Iowa
| Program Category | # of Grants per state | Sum of EDA $ |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Relief | 1 | $3,000,000 |
| Economic Adjustment Assistance | 1 | $100,000 |
| Planning | 17 | $1,225,000 |
| Public Works | 1 | $1,743,558 |
| Technical Assistance | 2 | $269,000 |
| Grand Total | 22 | $6,337,558 |
Ames, Iowa is a small community that is home to rapidly growing Iowa State University (ISU) with leading agriculture, design, engineering and veterinary medicine colleges. ISU houses the Ames Laboratory on the ISU Campus which is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory. While half of the city’s population is made up of ISU students, a low regional unemployment rate makes it difficult for companies to hire a qualified workforce and the per capita income lags behind the national average.
In an effort to create more opportunties for companies struggling with workforce issues, ISU Research Park is transferring its model of incubating startups to a new model of incubating talent. In FY 2018, EDA awarded $1,743,558 in Public Works funds to ISU for expansion of the Park to allow a major U.S. manufacturer to locate a $10 million test lab facility in the Park as well as open the Park for up to 12 new companies over the next decade.
This project addresses the local and regional need to recruit highly-skilled employees to the region and retain home-grown engineering and technical talent by providing high-quality jobs near the University. This investment will create an estimated 450 highly-skilled jobs for students graduating from the University and working at the various companies housed in the ISU Research Park.