Governor Tom Vilsack bills it as one of the biggest days in the state’s history. Iowa officials today announced a series of state grants and loans to 28 different businesses that will create 17-hundred-40 new jobs. Governor Tom Vilsack says those 28 companies will invest 427-million dollars in the state. Vilsack says it’s a “red letter day for the state of Iowa.” A company that’s testing a cancer vaccine, a firm that’s on the cutting edge of plant genetics and another that will become North America’s largest yeast plant are on the list of projects getting state backing through the Iowa Department of Economic Development. During an hour-long news conference this morning, Vilsack thanked the scientists, entrepreneurs, and ‘dreamers” who are involved in the companies that have chosen to expand in Iowa. The awards come from a variety of state programs and will be ratified later today by the state Economic Development Board and the Iowa Values Board which is handing out the money in that new state economic development fund. Here’s a list of the state awards: New Link Genetics, Ames, $6 million; Integrated DNA Technologies, Coralville, $5 million; Red Star Yeast, Cedar Rapids, $500,000; Phytodyne, Ames, $5 million; NovaScan Technologies, Ames, $200,000; McKesson Corporation, Dubuque, $298,000; Heartland Fields, West Des Moines, $50,000; Eden Farms, State Center, $60,000; Catalyst International, Sioux Center, $125,000; Chapman Lumber, Sand Springs, $200,000; Hormel Foods, Osceola, $198,000; American Republic Insurance, Council Bluffs, $247,000; The Sky Factory, Fairfield, $50,000; Viable Technologies, Des Moines, $25,000; Spot Trac, Des Moines, $100,000; Pohaka (poh-HAH-koo), Washington, $100,000; Micoy Corporation, Des Moines, $75,000; Magna Lynx, Ames, $75,000; Java Nomad, Fairfield, $100,000; Web Interactive Solutions, Des Moines, $50,000; Innovative Energy, Hiawatha, $50,000; Ensoft, Ames, $75,000; DNA Today, West Des Moines, $100,000; Computility, Des Moines, $100,000; Brain Fingerprinting Laboratories, Fairfield, $100,000; B4 Ventures, Mount Vernon, $50,000; AgFlex, Carroll, $75,000. VeraSun in Webster County and Red Star Yeast in Cedar Rapids will get state tax credit refunds and tax exemptions.
