Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Value Added Agriculture Program working with Iowa Workforce Development and the National Labor Exchange through US.jobs has created an easy way to help businesses listed on Iowa MarketMaker to find employees.
For everyone, it’s Internet easy ― just visit www.agmrc.org and click the MarketMaker link. Or, go directly to the Iowa website at ia.marketmaker.uiuc.edu. From there, employers can list positions for more than 50 job categories in the food and agriculture industries.
“Whether you are a local fresh produce farmer or a manager of a super market, MarketMaker is the perfect resource to help your business grow,” said Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Value Added Agriculture specialist Craig Tordsen. “MarketMaker is a comprehensive interactive database of food industry marketing and business data. It is one of the most extensive collections of searchable food industry data in the country.”
Each state has a unique site, but all the data from other MarketMaker states can be accessed from any state MarketMaker location. The national MarketMaker link at www.agmrc.org is hosted by the national Agricultural Resource Center (AgMRC.org) at Iowa State University. The AgMRC link provides a clickable map of the entire United States. Participating states are highlighted, making it easy for users to navigate from state to state or to regionalize their data searches.
For more information about MarketMaker, contact the Iowa development team leader, Craig Tordsen at ctordsen@iastate.edu or 515-291-0966.
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]]>The central Iowa meeting will be held Feb. 28 at the Iowa Arboretum near Madrid, Iowa. This meeting is in collaboration with DuPont and will look at the use of corn stover in cellulosic ethanol production. The eastern Iowa meeting will be held on March 6 at the 4-H Building at the Dubuque County Fairgrounds, Dubuque, Iowa. The eastern Iowa meeting is in collaboration with JELD-WEN Fiber of Iowa to discuss use of corn stover as a fiber material. Both meetings start at 12:45 p.m.
Stover harvesting can impact economic, agronomic and water quality production factors. The meetings will address many of the positives and negatives of stover harvesting and discuss how stover harvesting can be managed within corn production. Crop producers, land owners, crop consultants, agronomists, service providers and others with an interest in stover harvest and its removal from farm fields are encouraged to attend.
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach meeting speakers include: John Sawyer and Antonio Mallarino, soil fertility specialists; Mahdi Al-Kaisi, soil management specialist; Chad Hart and William Edwards, agricultural marketing specialists; Matt Helmers and Kapil Arora, agricultural engineering specialists; Mark Licht and Virgil Schmitt, field agronomists; and Kelvin Leibold, farm management specialist. Industry speakers on the agenda include: Dr. David Ertl, technology commercialization manager, Iowa Corn Growers Association; Dennis Penland, DuPont business development manager; Andy Heggenstaller, agronomy research manager, DuPont; and Gardner Lance, general manager, JELD-WEN Fiber of Iowa.
A noon lunch will be sponsored by industry partners prior to the start of the meeting at no cost to the participants, however pre-registration is required. Industry representatives will be available to meet with participants during lunch and at the close of the meeting.
Registration forms for the Feb. 28 Boone County meeting are available from the Boone County Extension Office by calling 515-432-3882, or online at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/boone/. Registration for the March 6 Dubuque meeting are available from the Dubuque County Extension and Outreach Office by calling 563 583-6496, or online at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/dubuque/.
There is no fee to attend this meeting. Registration is required for correct meal and handout counts. Walk-in registration the day of the meeting will only be accepted if space is available.
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The FDA registration renewal can be completed online at https://www.access.fda.gov/oaa/. An Iowa State University Extension and Outreach team of Iowa Grain Quality Initiative and Food Science specialists has prepared a Web-based tutorial to assist facilities in the re-registration process. The tutorial is available at https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p6xjpfazy65/ and www.iowagrain.org.
“While many of the Food Safety Modernization Act regulations are expected to be announced in the near future, certain actions are already required by the law. One of those is the registration and re-registration of food handling facilities,” said Charles Hurburgh, Iowa Grain Quality Initiative professor-in-charge. “This tutorial is a guide through the registration process.”
Through FSMA, the FDA has been given wide latitude in creating preventative actions plans, the recall of potentially hazardous products and other actions intended to support safe foods, Hurburgh said. FSMA will apply to all grain handlers, processors, haulers and feed mills. The extent of the application to each type of facility will not be known until the rules are released.
