February 15, 2010
Annual ABI Day on the Hill March 10
A few years ago, ABI created a new event to capitalize on members’ wishes to get more involved in the association’s public policy work. Following on past events and on the exploding success of the annual ABI Legislative Briefing and Reception, ABI Day on the Hill was created.
This event gives ABI members an opportunity to get the very latest news from the Capitol in the heat of legislative activity. Members hear from key state officials and legislative leaders and ultimately are taken to the Capitol to meet personally with their legislators. Some members attend the program but don’t go the Capitol. Some members attend only the part of the event that puts them directly in contact with legislators. The point is that members can control the kind of experience they wish to have. The event has grown bigger and better each year and, perhaps best of all, this fantastic program is FREE OF CHARGE to you and your employees.
ABI Day on the Hill 2010 is being held Wednesday, March 10. The program begins with registration at 8:30 a.m. at the State Historical Building of Iowa at the foot of Capitol Hill (plenty of convenient parking is available in a ramp on Grand Avenue directly across the street from the Historical Building). Following a continental breakfast and program involving a briefing on legislative news, updates on related issues, and including other information, DOTH participants will be taken by free shuttle to the Capitol for meetings with legislators and other leaders.
March 10 is also the day of the March meeting of the ABI Board of Directors. Make plans now to join your ABI colleagues in Des Moines on March 10. For more information or to register you and your employees for the Day on the Hill, click here. Thank you in advance for your participation in this important event.
By the way, YPIowa Day at the Capitol, an event hosted by Young Professionals of Iowa, will also be held on March 10. The YPIowa folks have developed a strong agenda for the day and ABI members are also invited to participate in those events (some of which coincide with ABI day on the Hill events). Please click here for more information.
As a final note, I must tell you that ABI’s public policy team of John Gilliland and Nicole Molt are doing simply exceptional work. They have had many late nights already during this legislative session and have also already made a huge positive impact for Iowa business. Ably assisted by Michelle Vollstedt, they are leading the way for ABI at the Statehouse.
ABI Executive Committee to Meet Tomorrow
The members of the ABI Executive Committee will convene for their February teleconference meeting tomorrow, February 16. ABI Chair Bill Brown (BrownWinick, Des Moines) and committee members will work through a full agenda. Highlights will include the latest news from the 2010 Session of the Iowa General Assembly, reports on ABI membership and events, a review of ABI Foundation activities, and an update regarding the Iowa Innovation Gateway.
Executive Committee members should have received the usual packet of preparatory materials in your email in-basket last week. If you did not, please let me know and another will be sent to you at once. As always, members of the ABI Board of Directors and Past Board Chairs can expect a full report on this meeting at the next meeting of the board, to be held next month in Des Moines.
New IDED Director to Join ABI Board Members at March 10 Meeting
As noted previously, the ABI Board of Directors will next meet in less than a month, on March 10 at 1:00 p.m. (the Executive Committee will meet prior to the board meeting at 11:30 a.m.). Board members will hear special remarks from new Iowa Department of Economic Development Director Bret Mills. Director Mills was appointed by Iowa Governor Chet Culver, took office last month, and was recently confirmed by the Iowa Senate by a vote of 47-0. Director Mills has already sought out ABI and the ABI Board of Directors will be the first statewide organization with which he has met. By the way and as you know, ABI Past Chair Toby Shine (Shine Bros. Corp., Spencer) and association board members Bob Bocken (Farner-Bocken, Fort Dodge) and John Lisle (Lisle Corp., Clarinda) are also members of the IDED Board of Directors, with Bob chairing the board. We look forward to Director Mills’ presentation.
Please mark your calendars now to participate in the March 10 ABI Board meeting. If you come to Des Moines that morning, you can also participate in ABI Day on the Hill (see above). Watch for the usual packet of meeting materials to come your way in about three weeks.
Right-to-Work Ad Campaign Begun
ABI members and the board of Directors establish policy for the association. One priority consistently identified by the general membership and the board alike is the desire to retain Iowa’s current Right-to-Work law. Again this session, the Iowa Legislature is considering proposals that would alter that status.
Some in the General Assembly say that various proposals will not impact RTW, because the proposals apply to only public sector workers (or for other reasons). The fact is that case law and other guidance confirms that is simply not true. These proposals, if passed, would indeed change Iowa’s RTW status.
For that reason and as we did last year, the association has begin a statewide broadcast campaign urging Iowans to contact legislators to urge their opposition to the RTW proposals. It appears, again as was the case last year, that those ads are having an impact.
If you haven’t yet done so, click here to listen to the radio ad. Thank you to the great many of you who have contacted ABI with your favorable comments about the ad campaign and even more for your continued contacts with your legislators. Be assured of ABI’s continued diligence on this and many other legislative issues.
IA.biz in the Mail
The latest edition of ABI’s flagship publication, IA.biz magazine, is now in the mail. This edition includes a series of terrific articles and features several ABI leaders. Highlighted, among others, are ABI Chair Bill Brown (BrownWinick, Des Moines), and ABI Board Members Johnne Syverson (Syverson Strege & Company, West Des Moines), Kirk McCollough (Seneca Foundry, Webster City), and Alan Mores (Harlan Newspapers, Harlan), as well as Past Chairs Kendig Kneen (Al-Jon, Ottumwa), Jim Tyler (Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Atlantic), and Kirk Tyler (Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Waukee). (Editor’s Note: and I am tempted to include “Future Chair” Jay Tyler!)
