CIRAS Networking Helps Express Employment Make Good Matches

• Jeff Eckhoff

Connections created through CIRAS networking events and hands-on assistance have helped a Cedar Rapids-based recruitment company grow during the past year.

Express Employment Professionals is a full-service staffing agency specializing in the industrial, administrative, IT, and engineering fields. Michele Oswood, owner of the Cedar Rapids franchise, said her company’s client base has doubled since she purchased the business in February 2016.

Faces of Iowa Industry: Jim Long (Cline Tool)

• Jeff Eckhoff

From time to time, CIRAS likes to tell you a little bit about some of the people who make Iowa business better.

Jim Long worked his way up from a regional salesman to become the president and CEO of Cline Tool in Newton. He believes in hiring good people, and he’d like to see more good businesses coming to Iowa.

GOVTALK — Meeting With Government Agencies

• Jeff Eckhoff

Many government contracting professionals operate at arm’s length so they can remain unbiased and avoid the appearance of impropriety. But building relationships is critical to securing government business, especially on smaller-dollar purchases that don’t require public bidding. Face-to-face meetings are the perfect way to establish a relationship with an agency.

Food Companies Seek CIRAS’ Help Analyzing Gaps in Food Safety

• Jeff Eckhoff

Ron Petersen thought he had it right, but he wasn’t sure.

Petersen, owner of Summertime Potato Company in Des Moines, sought CIRAS’ help last year to make certain that his company was in compliance with the U.S. Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), a sweeping 2011 law that gave the FDA new powers to prevent foodborne illness.

Cox, O’Donnell jointly named “Manufacturing Champions”

• Jeff Eckhoff

CIRAS’ top two administrators have been honored by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) for their work trumpeting Iowa manufacturing.

CIRAS Director Ron Cox and program director Mike O’Donnell, head of CIRAS’ Manufacturing Extension Partnership, jointly received ABI’s Manufacturing Champion Award at a dinner for Iowa business leaders on Tuesday.

Engineering Capstone Projects Lead to Innovative New Products

• Jeff Eckhoff

Two Iowa companies over the past year have separately discovered a new way to safeguard vibrating truck fenders and a new, more attractive way to lock patio doors—both as a result of work done by graduating students at Iowa State University.

Capstone students in Iowa State’s College of Engineering worked on the truck fender project for Link Manufacturing, a Sioux Center company that manufactures heavy-duty truck suspensions. The company asked students to extend the life of after-market fender brackets that sometimes were breaking because of vibration.

New CIRAS’ Tool Shows Food Makers Where to Start in Controlling Contamination

• Jeff Eckhoff

Angela Shaw stood smiling in a room full of food industry safety experts last month and compared the process they were practicing to visiting a family clinic.

“Just like when you go to the doctor,” said Shaw, an assistant professor of food safety in Iowa State University’s Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. “They ask you a series of questions, and at the end they go, ‘I think I know what’s wrong with you.’ ”

In this case, the questions pertained not (directly) to human health but to the safety of food manufacturing machines.

ISU Job Fairs Start Sept. 19 (but it all Starts with CyHire)

• Jeff Eckhoff

Iowa State University’s digital job board helps companies connect with a pool of potential employees that includes both graduates and current students.

“CyHire is my one-stop shop for finding internships,” said Bradley Hagen, a senior in mechanical engineering. “There are always hundreds of jobs on CyHire. The built-in search filter is helpful when deciding which companies and jobs I’m going to pursue.”

Faces of Iowa Industry: Michele Oswood (Express Employment Professionals)

• Jeff Eckhoff

Every so often (starting now), CIRAS intends to take a moment and tell you a little bit about the people who make Iowa businesses better:

Michele Oswood has owned the Cedar Rapids franchise of Express Employment Professionals since February 2016, but she worked in several industries before she bought the company. She believes in creative thinking and in valuing every person who walks through the door.

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