LMT Defense Finds Bigger Role in Government Contracting

• Jeff Eckhoff

An Eldridge arms manufacturer won business worth more than $17 million after CIRAS helped the company wade deeper into government contracting.

Lewis Machine and Tool Company, which does business as LMT Defense, for decades has been a major manufacturer of firearms for military and law enforcement customers, many of them overseas. The company had performed a variety of U.S. government work since it was founded in 1980, but LMT leaders last year set a new goal to vastly increase the percentage of company sales inside American borders.

Muscatine’s MARRVE Will Make Fuel from Former Food

• Jeff Eckhoff

A Muscatine solid-waste treatment facility is building what it hopes will become a major biogas production plant after Iowa State University helped the city discover its best formula for using food waste to produce methane.

Jon Koch, director of the city of Muscatine’s Water and Resource Recovery Facility, said his agency recently completed the first two-year, $4 million phase of developing Muscatine Area Resource Recovery for Vehicles and Energy (MARRVE). The effort has turned a former recycling center into a hub for food manufacturers around the Midwest to drop off food waste for treatment by Muscatine’s anaerobic digesters.

The goal eventually is to handle enough food waste—and produce enough biogas from that process—to generate and sell the equivalent of 1,000 gallons of vehicle fuel per day.

Gilcrest/Jewett Finds Success in Bringing Lean to Lumber

• Jeff Eckhoff

A 165-year-old Des Moines lumber company has gained new efficiencies, better customer service, and a tangible reduction in injuries after its employees embraced continuous improvement. Rick Kyser, operations manager at Gilcrest/Jewett Lumber Company, said company leaders have seen a massive cultural shift since the lumberyard took its first steps toward Lean management at the end … Continue reading Gilcrest/Jewett Finds Success in Bringing Lean to Lumber

Plan Now to Be Ready for Bad Weather

• Jeff Eckhoff

April showers in Iowa quickly can turn dangerous thanks to flash flooding.

CIRAS wants to take this opportunity to remind you yet again about the potential peril that can come with severe weather season. Are you ready?

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us, Iowa companies always come out better when they plan for the worst and take steps ahead of time to identify what should happen if trouble strikes

Did You Know?…Iowa DOT Small Business Development Contracts Program

• Jeff Eckhoff

The Iowa Department of Transportation offers a program specific to small business contractors where small businesses compete against each other and not against large contractors. This program, separate from the DBE Certification, is called the Small Business Development Contracts Program. To be eligible for this, a small business must become a Certified Small Business Contractor (CSBC) by meeting the requirements through the Iowa DOT’s Civil Rights Bureau. (Note: There is no ethnic or gender limitation for this program.)

To become a CSBC, and to bid on the small business contracts, follow the steps below:

Register Now for Business Analytics Symposium

• Jeff Eckhoff

Registration is now open for the Iowa State University’s first virtual Business Analytics Symposium, hosted by the Ivy College of Business.

Now in its fifth year, the April 6 symposium will feature a new format – four influential keynote speakers over two half-day sessions, with one breakout session each day.

Ready for In-Person Events? Let us know.

• Jeff Eckhoff

CIRAS, like most of the rest of the world, called a halt to in-person educational events last year when the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold. We didn’t like it. We didn’t want to. But we did what we thought was best for your health and the health of our staff – and in the process, we launched hundreds of detailed video webinars that since have been viewed by thousands of Iowa business people.

Now, as vaccines roll out and the case counts fall, we’re starting to ponder what the future will look like for CIRAS events

STAFF UPDATE: Meet Jeff White

• Jeff Eckhoff

Jeff White has joined CIRAS as an account manager for southeastern Iowa.

Jeff has a bachelor’s degree from Western Kentucky University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Iowa. He joins CIRAS after 30 years in marketing, business development, and sales, primarily in Iowa manufacturing.

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