LEE COUNTY – Most of us have a to-do list of some sorts – for the day, the week – but Emily Benjamin’s list spans five years, like from 2025 to 2029. The new CEO and President of Lee County Economic Development Group (LCEDG) says that list is called “Connect Lee County” and is being launched right after the entity’s busiest season. “Starting in September we started working with a nonprofit, capital fundraising group called Conversion Nonprofit Solutions. You’re sitting on top of a Conversion Nonprofit Solutions project. They were instrumental in getting the funding for the marina project,” Benjamin told Fort Madison Rotarians at their meeting Tuesday at the marina’s Turnwater Bar & Grill. With respect to the LCEDG, the fundraising nonprofit helped raise money to implement Connect Lee County and other initatives. In preparation, Nonprofit Solutions had LCEDG entities map our their accomplishments of the last five years as well as their goals for the next five years. During this process, Benjamin said the consultant interviewed community stakeholders. “Sometimes people will say meaner things to the consultant than to me or to Dennis (Fraise, the former retired CEO/President), so we like the unvarnished treatment that we get out of that feasibility study,” she said. She said Lee County does have some significant “head winds,” or challenges, but that in the end, her group needs to focus on three main areas – people, business, and quality of life. Benjamin said these areas have to be addressed from two angles – attracting the new and engaging or enhancing what is already in place. “We need to look at attracting new residents, new businesses, new quality of life amenities, and we also have to look at engaging the residents that already here, the businesses that are already here, and making sure we are fully utilizing the quality of life amenities that are here.” Under the “people” category,” Benjamin said the goal it build a strong, skilled workforce. She said they will do this in a variety of ways, including an Iowa Economic Development Authority pilot program for attracting talent by partnering with state colleges and those majoring in specific study areas. “We can then reach out to them and say ‘Hey, you have a mechanical engineering degree. Have you ever thought of moving back to your home community – I see you’re from Fort Madison, Iowa and there are three positions available in Lee County.” She said LCEDG can also help existing businesses recruit talent by cutting through some of the corporate red tape and representing them and the area at career fairs and by contacting college offices. She said there is also a community concierge piece to focusing on people and attracting new residents to the area. “It doesn’t do us a lot of good to bring people into the community and not connect them to that community.” Benjamin said this means reaching out to others in the community to show visitors the sights, the amenities, and to help sell them on the idea of relocating to the area. “Find out if they have kids, are interested in schools. Find out things about them and then also try to connect them with more fabrics of our community.” A third goal is to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem that provides support and resources for small business owners. “Anybody here that has been a small business owner knows it can be kind of a lonely island to own a small business. We want to make sure we are utilizing the program we already have, but also build a new one so that people feel like they have a support network.” Last, but not least, the Career Advantage Center that offers vocational and business training to local high school students in cooperation with area industries, will come into play. The center was five years in the making, under Fraise’s leadership, and is now governed by its own nonprofit board, which includes LCEDG representation. Benjamin said a large part of Connect Lee County is a unified approach with one entity representing the interests of all cities within the area, rather than having Fort Madison and Keokuk working independently. She said one site selector scouting the area said he does select a site, rather he goes out and disqualifies sites. “He said ‘if I have to call three different people to find out who the right person is to talk to, I’m going to eliminate your community because I assume there is bad politics. I assume there’s bad blood or some sort of contention where you guys can’t work together.’” In the area of business, Benjamin said they not only want to be chosen by site selectors for new industry, but they also want to work with existing industry so that if that company’s corporate officials are looking to relocate a division of manufacturing that Lee County is a contender. “We know that about 80 percent of future growth will come from these existing businesses.” She said Lee County currently has 4,500 manufacturing jobs that contributes $250 million to the economy, but that agricultural sector is also prominent and in need of more attention and support. “We have a goal in our five-year plan to focus on building relationships with that ag community.“ She said the more difficult part of her job is that “you win some, and you lose some.” For example, corporate officials decided to close Fort Madison Independent Can manufacturing plant and move its operations to another existing plant – leaving the county with one less industry, but with a marketable building for a new one. “We know that if we get everything right, we’re still going to lose some, so we have to continue to attach new industries to the area. We have to continue to be really proactive about getting these. A lot of times, when we get a lead, we get a spread sheet and we have 24 hours to turn it around.” She said she is often reminded of Derry Brothers’ “push, pull or drag” promotion where the Burlington car dealership vowed to pay for any trade-in vehicle that would be pushed, pulled or dragged to their premises. “Sometimes doing economic development in a rural community feels a little like a push, pull or drag sale. We don’t care who you are. We don’t care what you want to make. If you’ll consider Lee County, we want you here and we’re going to try to get you here.” The third piece of the five-year plan consists of quality of life – amenities and lifestyle benefits to living in the area. Existing amenities include the Fort Madison marina, the recreational trails, the schools and community college, the Baxter Sport Complex, pickle ball courts, the YMCA, events, historical landmarks, the Mississippi River, the many trains passing through the communities, the scenic parks and more. “Whether it is in Keokuk, in Fort Madison, whether it is in Montrose, what is our next big-slash impact that we can make?” But quality life can also be a lifestyle that may attract newcomers. “The one thing that I personally sell is that I have a job that I love. It’s a job that demands a lot of my time and a lot of my attention, but I don’t miss my kids’ baseball games. I can do my job. I can work really hard and still be the kind of present parent, engaged community member, and active volunteer that I want to be.”With the impending expansion of personal pension schemes, individuals will have the opportunity to open new accounts and start making contributions towards their retirement savings. This move towards wider accessibility aims to empower more people to actively participate in building their retirement nest egg, ensuring financial security in their golden years.
