Marion, IA – Twenty years ago Robert Sternowski grew tired of corporate politics and retired from a comfortable aerospace job to grow his own company. He had spent thirty-four years working all facets of the industry from marketing and business development to engineering and manufacturing. In 2003, he leveraged that experience to scale Marion-based

Marion, IA – Green Park Apartment Living plans to formally break ground on a 147-unit residential development on the former location of the Marion YMCA. The groundbreaking will take place on Monday, May 9th at 11am. The site is located at 3100 10th Avenue in Marion. The Marion Chamber Ambassadors will join Marion Economic Development to celebrate the

Marion, IA – Twenty 40 Building Concepts, LLC plans to formally break ground on a new 40,000 square foot office and warehouse facility in the Marion Enterprise Center. The groundbreaking will take place on Tuesday, April 26th at 1pm. The site is located at 6407 Partners Avenue in Marion (immediately west of Electric Specialty Manufacturing). The

Marion, IA – Marion Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) has released the Marion Community Index for the first quarter of 2022. The report is informed by a newly developed business survey that allows MEDCO to better measure the health, challenges, optimism, and opportunities of the organization’s 190 business partners. The survey focuses

Day 92 of the 100-day session is today and the legislative session should be nearing the finish line. While progress is being made, all of the budget bills still need to be negotiated and a number of policy issues remain outstanding. Legislators in leadership roles are indicating that a lot of heavy lifting remains before you’ll see the 2022

Today marks day 78 of the scheduled 100-day legislative session. Work on the state budget is well underway while a final push is made on outstanding policy issues. Policy issues include the Governor’s biofuels bill (HF 2128), the Governor’s Education Policy proposal (HF 2577 and SF 2369), unemployment benefits (HF 2355), and workforce proposals

The Revenue Estimating Conference (REC) met Thursday to revise budget projections for the state’s 2022 and 2023 fiscal years. You can view the one pager HERE. As expected, the REC’s FY 2022 was revised upward by $110.5 million over the December estimate. This estimate reflects an overall increase in FY 2022 revenues of $370.5 million, or 4.2%,

Venture Academics, an innovative project-based learning model launched last fall. Led by the Linn-Mar Community School District, this community based program is a partnership with Marion Economic Development and Community Promise. Venture Academics allows students to earn high school credit by meeting Iowa Core standards and applying knowledge to real-world