Each year, the Ames Chamber of Commerce crafts strategic legislative priorities to advocate for the strengthening and growth of Ames, Story County, Central Iowa, and the State of Iowa’s economic and community development efforts and we are pleased to announce Legislative Priorities for 2021:

• Recovery & Resiliency
• Talent
• Economic Development
• Business Climate
• Infrastructure

The Ames Chamber of Commerce will ensure any policy proposal being considered by the Executive and Legislative Branch in the 2021 Legislative Session is judged on the basis it will ultimately grow Iowa’s economy in an inclusive and beneficial way. Several policies we believe will assist in doing so are:
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• Those recommendations outlined by Governor Reynolds’ Economic Recovery Advisory Board;
• Funding for existing programs and consideration of new resources that promote“ placemaking” including quality of life and the arts;•Development of immediately deployable resources for large scale disasters when budget reserves are full for businesses to recover;
• Favorable policies and additional funding for broadband priorities outlined through the Empower Rural Iowa Initiative;
• Fully funding the Future Ready Iowa Initiative;
• Addressing barriers to employment such as student debt repayment or access to child-care;
• Supporting education at all levels from pre-school through post-high school options;
• Developing and supporting incentives with proven return in targeted industries; and
• Removal of the sunset for both the brownfield & gray fields programs.

To advance these priorities, the Ames Chamber of Commerce will collaborate with Iowa State University, the City of Ames, Story County, our community school districts, Des Moines Area Community College, and our chamber and economic development partners throughout the state.
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The Ames Chamber of Commerce is the leading voice for promoting economic growth policies and initiatives on behalf of the Ames and Story County business community. Learn more about our Public Policy program at AmesChamber.com.

(January 4, 2020) - The Ames Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the promotion of Allee Wengert and John Hall.

Allee Wengert will retain graphic design and video editing roles from her Marketing Coordinator position, and will expand into overseeing the overall marketing and communications strategies and implementation for the organization. Her new role is Director, Creative Design & Communications.

“Allee has been here a short time but she has clearly illustrated her value to the organization,” says Dan Culhane, President & CEO of the Ames Chamber of Commerce. “Her contributions are many, and this new title and shift in responsibilities will fit her well.”

Wengert joined the Ames Chamber of Commerce team in 2019 as a Workforce Coordinator, before shifting into her role as a Marketing Coordinator later in the same year. Wengert can be reached at allee@ameschamber.com.

John Hall has been named Vice President of the organization. He will retain the work from his role as Senior Director, Business Development while expanding his new role into overseeing and implementing the overall strategy of economic development work among the organization. 

“John has worn many hats in his tenure with the organization,” says Dan Culhane. “He has provided outstanding leadership to our contract partner, the Nevada Economic Development Council, spearheads our business development efforts, and has done a fine job of managing the Ames Main Street organization in recent months. He is quick to say yes and that makes him a highly valuable member of our team.”

Hall joined the Ames Chamber of Commerce in 2015, and recently celebrated his 5-year anniversary with the organization in December of 2020. Hall can be reached at john@ameschamber.com.
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The remainder of the Ames Chamber and AEDC team experienced minor shifts in responsibilities to better serve the community as they work together to help make Ames and Story County the best place to live, work and do business. A full listing of staff members and responsibilities is located at https://www.ameschamber.com/about-us/chamber-team.