Extension Communications
Extension 4-H Youth Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3630
(515) 294-9915
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Extension Communications |
10/26/04
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Stanley R. Johnson, Vice Provost for Extension, (515) 294-6192, vpforext@iastate.edu
Ronald Cox, Center for Industrial Research and Service, (515) 294-9592, rcox@iastate.edu
Laura Sternweis, Continuing Education and Communication Services, (515) 294-0775,
lsternwe@iastate.edu
Iowa Manufacturing Extension Partnership to Reorganize
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University Extension is working with the Iowa Manufacturing Extension Partnership (IMEP) Governance Board and its federal partner to change the structure of the IMEP. The goal is to expand services to Iowa manufacturers and implement a more coordinated delivery system.
IMEP is part of a nationwide network of not-for-profit centers linked through the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology.
" The reorganization is designed to make IMEP more client and partner friendly, and is a natural and positive progression of the work initiated by Willem Bakker," said Stanley R. Johnson, vice provost for ISU Extension.
Bakker took leave as the director of the IMEP beginning Oct. 15, Johnson said. "The reorganization will be completed by January 2005, and all of IMEP's partners will be involved."
IMEP is a consortium of state and local business, manufacturing and technical organizations; state agencies and centers; ISU colleges; University of Northern Iowa; Drake University; and Iowa's community colleges. IMEP provides Iowa's small- and mid-sized manufacturers with technical and business assistance, assessments and training to help companies increase productivity and competitiveness.
Ronald Cox, director of ISU Extension's Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS), will serve as IMEP's interim director. Cox will continue to direct CIRAS during the interim, Johnson said. "IMEP will remain located in Ankeny to allow greater synergy with partnering organizations."
Roger Behrens, president of the IMEP Governance Board, said, "I am confident the new organizational structure will permit IMEP to more effectively deliver a broad array of services to support the needs of Iowa manufacturers."
According to Robert Denson, president of Des Moines Area Community College, "The new structure will be more clear cut and will simplify the role that community colleges play as providers of workforce training services."
Under Bakker's leadership during the past six years, IMEP has quantified a financial impact on Iowa manufacturers in excess of $417 million in sales, nearly $132 million in bottom-line profit impact, $69 million in savings and nearly $91 million in new investments. In addition, 2,828 jobs were created or retained.
In 2003, IMEP ranked first in bottom-line impact, outranking 59 similar centers nationwide.
According to an independent third party survey in 2003, IMEP clients reported productivity gains more than four times greater than comparable non-IMEP manufacturers.
For more information about IMEP, see http://www.imep.org/.
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