Happy Friday. We’ll keep it short this week, because you have candy shopping to do. Here are a few things it might be nice to know:
Month: October 2015
CIRAS DIGEST: Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Happy Tuesday. Today we’re spicing up our digest of the Internet’s industry-related news by including an update about bacon defenders and a scandal-prone CEO in addition to the usual deep-thinking position papers. Here’s where you can find it all:
CIRAS DIGEST: Friday, October 23, 2015
Happy Friday. Today’s survey of industry news contains pockets of problems, plus a lot of broad economic speculation today. Here’s where you find all the details:

With Help from CIRAS, Dur-A-Lift Designs a New Home
A George, Iowa, manufacturer of farm equipment, scooters, and hydraulic lift equipment is ramping up production in a new 26,000-square-foot building that was designed, with CIRAS’ help, to take the entire operation to a higher level. Diversified Technologies Inc. (DTI) traces its founding back to the 1888 blacksmith shop of a German immigrant. The company has evolved over the intervening decades to become a diverse corporate family that includes Sudenga Industries Inc. agricultural equipment, Ranger All-Season Electric Scooters, and the popular Dur-A-Lift line of mounted aerial lifts.
CIRAS DIGEST: Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Happy Tuesday. Industry news continues to be filled with accounts of the demise and/or resurgence of American factories. Today, we found two slightly different takes – plus a manufacturing tax break that might or might not be a brewing political battle in Iowa. Here’s where you find the details:
CIRAS DIGEST: Friday, October 16, 2015
Happy Friday. Today, the Internet offers a little bit of everything when it comes to industry news. Tidbits include the fact that manufacturing in weak, that shoe-based innovation is still marching forward and that it’s hard to sell high-end Chinese liquor these days. Here’s where you can find that and more:

CIRAS & SBDC Help Frozen Food Company Grow Rapidly
The numbers tell the story. In less than four years, Sisters Home Style Entrées went from preparing 200 frozen meals a month for families and individuals to roughly 41,000. The one-woman, Humboldt, Iowa, company started by Deb Davis swelled to employing 37 people. And, with help from CIRAS and the Iowa Small Business Development Center (SBDC), it moved from a 2,500-square-foot facility to a new 30,000-square-foot manufacturing plant.
CIRAS DIGEST: Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Happy Tuesday. Today’s mix of industry news collected from around the Internet includes two interesting accounts of producing local for local, plus some recently fixed “stupid” and an account of the roadtripping by Iowa’s economic PR arm. Here’s where you find the details:
CIRAS DIGEST: Friday, October 9, 2015
Happy Friday. We have a decent-size collection of deep thinking today, from pondering the past to launching new planning documents. Here’s where you can find all the details:
Iowans Turn Out in Droves to Celebrate Manufacturing Day
U.S. Manufacturing Day technically was Oct. 2. But thanks to a long list of organizers and promoters (including CIRAS, Elevate Iowa, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, and community colleges around the state) the celebration in Iowa continues throughout the rest of October.