The magazine is published for ABI by member company Stonehand Publishing Group. Your feedback is always welcome and if you haven’t yet received your copy of this edition of IA.biz, please reply to this email and I’ll make sure one comes your way immediately.
Convention Committee Will Hold February Meeting Thursday
ABI’s 107th Annual Convention, also known as Iowa’s Taking Care of Business Conference 2010, will be held this June 8-10 in Ames. Interest is high for this event and you can find more information or register here.
Much planning has already gone into this event and you will want to be on the lookout for announcements of exciting speakers and terrific venues. In the meantime, the committee organizing this great convention continues to do its work and will hold its next meeting this Thursday in Des Moines. Many thanks to Chair Debi Bull (BrownWinick, Des Moines) and Committee Members for their work and leadership with what is shaping up to be one of ABI’s best conventions ever!
By the way, for this and so many events, ABI’s membership development team of Leisa Fox, Dorothy Willson, Jackie Paul, and intern Carly Kopec, with the assistance of Jim Lydon, are doing terrific work.
ABI Risk Management Conference Set for March 31
The annual ABI Risk Management Conference will be held in Des Moines on Wednesday, March 31. The conference will again be held in the Conference Center of Employers Mutual Companies’ headquarters building at 717 Mulberry Street in downtown Des Moines.
This popular event always draws a large crowd of attendees. Best-practice presentations, case studies, and technical information will make this conference another must-attend event for your HR and/or Safety and Risk managers. More information is coming soon.
Leading Leaders Conference, Business Horizons Front and Center for Foundation
As you know from reading previous editions of this memorandum, the ABI Foundation’s second annual Leading Leaders Conference is slated for March 1st in West Des Moines. Registrations are strong for this event, which is designed to help build local community leadership programs. You will want to send your local leadership development program people to this conference. You can register now for this event and more information is available. Please click here for more information.
The Foundation is also accepting nominations for the 2010 Business Horizons entrepreneurial experience to be held in July on the campus of Simpson College in Indianola. It doesn’t cost a penny to nominate students and your employees are encouraged to nominate students as well. In the meantime, the Business Horizons Steering Committee will meet Friday in Des Moines to continue planning for this year’s BH experience.
LIU Completes Terrific First Year
Leadership Iowa University, the ABI Foundation’s newest program, is celebrating the completion of the first class of LIU students. The class met for its final session last weekend on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
This first class, which began meeting last fall, was simply outstanding. The students were terrific, the class sessions dynamic, and the outcomes amazing. All in all, an astounding success. If you want to see a student’s perspective, click here to read a blog entry by Nick Litwiller, one of the LIU participants.
Congratulations to the students and to LIU Founder (and ABI Board Member) Tom McMahon (Barker Company-Hill Phoenix, Keosauqua) for such a great year. And special thanks to ABI Foundation staff members Kay Neumann-Thomas, Wade Den Hartog, and Sarah Roth for a job well done!
Alan Mores Named Distinguished Service Award Winner by INA
Longtime ABI Board Member Alan Mores (Harlan Newspapers, Harlan) was named the winner of the 2010 Distinguished Service Award by the Iowa Newspaper Association. Alan received the award at the INA’s annual convention held recently in Des Moines. Alan was cited for his outstanding service to the newspaper profession and his community. It is a pleasure for ABI to salute Alan for this well-deserved honor!
Charles Sukup Celebrates Wednesday
This is a big week for ABI past Chair Charles Sukup (Sukup Manufacturing Co., Sheffield), who celebrates a birthday this Wednesday, February 17. In other Sukup news, the family also recently celebrated Charles’ wife Mary’s birthday and is celebrating a new job for Elizabeth Sukup. She will be working for Princeton University – the alma mater of longtime ABI Board Member Steve Roberts (Davis Brown Law Firm, Des Moines) – in Africa. Many of you remember Elizabeth for her work with ABI during Charles’ chairmanship. Happy birthday to Charles and congratulations to all the Sukups!
Sadlers Named Most Valuable Parents by Iowa Sports Connection
ABI Board Member Michael Sadler (Qwest, Des Moines) and his wife, Eleena Mitchell-Sadler, were named Most Valuable Parents by the Iowa Sports Connection newspaper. ISC is a Des Moines-area publication that focuses on sports coverage of all kinds, but especially youth and school-age sports.
In a recent issue, ISC carried an article that highlighted the join contributions of the Sadlers as they coach their daughter Mykal’s sixth grade basketball team. It is a wonderful story and you can read it here. Congratulations to Michael and Eleena Sadler for this honor!
Hank Evans Provides Weather Report from Florida Keys
You all remember former ABI Board Member Hank Evans (A.F. Johnson Millworks, West Des Moines), who sold his company and is now sailing the world’s oceans with his wife, Ann Evans. Hank remains very committed to ABI and continues to follow association matters closely. He checked in from Key West last week.
Among other things, Hank reported the weather as “78 degrees and sunny, with a nice 8 knot southerly breeze.” That message came last Tuesday, the day of yet another winter storm here in Iowa. I couldn’t reply to his email…because my computer wouldn’t work after I threw it in the trash. Seriously, it is always good to hear from Hank and his message provides hope that spring may yet arrive… some day!
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