IDED urged to help with Red Oak job loss

RED OAK — The message was simple: 1,200 jobs lost in five years.
Iowa’s Department of Economic Development board met in Red Oak last week, and officials from throughout southwest Iowa repeated this message, urging the board to be more aggressive in addressing the problem.
“We have the determination and resources. What we don’t have is the participation from the IDED to provide viable leads,” Shenandoah Chamber and Industry Association Executive Director Gregg Connell said. “It is just not acceptable any longer. We have to have help from the IDED.”
Connell said Southwest Iowa isn’t looking for preferential treatment.
“We aren’t expecting any favors from the IDED, but we are expecting equal treatment,” Connell said.
George Maher, who has been involved in economic development in Montgomery County for more than 30 years, discussed the many cultural and recreational opportunities available in the area. Topics he covered included the Montgomery County YMCA, Wilson Performing Arts Center, History Center, recently expanded library, airport, school system, and the Red Coach Inn, which was built a couple years ago.
“We have suffered many setbacks here the last five-six years, but as you can see, we didn’t just sit around crying about it,” Maher said.
Board Chair John Lisle, who owns Lisle Corporation in Clarinda, urged this message be taken to the IDED’s marketing staff.
“The staff is where the help will really come from,” Lisle said. “We have felt for years we haven’t go the number of leads we hoped for [but] you can rest assured, it is the goal of this board to do what can be done to address the unemployment issue in all of Iowa.”
Board member Dr. Andrea McGuire, who lives in Des Moines, conceded she was unaware of all Red Oak had to offer potential businesses, and residents.
“I’m very impressed what you have done here,” she said. “There are a lot of people who want do a good job for all of Iowa, but don’t know what is going on in Red Oak.”
The board’s monthly meeting was originally scheduled to take place in Council Bluffs, but was moved to Red Oak at Connell’s urging.
Several city and county officials attended the meeting, including Maher, Red Oak Chamber and Industry Association Director Darrell Steven-Carlyle, Mayor Ted Schoonover, Council members Larry Brandstetter, Roger Waggener, Tom Pratt and Mark Gregg, and Board of Supervisor Members Karen Blue, Brian Amos, Donna Robinson, and Steve Radcliff.