“One thing we do know is everyone in the bulk grain industry must have a verified food safety preventive action plan,” said Angela Shaw, extension food safety specialist. “Verified means facilities must demonstrate the ability to prove the effectiveness of prevention and control of food safety concerns on an ongoing basis.”
The team led by Shaw and Hurburgh has created a checklist to assist facilities in assessing present food safety preparedness. The food safety plan checklist is a guide for future development. It is not an audit outline, nor is it the structure of the coming regulations. It can help facilities identify risks and potential food safety gaps in their operations, Shaw said. The checklist can be downloaded from the Iowa Grain Quality website, www.iowagrain.org, under the FDA-FSMA, Grain Handling and Processing tab.
“Our team is committed to the bulk grain industry and works to ensure that facilities have the educational material to be prepared for new food regulations,” said Shaw.
For further information, contact Shaw at 515-294-0868 or angelaml@iastate.edu ; contact Hurburgh at 515-294-8629 or tatry@iastate.edu.
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Leath unveiled the goal in his presidential installation address: “Educate. Innovate. Achieve!” Leath, who assumed the leadership post last January, was installed as Iowa State’s 15th president in a ceremony Friday, Sept. 14, at Stephens Auditorium on the Iowa State campus.
In his installation remarks, Leath noted the generosity of Iowa State alumni and friends who pledged gifts for student scholarships in the most recent comprehensive fundraising campaign, which concluded in 2011.
“We as institutions have to do more to provide funding to help students pay for their education,” Leath said in his address.
The call for additional private funding for financial aid is part of Leath’s first priority: to insure that Iowa State continues to provide a high quality educational experience. He noted that Iowa State is known as a caring university, one that is committed to helping students achieve their goals before and after graduation.
“My first priority is to continue to be true to this brand and this culture, and to continue improving our retention, graduation and placement rates, which means keeping the academic and student service programs strong,” Leath said. “But just as important, we must be accessible. And being accessible means being affordable.”
“I want Iowa State University to be known as the ‘partnership university.’ More than that, I want us to be known as the university that gets it right when it comes to partnering with others,” Leath said. “One size does not fit all. We need to listen; we need to be more demand-driven in developing our programs and services.”
He noted this applies in particular to the university’s role in Iowa’s economic development. He applauded existing Iowa State programs that are devoted to strengthening business and industry, but said he wants to initiate a more integrated approach that maximizes the university’s potential.
“I have asked members of my senior leadership team to develop an economic development framework that will better assist Iowa companies and communities to prosper and grow,” Leath said. “Efforts will concentrate on the three state focus industries of biosciences, advanced manufacturing, and information technology.”
Leath, who was directly involved with research-based economic development in North Carolina, said the state of Iowa has taken positive steps, but more effort is needed.
“We are in a competition, and we need to ramp up our efforts – and I intend for Iowa State University to take a leadership role,” Leath said.
One important role for Iowa State, he said, is to expand the faculty expertise in areas that are critical to Iowa’s economic future, such as the biological sciences, areas of the physical sciences and engineering.
He announced that Senior Vice President and Provost Jonathan Wickert and the college deans will seek to add 200 faculty positions in these key areas over the next 18 to 24 months. Many of the new faculty, he said, will fill new positions and some will fill vacant positions. He emphasized faculty positions would not be decreased in other disciplines to meet this goal.
As part of his emphasis on partnerships and economic development, Leath announced that the research park would report to his office, and he envisions the park becoming the “north anchor” for the Capital Corridor project, which seeks to further develop the Ames-Des Moines region.
Leath told his installation audience that the emphasis on the physical sciences, engineering and economic development would not diminish Iowa State’s commitment to the arts, humanities and social sciences.
“These programs will continue to play a vital role in the broad education and complete learning experience of our students, as well as in the delightfully eclectic character of this university and community,” he said.
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Cathann Kress, ISU Extension and Outreach vice president, and Terry Maloy, Iowa Association of County Extension Councils executive director, will participate in these important conversations with Iowans. ISU College of Design Dean Luis Rico-Gutierrez will attend the Storm Lake and Oskaloosa meetings.
“We are committed to listening to Iowans as we carry out our mission. We want to gather feedback about what we are doing well, where we need to improve, and what needs to be addressed,” said Kress. “All Iowans – citizens, community leaders, decision makers, partners, staff and extension council members – are welcome.”
For more information about the town hall meetings or specific location details, contact a county extension office.
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