Media

Global Reach Announces Winners of Website Give-away

Technology Association of Iowa — Wed, 08 Sep 2010

Contact:
Lacy J. Brunnette, Account Executive
Global Reach Internet Productions
Office: 515-996-0996

(Ames, IA) – Global Reach announced the winners of its 15 Free Website give-away promotion, Tuesday night at the Ames Chamber of Commerce Annual Steak Fry. Global Reach opened registration in May of 2010 to Story County-area businesses and organizations to celebrate its 15th anniversary.
“We are pleased to donate 15 websites to local businesses,” said Iacovos Zachariades, President and CEO of Global Reach. “Global Reach has been very fortunate to be a part of such a generous and supportive community for the past 15 years.”
Each winner will receive a new customized web design and set-up on Global Reach’s award-winning content management solution software, SiteViz Professional, as well as six months of free hosting.

Website Winners
• Ames Foundation
• Ames Hurricanes Soccer Club
• Bartholomew Chiropractic
• Central Area 4-H Tech Team/ 4-H Picture PALS
• Central Landscape
• Iowa 4-H Foundation
• Iowa State University Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon
• Iowa State University Government of the Student Body
• Main Street Cultural District
• My Massage Coach
• Nevada Chamber of Commerce
• PrescribeHire
• QualityOne Commercial Cleaning, Inc.
• Raising Readers in Story County
• Visit Iowa Farms

About Global Reach: Global Reach is one of the leading web development firms in the Midwest – consistently delivering results to over 750 clients through a drive for excellence and innovation, as well as a continual focus on providing customers with valuable and affordable solutions. With 15 years of experience in the in the Internet industry, Global Reach is an expert in designing and building complex and reliable web-based applications. The firm’s extensive experience comprises of delivering internet, intranet, and extranet applications for the following clientele: education, government and military, non-profit, banking and finance, industrial manufacturing, as well as other technology companies. In addition to Global Reach’s core competency of web development, the firm also provides an array of complementary services including: consulting, graphic design, web hosting, e-mail hosting and spam protection, and netw ork support. More information about Global Reach can be found on the website, located at www.globalreach.com.

Breakthrough in soy-grease manufacturing cuts manufacturing time, improves product quality

Technology Association of Iowa — Wed, 01 Sep 2010

Contact:
Wes James, associate director, UNI's National Ag-Based Lubricants Center, 319-233-3812
Stephen Rogers, CFO of AMTek Microwaves in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 319-365-2000
Mike Jensen, product and sales manager, Environmental Lubricants Manufacturing Inc., 319-824-5203
Rebecca Schultze, UNI Office of University Relations, 319-273-6728, rebecca.schultze@uni.edu

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- University of Northern Iowa researchers working with an Iowa-based industrial microwave company have new reasons to celebrate. Their idea to make biobased grease by using microwaves has proven successful beyond their expectations and has recently been implemented in a biobased grease production facility.

When a fire destroyed the Environmental Lubricants Manufacturing Inc. (ELM ) production facility in 2007, Lou Honary and Wes James, both researchers at UNI's National Ag-Based Lubricants Center (UNI-NABL), began to search for alternative methods of making grease. They found a solution using microwaves to heat the greases in production.

Typically, the grease-making process requires heat transfer oils that are heated up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit. These oils are used to "cook" the grease materials at temperatures of 350 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. If any heat transfer oil escapes the system at such high temperatures it could start a fire, such as that at ELM.

The research showed that heating by microwave doesn't damage the vegetable oils to the extent of other heating methods. Microwave energy uniformly heats the oil, thus preventing hot spots and premature oxidation of the oil. Also, vegetable oils have shown to absorb the microwave energy efficiently and heat up faster than petroleum oils. Most importantly the grease-making process can be performed in approximately one-third as much time as the conventional method and in much smaller space.

Honary and James were joined by experts from AMTek, a major industrial microwave equipment manufacturer, and began to scale up what had shown to be a safer, more efficient and more effective production method. Using larger microwave units at AMTek, the research team tested the concept with gallon-size batches, a step up from milliliter batches tested in the laboratory trials.

This week, using the patent-pending technology created by UNI-NABL, a new production quantity 800-gallon microwave-based grease reactor became operational at ELM, a grease and lubricant manufacturing facility in Grundy Center, Iowa.

