of Missouri and is a Dale Carnegie Leadership Graduate.  She has 6 years experience growing the Estherville Area Chamber of Commerce and will bring strong organizational and communication skills to JCED. 

All attendees are encouraged to bring their business card.

If you have not yet attended one of these events, it would be to your advantage to do so. Not only can you hear an informative presentation, it is also an opportunity to network with your peers in the county!

The Tax Benefits of Doing Business in Iowa
In August, Jason Wilson, with Wilson Tax Consulting, has been invited for a presentation on ‘The Tax Benefits of Doing Business in Iowa’. Jason is considered one of the premier state tax experts in the Midwest. He has earned countless awards depicting his distinguished career. One of Jason’s notable career highlights was being the consultant for discovering the Iowa film and tax credit issues that have gained national and international attention. He currently has started his own company, Wilson Tax Consulting. Presently, Jason focuses on credits and incentives, state-by-state tax analysis, loan application, assisting growing companies finding funding, R&D, cost segregation, state and local tax consulting, and state controversy consulting. Jason has filed for millions of dollars in tax refunds for companies in various tax types. Jason spent ten years in various public accounting firms managing state and local tax practice focusing on all state and local tax credits, including federal tax credits such as R & D and cost segregation. Prior to that, Jason worked eight years for the Iowa Department of Revenue where he wrote tax law, answered tax questions of all tax types, examined individual and cooperate income tax returns, and managed S Corp and Cal Cap Refund Programs. Lunch will be provided ($5.00).

Virtual Reality Learning in the Jones County School Districts
The meeting will be held at the Renaissance Center in downtown Monticello. Lunch - $5.00 Are you interested in knowing what our school districts are doing to improve student education? If so, then you will not want to miss the May Roundtable where Dr. Trace Pickering with the Grant Wood Area Education Agency will discuss Virtual Reality Learning for students in the Jones County School Districts. Attendee’s will have the opportunity to learn about how virtual reality learning works and the plan for its implementation in our local schools. We encourage you to be part of this excellent opportunity to hear what is happening in our school districts in Jones County. Please RSVP Kris at the Monticello Chamber (319-465-5626 or chamber@macc-ia.us)

Get To Know Our Jones County Industries Series – Energy Manufacturing and ORBIS
The March Roundtable will continue our “Get To Know Jones County Industries” series featuring presentations from Mike Szymaszek, President, Energy Manufacturing and Doug Wortman, Operations Manager, ORBIS Corporation. Attendee’s will have the opportunity to learn about what each of these companies manufacture, their workforce, and their presence in a global economy. We encourage you to be part of this excellent opportunity to hear what is happening in our industries in Jones County, as we continue this series of presentations. Please RSVP Kris at the Monticello Chamber (319-465-5626 or chamber@macc-ia.us)

WorkKeys Assessments for Potential Employees
The November presentation will feature Steve Anderson with ACT. Yes, Steve is back with us! Steve’s presentation “Inside the WorkKeys Assessments Testing Process” will be a continuation from this past September when Steve presented to the group on the advantages of utilizing WorkKeys Assessments when hiring potential employees. This time, Steve’s presentation will give attendees an in-depth look at how potential employees are being tested and how an employer can customize the tests to coincide with their organizational format. We encourage you to be part of this excellent opportunity to learn more about WorkKeys Assessments for potential employees and its advantages for employers. Please RSVP Kris at the Monticello Chamber (319-465-5626 or chamber@macc-ia.us)

Lean Manufacturing
The August presentation will feature Tom Kammer, Program Manager, Business & Industry Training (NICC). Tom currently works with Business and Industry in the 8 county NICC service area and across Iowa with other Community Colleges to identify needs and provide training. He specializes in LEAN Manufacturing and other production and quality programs including Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints, ISO, QS, TS 16949, Statistical Process Control, GD&T, Process Capability, and OSHA Standards. Tom is a certified National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) trainer for LEAN 101, Value Stream Mapping, 5S, and Performance Measurements for the LEAN Enterprise. Tom is also a certified trainer for the Workplace LEAN training program for administrative processes and for the Iowa Manufacturing Extension Partnership (IMEP) Value Stream Mapping for Office and Administrative Processes. In addition, Tom was the presenter at the AICE conference in 2005 on Workplace LEAN. He holds a B.A. degree in Management from the University of Northern Iowa and has 25 years of management experience in the private sector with 2 successful manufacturing firms.  Please RSVP Kris at the Monticello Chamber to sign-up. (319-465-5626 or chamber@macc-ia.us)

Presentation on the Facets of Exporting
The June presentation will be presented by Kathy Hill with the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED).  Kathy is the manager of the International Office & International Marketing Manager for the Asia/Pacific Region Business Development Division of IDED. Kathy travels overseas on a regular basis and has extensive experience in assisting Iowa companies as they develop or expand their international markets.  Her presentation will incorporate Iowa’s export statistics and trends. Attendees will learn what they should be thinking about as they develop into the export process.  This is a very involved process and generally requires much more time than a two-hour session. This roundtable will help you determine if this is a direction your company should pursue and JCED will then assist you to determine if further training is needed or if one-on-one assistance is more appropriate.

April's Roundtable will feature Terry Whitson with Kirkwood's Training and Outreach Services.  She will have a presentation on ways to encourage team work and team building within our organizations.  This is open for everyone in your organization, please invite your team members.  

'The Last Lecture’ – a motivational and life achievement presentation by Randy Pausch whom has since passed-away at age 47.  This is a remarkable presentation that has captured the world. This meeting is open for everyone within your organization, please invite your team members.

Randy Pausch was a Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon, where he was the co-founder of Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center (ETC). He was a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator and a Lilly Foundation Teaching Fellow. He has done Sabbaticals at Walt Disney Imagineering and Electronic Arts (EA), and consulted with Google on user interface design. Dr. Pausch received his bachelors in Computer Science from Brown University and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University.