The Ames Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Commission is pleased to welcome Steele Harter to the team as the Director of Community & Economic Development Outreach.

“Steele will be a tremendous addition to our team, “ said Dan Culhane, President & CEO of the Ames Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Commission. “His energy, educational background and recent experience in economic development make him the right person to help Ames and Story County continue to grow.”

As the Director of Community & Economic Development Outreach, Harter will serve as the liaison between the Ames Economic Development Commission and the rural communities outside of Ames. In this role he will focus on the development of “small” or new business start-ups in the retail, commercial, and industrial sectors.

"I am most excited to start my new position because I know I will be making a difference in the communities I work with," said Harter. "Working hands-on with citizens and local city staff can be very rewarding. I like to know when projects are completed that I made an impact on a community and people’s lives."

Harter graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Community and Regional Planning and recently worked with the Economic Development team at the City of Urbandale.

Harter began his position on August 23 and be contacted at steele@ameschamber.com.

Nevada, Iowa -- The Story County Board of Supervisors took action this morning to approve “The Story Country COVID-19 Workforce Retraining Program”.  This plan, presented by the Ames Chamber of Commerce Foundation, will support the retraining of 400 or more Story County residents in career areas experiencing high growth.  Lisa Heddens, Chair of the Board of Supervisors, stated that the, “Workforce Retraining Program is a great initiative that Story County is proud to support. This program, which provides education and training in highly needed skill areas, will further assist in meeting the employment needs throughout Story County.”

“The Story County COVID-19 Workforce Retraining Program” plan calls for short term certificate training to be offered in the areas of Certified Nurse Assistant (Basic & Advanced), Manufacturing Production Technician, Welding, Construction, Maintenance/Electrician Technician, Patient Intake & Billing and Phlebotomy over the next three and half years. Dan Culhane, President & CEO of the Ames Chamber of Commerce explains, “The number one concern we continue to hear from our regional business community is workforce. We are experiencing higher than normal unemployment. This is brought on in part by a mismatch of skills; those that are unemployed lacking the qualifications needed for the job openings that are going unfilled in our manufacturing, construction, and medical sectors.  I applaud the Story County Board of Supervisors for their vision to take action to approve funding to support retraining.  These efforts will impact our Story County residents that need a better job, our local business and industry, and our communities. We look forward to working with many Story County organizations including the Des Moines Area Community College, our local human service providers, and faith-based community as we work to implement this aggressive retraining effort.”

The training will be offered for free to those that qualify.  Participants in the program will also be able to access needed wrap around services including transportation and child care supports to allow for their participation in the training program.  In addition to the wrap around service supports stipends will be offered to program participants to encourage participation, program completion, and job attainment.
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Training will be launched this Fall.  People interested in learning more about this opportunity should contact the
Ames Chamber of Commerce at 515.232.2310 or by email at brenda@ameschamber.com.