The safety factor "has increased many times" said Honary, UNI professor, UNI-NABL director and co-inventor of this new process.

"We were excited to see that our theories were on the mark when we went from a 1.75 KW laboratory microwave to a 150 KW industrial microwave," said James, UNI-NABL associate director and co-inventor. "Since the microwave heating is uniform, the end product is more predictable. The microwave energy can be pulsed through programmable logic controllers (PLCs), resulting in accurate heating and more uniform and consistent chemical reactions."

Tim Sheurs, president and CEO of AMTek, said "we have been marketing our large industrial microwave units mostly within the food processing industry. But learning that the process can increase safety while actually making the chemical manufacturing more competitive is very promising."

Alan Burgess, manager of operations at ELM, supervised the first production quantity biobased grease produced using microwaves. He was "pleasantly surprised" by the accuracy and speed of the heating.

"We completed a production batch in about two hours when in the past, even with much larger gas or electric operated heat system, it would take six to eight hours to complete the same process," Burgess said. "The grease is lighter in color because we are sure we are not burning the product as in conventional methods and the process does not damage the product because the heating is uniform and quick."

Stephen Rogers, CFO of AMTek, is not surprised at the efficiency of the process.

"Industrial microwave systems can offer important economic and safety advantages to the chemical industry," Rogers said, "but the technology and its economics are not clearly understood. The demonstrated production of grease manufacturing will help highlight these benefits."

The grease-making process is sped up so much that the process is almost continuous, according to Mike Jensen, ELM product manager.

"We make different batches of grease in the microwave-based reactor quickly and then feed them into various finishing vessels, one after the other," he said. "The time and energy savings are bound to revolutionize the chemical processing if implemented nationwide."

The research team is compiling various technical and economic data on the performance of the microwave-based system. Preliminary information indicates that the process time could be reduced to about one third of what it takes to heat with equivalent-sized conventional methods. The energy losses are significantly lower according to ELM, and the accuracy of the heating is improved.

According to Burgess, "once we turn the microwave input off, the energy input ceases completely, making the process much safer. Now all that's left is to build more history and experience with the system and determine the true economic benefits."

UNI-NABL is a non-profit, university-based research and testing facility dedicated to the advancement of biobased lubricants. The center was established in 1991 through the collaborative efforts of UNI, the state of Iowa, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Iowa Soybean Association/Iowa Soybean Promotion Board. UNI-NABL's research has resulted in the commercialization of more than 30 soybean-oil-based industrial lubricants and greases. For more information about UNI-NABL, visit www.uni.edu/nabl.

ELM is a privately owned company formed in 2000 to commercialize biobased lubricant and grease technology created at the University of Northern Iowa's National Ag-based Lubricants Center. The company is a leading manufacturer of biobased products and markets its products through select distributors and a private label. For more information, visit www.elmusa.com.

AMTek Inc., an Iowa-based company with a network of dealers and distributors around the world, has become the world leader in food tempering and cooking. AMTek partners with companies, such as ELM, to develop and improve heating, defrosting and drying applications for companies in the food, mineral, agricultural and bio-fuels industries, among others. For more information, visit www.4AMTek.com, or call 877-365-2008.

New Hot Spot for Jobs: Workers Flocking to the 'Brain Belt'

Technology Association of Iowa — Wed, 01 Sep 2010

"Silicon Valley (Northern California) and Silicon Alley (New York) are so last century when it comes to being major high-tech draws. Even the Boston/Cambridge and Washington, D.C./Arlington areas seems to be taking a back seat to the nation's new "Brain Belt," so christened by Joel Kotkin, the internationally-recognized authority on global, economic, political and social trends. This new area of high tech development spans the Heartland states, particularly the Dakotas, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas.

That's right. We said Brain Belt, not Bran Belt. It includes once bucolic-sounding cities like Sioux Falls, Des Moines and Boise, which consistently rank high in quality of living, and low in unemployment (6.2 percent in some areas). There are jobs in health care, finance, technology and other well-paying fields. Also, the lower housing, goods and real estate costs, plus excellent public schools and universities draw large professional service firms, information companies and innovative manufacturers.

Prestigious companies such as Dell Computers, U.S. Bank Corp. and Clarion have all expanded and invested heavily in Heartland areas, and Wells Fargo is setting up a huge new office complex of nearly 1 million square feet in a Des Moines suburb.

