The Grow Iowa Values Fund

The Iowa employment market is very different today than five years ago. The national recession in the first years of this decade eliminated thousands of jobs, and forced businesses to re-evaluate their hiring and skill needs for the years ahead.

In 2003, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack and the Iowa General Assembly created the Grow Iowa Values Fund, a bold investment of public funds to jump start Iowa’s economy by creating 50,000 jobs in the next four years.

The goal of the Grow Iowa Values Fund is to invest in businesses, community colleges, and university research to create high-wage, high-skill jobs, focusing on three targeted industry clusters:

• Advanced Manufacturing
• Information Technology
• Life Sciences

Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) established three goals to leverage the state’s investment in the Grow Iowa Values Fund:

1. Educate and train skilled professionals for real jobs in Iowa businesses representing the three targeted industries;
2. Enhance skills in existing employees in these industries; and
3. Promote Iowa’s successful training and development infrastructure to attract new businesses to the state.