QC Biznet from Davenport, Iowa • 12

Page 12 December 18, 2000 Technology echnology has really invaded every aspect of our lives. I'm using the Internet to plan family vacations and communicate with friends and relatives around the world. Economic development is no exception to this technological revolution. frequently deal with colleagues and clients via email around the country and overseas. Like every other aspect of the economy, organizations such as the Quad-City Development Group have to adapt to technological changes if we are to succeed in our mission as the economic development umbrella for the Quad-Cities.

One of the primary missions of the Development Group is to attract new investment to the area and help existing companies to expand. This translates into more jobs for our citizens, more taxes for our schools and infrastructure, and a better quality of life for all of us. Companies are attracted to a community or decide to expand in a community if there is a site or building that fits their needs and if the community has the things the company is looking for. It used to be that companies or relocation consultants would request mounds of paper information from development groups like ours, sift through this information, and narrow their selection down to a few communities. Now much of that is being done localachievements Davenport division of xpedx hires sales representative The Davenport Division of xpedx has recently hired Jeff Roehm as an Industrial Sales Representative.

He has eight years of sales experience, including four in the packaging field. He will be responsible for packaging, janitorial and maintenance sales in Eastern lowa and Central Illinois. New York Life Insurance promotes area employees Daniel L. Sales, a resident of Eldridge, lowa, has been named a member of the 2000 Executive Council of New York Life Insurance Co. Members of the Executive Council rank in the top 32 percent of New York Life's elite sales force of 9,900 licensed agents.

Sales has been a New York Life agent since 1994 and is associated with New York Life's Cedar Rapids General Office in Cedar Rapids, lowa. Robert E. VanHooreweghe, a Cordova, Ill. resident, has been named a member of the 2000 President's Council of New York Life Insurance Co. VanHooreweghe has been a New York Life agent since 1971, and is associated with New York Life's General Office in Cedar Rapids, lowa.

OfficeTeam appoints new staffing manager Christopher Snider has joined the local office of Office Team as a staffing manager. Snider has experience in marketing and he has a bachelor of arts degree in English from Augustana College. Viewpoint For QCBizNet plays an on the Internet. It is estimated that 60 percent of initial research on communities is now being done on the Web. Communities are being "weeded out" even before they knew they were under consideration.

In this way, the Internet has had the biggest technology impact on economic development. The primary decision-makers in this whole process, site relocation professionals, have often complained that informa- DEVELOPMENT By Thom Hart tion on Web sites was not readily available, updated and in a "userfriendly" format for their needs. As a result, the American Economic Development Council (AEDC) released new web site standards for a site relocation database last spring. In response, the Quad-City Development Group has revamped their Web site with new graphics and became one of the first communities to post this new AEDC database on our Web site, www.quadcities.org. The update to the Web site was Allstate agent promoted to personal financial rep Rodney L.

Neymeyer has recently earned the title of Personal Financial Representative. He is will now be able to provide his customers variable annuity, variable life insurance and mutual fund products, in addition to auto, homeowner and traditional life insurance products. He is appointed with the broker dealer Allstate Financial Services, LLC. Alcoa Credit Union hires senior managers Brian Laufenberg has been hired as the new Vice President of Finance. He comes to Alcoa Employees Community Credit Union from Deere Co.

Credit Union where he served in senior management for more than five years. Beverly Murray has been hired as the new Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations. She previously worked as Marketing Coordinator for the City of Sioux City. hires Betts as account coordinator has announced that Mary Betts joins the agency as Account Coordinator. Betts joins after working as an intern for Thomas C.

Porter and Associates. A native of Davenport, Betts earned a degree in advertising from lowa State University. If you would like to have your latest promotions, awards or achievements listed in this space, e-mail integral role possible thanks to a grant from Ameritech. By updating our Web site, the Quad-Cities has grabbed an advantage in the competitive world of economic development. While our site does not have the newest and greatest Web toys, it is still on the technological leading edge with the addition of this new database.

For us to stay in this position, we have to stay on top of technology as it relates to economic development. In the coming months, further enhancements will be made to our site offering more detailed information, photos, and maps for available sites and buildings in the Quad-City area. Our main marketing piece will be available on CD as well as in the traditional printed form, and some internal changes are taking place at the Development Group offices to help us work smarter and faster. By working together as one community, we can continue our success in economic development and stay ahead technologically in this very competitive market for investment and jobs. Thom Hart is president of QuadCity Development Group.

He can be reached at bizbriefs EICCD honored in first state quality awards Eastern lowa Community College District has received the lowa Recognition of Performance Excellence, a statewide quality award sponsored by the lowa Business Council and the Woods Quality Center. This is the first year for the award, which is based on the Malcom Baldridge National Quality Award criteria. The award process is open to manufacturing, service, government, education, healthcare and non-profit organizations. Regardless of sector, all applicants submitted a self-evaluation and received feedback from trained evaluators based on the seven Baldridge award criteria: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management and business results. Evaluators then provided feedback on opportunities for improving processes to meet customer needs.

Deere Co. announces quarterly dividend The Deere Co. board of directors has declared the regular quarterly dividend of 22 cents per share, payable Feb. 01, 2001, to stockholders of record on Dec. 31.

Deere Co. is headquartered in Moline. Stay up to date on the QuadCity business scene: log on to www.acbiznet.com. IS If you have a staffing need, we're the solution. 800 36th Avenue, ONE SOLUTION Moline, IL 61265 (309) 736-0055 STAFFING.

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