Living the dream
Until recently, it was the dream of almost every top student in the Midwest's myriad universities to graduate and prove themselves in the thriving metropolises on either coast. But the frustrating congestion and outrageous cost of living in the big cities has become more daunting of late. The Midwest, with its wide open, uncrowded spaces and reasonable costs, has become far more attractive to many.

"I'd always envisioned working in New York after I graduated," says Lauren Aust, a 2007 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. With dreams of her name appearing on the masthead of a glossy magazine, she was no different from many aspiring journalists. "Landing a summer internship with Men's Journal was an absolute dream," she says. "Finding a job and an apartment, however, wasn't."

Aust returned to her hometown of Kansas City in the fall when her internship was through, and started hunting for work. While waiting to receive a job offer for an event-planning position, Meredith Corporation in Des Moines called (she admits it was a lesson in persistence -- she submitted her resume three times). The next morning she drove to Iowa for a day of interviews; within a week she accepted an offer, and within a month she relocated.

"Little did I know, the best-kept secret of the publishing world was in Des Moines," Aust says. "It would have taken me years in New York to earn the job title and responsibilities I have now -- and the lifestyle I can afford here in comparison is beyond comfortable. When it comes to my professional development and growth, I'm in the best place I could be."

Home is where the Heartland Is
Meagan Grandgeorge is an example of a young grad who left the Midwest to make it in the big city, but found herself longing for the greener pastures of the prairie. "I graduated from Drake (in Des Moines) in May of 2001 and moved back to the Chicago suburbs to start my job search," she recounted. "By the next spring I had found a secretarial position that paid next to nothing and was across the street from my parents house --not that dream job every college graduate is looking for! I was an hour from the city and missing out on all the post-college fun..."

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The Most Dangerous Jobs in Technology

Technology Association of Iowa — Wed, 01 Sep 2010

"In the world of information technology, some professions are particularly perilous. Whether you’re risking psychological stress or your very life, these fields aren’t for the faint of heart. Some people in these roles thrive on adrenaline, climbing thousands of feet to fix communications towers. Others risk only emotional damage, getting paid to consume disturbing Internet content.

1. Internet Content Moderation
Think of the most disgusting things you've stumbled across online. Now imagine viewing the stuff that nightmares are made of--hate crimes, torture, child abuse--in living color, from 9 to 5 every day. That's the work of Internet content moderators, who get paid to filter out that kind of material so you don't have to see it pop up on a social network or photo-sharing site. Demand for the work is growing, especially as more Web-based services enable users to post pictures instantly from their mobile devices.

"Obviously it's not the job for everyone," says Stacey Springer, vice president of operations at Caleris. The West Des Moines, Iowa, company's 55 content moderation employees scan up to 7 million images every day for some 80 different clients. "Some people might take it personally if they have a child and see images of children that might be sensitive to them, or if they see animal cruelty."

Caleris content reviewers receive free counseling as well as benefits including health insurance, but for some the psychological scars don't heal easily.

2. Electronics Assembly
Safety nets around the dorms of an electronics factory in Shenzen, China, are a grim reminder that ten employees have jumped to their death there since January. A 25-year-old employee who later committed suicide reportedly had been beaten at the Hon Hai plant after losing a prototype iPhone 4 last year.

Recall the frenzy, hoopla, and lines around the block at the launch of Apple's latest smartphone, and you can imagine the deadline pressure for the people assembling it. Foxconn, which makes iPhones, iPads, and other electronics from Apple, Dell, and HP, has been accused of fostering "sweatshop" conditions. However complex the chain of events leading to suicide may be, human-rights groups have criticized Foxconn and other manufacturers for creating an unbearable, pressure-cooker environment for workers, mostly young migrants from rural areas.

In light of the suicides, the company has raised wages, promised psychological testing for employees, and tried to boost morale with rallies. Foxconn plans to increase its workforce of more than 900,000 to 1.3 million in the next year.

Psychological pressure isn't the only rough condition reported in electronics factories, though. Labor and human-rights organizations also charge that workers testing microchips and assembling LCDs for Samsung were exposed to radiation that caused cancer.

3. Fixing Undersea Internet Cables
Cables that span the oceans keep people connected online across continents. Contrary to popular belief, it's hard connections such as these--not satellites in space--that provide more than 99 percent of the world's Internet connectivity. Someone has to lay and fix those cables when an undersea earthquake or errant anchor cuts off the data flow..."