Alibaba Responds to "Cloud Computing Data Center Fire": No Impact on Cloud ServicesFour members of Congress unveiled a bipartisan bill Friday that would spark changes at the U.S. Center for SafeSport, placing a time limit on resolving cases that can sometimes take years and improving communication between the center and abuse survivors. The Safer Sports for Athletes Act looks to address some of the bigger concerns that have opened the center to criticism since it was established in 2017 to handle sex-abuse cases in Olympic sports and their grassroots cousins. The bill has potential for a fivefold increase of an existing grant to the center, bringing it to $10 million a year. But even if the full amount were approved, it wouldn't solve all of the problems. As before, that grant can only be used for training and education , not investigations and enforcement, which are the focus of complaints about the center , and also of the reforms the lawmakers are seeking. “We’re hoping the combination of appropriations for other activities will free up money for investigations, as well as the streamlining,” said one of the bill's sponsors, Rep. Deborah Ross, D-North Carolina. The center estimates the reforms in the bill could cost more than $4.5 million. It currently operates on a budget of around $21 million a year, most of which comes from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and its sports affiliates, known as national governing bodies, or NGBs. “It's really unclear, and I don't think that some parts of the bill jibe with other parts of the bill," SafeSport CEO Ju'Riese Colon said. "We're going to need some more conversation to suss out some of this stuff. Right now, it just doesn't really add up for us.” The center's critics, meanwhile, have long been skeptical about giving more resources to an agency they feel is missing the mark. The bill would also mandate that investigations be concluded within 180 days after a report is made, with possibilities to extend them. Some of the most egregious complaints about the center have come from people who say it has taken years for their cases to be resolved. The center currently receives about 155 reports a week, which comes to more than 8,000 a year. When fully staffed, it has 77 people on its response and resolution team. “Too many other survivors have also been left waiting for years for SafeSport to investigate or have their cases closed without action,” said soccer player Mana Shim, who helped lawmakers draft the bill. Shim's own case, involving sexual harassment and coercion by her coach, took more than two years for the center to resolve and led to investigations and reforms across American soccer. Other reforms include a requirement for the center to provide victim advocates at no cost for those needing them — a move already underway as part of a menu of changes the center announced earlier this year — and to assign case managers who can give timely updates to victims and the accused. “I have questions around, if the center were to hire and staff the advocates, there might be some conflict of interest with us doing this internally," Colon said. The center was also concerned with one provision that would redefine how arbitration works and another that would change the dynamics of information sharing between the center and the USOPC and NGBs. The other bill sponsors were Reps. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio; Don Bacon, R-Nebraska; and Kathy Castor, D-Florida. The lawmakers positioned the bill as one that will help the Denver-based center, while making clear they are not satisfied with the results so far. “We're going to make sure the center has the resources it needs to effectively respond to thousands of reports it handles annually,” Castor said. “It has unfortunately fallen short." Ross conceded this bill will probably get pushed to the next Congress, which convenes Jan. 3, “but we needed to set the stage as soon as possible.” AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
In response to the escalating political crisis, protests have erupted in major cities across South Korea, with citizens expressing their outrage and demanding accountability from their leaders. Calls for electoral reform and increased governmental oversight have grown louder, reflecting a growing sense of distrust and disillusionment with the country's political establishment.