The Iowa Transportation Commission approved funding Tuesday to help build roads for businesses that include an auto parts manufacturer, a biodiesel plant and two German food companies. Department of Transportation planner, Stuart Anderson, says Iowa County was awarded nearly $630,000 on behalf of the Amana Colonies. He says the funding will go toward road improvements to open up 66 acres of land for future development.
Anderson says two German companies already plan a joint venture for the site. Anderson says one of the companies is called ALB-GOLD and the other is called Bionade. ALB-GOLD will produce German pastas, and Bionade will make a "non-alcoholic, organic, fermented refreshment drink," with the two creating 68 jobs.
Clarke County is receiving $264,000 in state money to build a roadway for a more traditional Iowa business north of Osceola. Anderson says the roadway will provide access to a proposed biodiesel plant being developed by Southern Iowa Bioenergy. The plant is project to generate 40-million gallons of biodiesel a year, and will create 44 new jobs in two years.
The City of Boone was awarded nearly $726,000 for a long-time city business called the Gates Company. The company produces automotive parts and has a 30-year-old facility in Boone that produces hydraulic parts, which it wants to expand and move to a new location on the east side of town. Anderson says the state funding will help build a roadway to the new plant. The money comes with the promise of more jobs.
Anderson says the company says it will create 28 new jobs in two years and retain 195 jobs. The state funds come from what are called RISE grants or Revitalize Iowa’s Sound Economy. They required a local match of the money that varies depending on the project.