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Rural Outsourcing: Why It′s Better in Des Moines

Technology Association of Iowa — Tue, 31 Aug 2010

"When Conair CIO Jon Harding needed programmers to develop custom functionality for the mobile ERP software that supports its sales staff in Latin America, he had a number of options, including offshoring and working with an IT service provider on-site.

But the discrete, six-month project seemed a good opportunity to explore another alternative—rural sourcing. “I was interested to see how a relatively low-cost, domestic software-development shop would compare with lower-cost offshore providers,” says Harding.

Developers provided by Rural Sourcing, Inc., (RSI) in Jonesboro, Ark., were twice the price of their offshore counterparts, but one-third the cost of the on-site developers Harding might otherwise use—and he didn’t have to transport them to Conair’s East Windsor, N.J., headquarters. “Conservatively, we saved 65 percent by going with rural outsourcing versus on-site, and we still get quality assurance by having the developer in the same time zone,” Harding says. The result was better than he had experienced offshore. “We definitely avoided the miscommunication issues.”

The “rural” moniker is a misleading shorthand for low-cost, domestic outsourcing—Jonesboro (population 60,000) may not be Manhattan, but it’s hardly Mayberry. The rural-sourcing industry pales in comparison to the size of the offshoring market, but it fills an important niche.

Michael Clark, co-founder and CIO of SafetyWeb, a Denver, Colo.-based company that helps parents monitor their children’s online activity, is a repeat rural-sourcing customer. He currently uses Des Moines, Iowa-based Caleris to help screen content for SafetyWeb and handle inbound sales and customer-support calls.

As a start-up, SafetyWeb needs low-cost, high-quality, extremely flexible outsourcing partners. “Having looked at crowdsourced and offshore solutions in the past, they are too inconsistent to build a business off of,” Clark says. “[Caleris] has been quick to respond and retrain when any issues have come up.” And when trying to sell to or problem solve with a worried parent, having an Iowan on the other end of the line doesn’t hurt. “We need a level-headed agent to be on the phone to help families find the right solution,” says Clark. “The Midwest values come through in every call.”

Paul Fipps, CIO and vice president of business services for Charmer Sunbelt Group, a New York City-based beer, wine and spirits distributor, just signed a two-year contract with RSI for SAP development and maintenance after some moderately successful offshore projects. Fipps figures the total cost of ownership is lower for rural sourcing because there’s less management overhead, fewer language and cultural issues, and reduced travel costs. “Rural sourcing tends to win out, especially if you are starting [a project] with less than 10 [employees],” Fipps says. He also enjoys the hand-holding he’d never get from a large provider—U.S.-based or offshore. “Their senior executive team has been intimately involved even though we are a very small contract.”

For staffing larger-scale projects, rural sourcing may not be the best fit, says SafetyWeb’s Clark. Caleris has just 300 full-time staff with plans to hire 150 more by December. RSI employs 50 workers with plans to double that and open a second location within a year.

But heading to the heartland has paid off. “You learn that the passion for doing things right is higher in rural domestic outsourcers than you will find anywhere else,” Clark says."

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TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION OF IOWA PROUDLY ANNOUNCES TWO $2,500 SCHOLARSHIP AWARD GIVE-AWAYS AT THE 2010 IOWA WOMEN OF INNOVATION CELEBRATION

Technology Association of Iowa — Tue, 31 Aug 2010

Contact:
Leann Jacobson, President
Technology Association of Iowa
515.280.7700
leann@technologyiowa.org

DES MOINES, Iowa – (August 31, 2010) – The Technology Association of Iowa (TAI) is pleased to announce that two scholarships will be presented to the 2010 winners of the Youth Innovation and Leadership and the Collegian Innovation and Leadership awards. $2,500 will be presented to each winner at the official 2010 Iowa Women of Innovation awards celebration held November 11, 2010 at the Hy-Vee Conference Center in West Des Moines.

“Each year the judging panel is completely in awe by the accomplishments of the nominees,” said Leann Jacobson, president of TAI. “This year will be no exception, and we are looking forward to helping further the dreams of two young women.”

