COVID-19 upended nearly all American businesses in 2020. Now that 2021 is here, where do you stand in dealing with the pandemic? Do you have a good handle on how the coronavirus has impacted your business and what might lie ahead in 2021?
CIRAS is urging any Iowa company with lingering questions about COVID-19 to start the new year off on a good foot by checking with us to see how CIRAS can help.
Iowa Lean Consortium members need to act before January 15 to renew their memberships for 2021. After that date, membership benefits will begin to be removed for anyone who hasn’t yet renewed.
Government policy says that a portion of each federal spending dollar should be used to help small businesses. Federal agencies put this into practice by requiring that large prime contractors submit a plan along with their proposals demonstrating how they will utilize small businesses in the performance of each federal contract. Historically, these plans were … Continue reading Did You Know?… Threshold Changes for Small Business Sub Plans
What does COVID-19 have in common with influenza? The foundation for keeping both from overwhelming your workplace starts with education, regular disinfection, and keeping a close eye on your employees so you can spot any outbreaks quickly.
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That was the message to Iowa manufacturers in November when Emily Law, infection prevention coordinator at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, spoke to participants in the weekly CIRAS Roundtable for Iowa manufacturers.
Offshoring your components can come with a great deal of cost and risk. This is true now more than ever in the middle of a pandemic. Iowa manufacturers understand the difficulties that can come with managing an unpredictable supply chain.
CIRAS would like to help. Together with the Iowa Economic Development Authority, the Iowa Area Development Group, the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, and the Greater Des Moines Partnership, we’re sponsoring a one-hour webinar on December 10 explaining the benefits of bringing your production home.
It is time for our 5th annual CIRAS holiday gift list!
This year buying products made right here in Iowa carries even more significance as it supports our businesses and their employees that have kept our economy running through the pandemic. Here are just some of the great Iowa gifts you can give:
Membership in the Iowa Lean Consortium is a gift that keeps on giving, with year-round training opportunities in continuous improvement — and now, more choice in how you use your membership. Join today!
A Muscatine steel factory is on the verge of innovation after increased student involvement developed into major research at Iowa State University.
SSAB, an international steel producer, recently completed CIRAS-arranged research and filed for a patent on a new optical fiber technology for measuring the temperature of molten steel in electric arc furnaces in real time. The company also is experimenting with Ames Laboratory on ways to improve the rolled-steel alloys SSAB manufactures.
Good leadership should be purposely developed in yourself and others by building strong relationships with those on your team, an Iowa-born Army colonel told more than 200 Iowa business leaders in October.
Col. Candice Frost was the keynote speaker for this fall’s first-ever Annual Virtual Conference by the Iowa Lean Consortium. The event, customarily the largest single educational event put on by the ILC, was held online in 2020 for the first time due to COVID-19.
Mary Greeley Medical Center capped a 10-year journey in 2019 when the hospital became Iowa’s first-ever organization to receive the Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award.
It happened, in part, because Mary Greeley used Lean techniques to trim waste from hospital activities and create a more efficient, more patient-centered environment.