Nominations will be open to women in nine different categories, two of which are designed for females at the middle/high school and collegiate levels. Criteria for both awards focus on academic achievement, leadership, innovation, and creativity. The nomination period is open through Monday, September 27, 2010, and individuals may self-nominate (www.technologyiowa.org/nominate).

About the Technology Association of Iowa (TAI)
TAI is a member-based, not-for-profit organization accelerating the success of Iowa’s technology industry. TAI works to create and sustain a positive environment for technology-based economic growth and job creation through innovation, advocacy, and leadership. TAI members include organizations of every size − involved in virtually every aspect of technology creation, production, application and education in Iowa. More information about the TAI can be found at its website, located at www.technologyiowa.org.

Dice Talent Network embraces social media tools

Technology Association of Iowa — Sat, 28 Aug 2010

Technology and engineering professionals have a new way to connect with potential employers, through a social media-based product launched last month on Urbandale-based Dice.com.

Using the Dice Talent Network, each user of the jobs-board website can build an online profile and interact directly with potential employers through social media tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, personal websites and blogs. The service is available at no cost to job candidates as well as to employers and recruiters.

“Social recruiting is a relatively new concept, and embracing networking as a key offering in the job board community is brand-new,” said Tom Silver, senior vice president for Dice Holdings Inc., Dice.com’s New York-based parent company. “What’s driving the change is that expectations have changed. Job seekers and recruiters are looking for more one-to-one communication, and professionals want more control over their personal data.”

Using the network, employers can communicate directly with professionals via real-time chat or instant messages, and can also release network-wide announcements about new positions or opportunities within their organizations. Companies can also provide an enhanced profile for prospective employees for a more personal look at their culture.

At the same time, job seekers can select which employers will have access to their resumes and social profiles.

Dice Holdings, which is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, reported online revenues of $29.9 million in the second quarter, an 11 percent increase from the comparable quarter in 2009.

In addition to Dice.com, Dice Holdings operates several other career websites, among them eFinancialCareers, Targeted Job Fairs and AllHealthcareJobs.com. In the past quarter, it acquired WorldwideWorker.com, a Dubai-based energy industry recruiting company, as well as Rigzone.com, a Houston-based content, data, advertising and career services company.

Dice Holdings has also launched a similar service, The Cleared Network, for its ClearanceJobs.com site, and the company plans to offer a customized version for each of its job-board sites, Silver said.

From the employers’ perspective, Dice Talent Network will enable companies to build long-term relationships with technology professionals, which in many skill sets are in short supply, Silver said. “We are marrying the best aspects of the job board community – audience reach, targeting, efficiency and career-minded individuals – with the best tools of social media that build direct interaction between recruiters and candidates,” he said.

Approximately 200 companies have enrolled in Dice Talent Network since Dice.com introduced the beta version of the site in January, Silver said. In comparison, Dice.com provided recruitment packages for about 6,750 companies in the second quarter. Since January, more than 40,000 technology professionals have added social media links to their profiles, and many have connected with employer networks to follow companies of interest to them.

“We are rolling this out slowly to get both technology professionals and companies’ recruiters interacting regularly and taking their feedback to continue to evolve the product offering over time,” Silver said. “We do believe a significant portion of the customer base will ultimately use the Talent Network to brand their company and grow their own communities within the Dice platform.”

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ALLIANCE TECHNOLOGIES CLIMBS 815 SPOTS TO BE IN THE TOP HALF OF INC. MAGAZINE′S 5000 FASTEST GROWING PRIVATE COMPANIES IN THE U.S

Technology Association of Iowa — Thu, 19 Aug 2010

DES MOINES, IA – Alliance Technologies, a leading provider of full-service information technology solutions,announced today that Inc. magazine ranked it number 2,362 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs.

Alliance Technologies was one of 26 Iowa-based firms to be included in the Inc. magazine 5000 list and was ranked first in information technology solutions for the greater Des Moines metro area. Of those 26 companies, Alliance Technologies ranked ninth on the list in terms of overall growth and eighth in terms of earnings.

“Our strategic partnerships and aggressive growth were two big factors in this last year’s success, but it was the hard work of our family here at Alliance that deserves all the credit,” said Mike Lang, CEO of Alliance Technologies. “The fact what we continue to climb, in even the hardest economic times, is a strong demonstration of what I believe Iowa and our great work ethic can provide.”

About Alliance Technologies:
Alliance Technologies, Inc. is a full-service technology provider established in 1994 to provide businesses with solutions for software development and licensing, Web development, network management, IT staffing and IT management. By providing a broad range of services, Alliance offers an unrivaled suite of solutions to businesses within numerous industries. For more information about Alliance Technologies, please visit www.alliancetechnologies.net.

New Hires Creates 26% Increase in Global Reach Staff

Technology Association of Iowa — Tue, 17 Aug 2010

While the nation waivered at 9.5% unemployment rate in July of 2010*, the Global Reach staff continued a pattern of growth by hiring a web development intern and sales manager. Since January of 2010, Global Reach has raised employment by 26% - a new high for the company.

“Global Reach is currently in a position of tremendous growth,” said Iacovos Zachariades, CEO of Global Reach. “We have hired locally and worked to retain some of the brightest minds in web application design and development to continue a tradition of excellence here in central Iowa.”

Global Reach staff departments that have grown are sales, graphic design, search engine optimization, and advanced web development.

Looking for a career in IT? Check out our available opportunities (www.globalreach.com/about/careers).

About Global Reach: Global Reach is one of the leading web development firms in the Midwest – consistently delivering results to over 750 clients through a drive for excellence and innovation, as well as a continual focus on providing customers with valuable and affordable solutions. With 15 years of experience in the in the Internet industry, Global Reach is an expert in designing and building complex and reliable web-based applications. The firm’s extensive experience comprises of delivering internet, intranet, and extranet applications for the following clientele: education, government and military, non-profit, banking and finance, industrial manufacturing, as well as other technology companies. In addition to Global Reach’s core competency of web development, the firm also provides an array of complementary services including: consulting, graphic design, web hosting, e-mail hosting and spam protection, and network support. More infor mation about Global Reach can be found on the website, located at www.globalreach.com.

*"Employment Situation Summary." U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 06 Aug. 2010. Web. 09 Aug. 2010. <http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm>.

Iowa attractive to global companies

Technology Association of Iowa — Tue, 17 Aug 2010

"For the next couple of hours, each time you use a product, think about where it was made. Chances are very few of the products you utilize every day are made in America, let alone Iowa, that is unless you're stoping by for sweet corn on the way home from work!

However, if you are using Google or Microsoft online applications, one of the many thousands of websites hosted by GoDaddy or an IBM website or application, chances are good that it is either being supported in Iowa or will be in the future. For example:

Google picked Council Bluffs to build a large datacenter that is currently operating as part of Google's massive server farm to provide Web searching.

Microsoft plans to build a $100 million datacenter in West Des Moines to support its search engine and massive online application business.

IBM will soon add 1,600 jobs in Dubuque to provide server systems operations, security services, and end-user services, including maintenance and monitoring of computer hardware and software systems. This means that many companies worldwide will support their employees, customers and websites through the facility in Dubuque.

Go Daddy, one of the world's largest website providers, just recently announced it is expanding operations in Hiawatha and will immediately hire 60 people with between 100 and 200 more developers and customer service employees over the next year.

Anytime you bring in business from around the world and jobs to the local economy, it's a good thing. We know why many of the products we touch each day are made overseas, where cheap labor is readily available. Why then are global technology companies moving to Iowa?

The reasons are fairly simple:

• The big technology brands are finally finding out what the Iowa IT companies have known for a long time -- Iowa has a well educated, hard-working population with excellent communication skills. Those attributes, combined with our relatively low cost of living, make for excellent employees for global companies.
• Iowa also has exceptional bandwidth -- fiber optic cable networks are buried throughout the state, including rural areas. Most states only have fiber in populated cities. Iowa also has cheap and reliable power -- you may not think so when you pay your utility bill each month, but compared to other areas of the world (and country), our power is very inexpensive.
• Lastly, Iowa is safer than other parts of the country. This is something that we native Iowans have known for a long time.

Why is safety important to global IT companies? We have a very low threat of a hurricane, tsunami or earthquake striking our state. As more global tech companies outsource their work, Iowa City and the rest of our state will remain a top candidate for that business, even when competing with a cheaper workforce from overseas.

Keeping these technology jobs in Iowa is not only good for our country, but for the University of Iowa as well as other colleges as they work to keep a steady supply of graduates able to accommodate these technology-related jobs.

When you are surfing the Web, count Iowa as one of the places in the world that makes it all possible."

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