Ti Liptak, far left, speaks about starting businesses in Fairfield during Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds' visit on June 20. Also pictured are, from left, Aaron Kness, Terri Kness, Ed Malloy and Kim Reynolds. (Andy Hallman/The Union)

FAIRFIELD – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds made a trip through Southeast Iowa last week, meeting with residents in Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant.

In Fairfield, Reynolds had a roundtable discussion with members of Grow Fairfield Economic Development Association. FEDA Director Ed Malloy told Reynolds about some of the town’s largest companies and those that are growing. He mentioned Cambridge, north of town, is Fairfield’s largest employer and not only had it undergone a remodeling project a few years ago, but that it was also expanding at its branch in Arizona.

Ti Liptak, CEO of Bodhi, spoke about growing up in Fairfield and the challenges of starting a business. He talked about his desire to help Fairfield flourish, and how other people in their 30s are sticking around Fairfield to make the town grow. He mentioned that his company is competing for clients against agencies in big cities like Los Angeles. He also talked about how his gym Boom Fitness has been a passion project of his for the past 14 years.

Reynolds said it was great to hear about business success stories in Fairfield.

“You’re unique, and you should feel really good about that and about growing local companies,” she said.

Malloy spoke about how Fairfield opened a new child care center last year that can accommodate up to 180 children. Fairfield Mayor Connie Boyer mentioned that volunteering has been one of her priorities as mayor, and she’s glad that it has been “exploding.” Other things the city is focused on include sustainability initiatives and co-housing for the elderly, since not everyone wants to go to a nursing home. Malloy talked about Alex Stanley’s renovation of the former armory on East Broadway Avenue into a place for live music and a recording studio, which should open either this year or next.

Malloy and Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mendy McAdams spoke about other new initiatives specific to the downtown. McAdams said Fairfield has applied to become a Main Street community with the state, and it should learn whether it has been accepted in a few weeks. They also talked about the need to renovate some downtown buildings, like the former JC Penny building on the east side of the square, whose apartment tenants had to vacate because the building was unsafe. Another building to watch for is the one on the north side of the square, where its three stories are being turned into 10 condos.

Reynolds said Iowa is a good place for young people to buy a home, and mentioned that it ranks No. 1 nationally in homeownership among the Millennial generation. She said the state Legislature has made Iowa a more attractive place to live and do business by lowering income taxes, and that the state has gone from having the sixth-highest income tax in the nation to the sixth-lowest, from 8.9 percent to 3.8 percent this coming January.

“We have reduced the size and scope of government,” Reynolds said. “We’re leaner and meaner and getting stuff done.”

After her meeting with FEDA representatives and other local officials, Reynolds said she enjoyed her visit to Fairfield and getting to experience the diversity of opportunity here.

“It was a great update,” she said. “When you do public-private partnerships, that’s where we see a lot of success. The state has a role, local government has a role and the private sector has a role. When you stack all of that funding, we do get some good things going.”

VISIT TO MT. PLEASANT

Later that day on Thursday afternoon, June 20, Gov. Reynolds and Representative Taylor Collins visited Mt. Pleasant and met with local manufacturing leadership. During their visit, they discussed topics such as workforce, housing, and infrastructure these individuals directly impacted by the topics.

As someone who once lived in Mt. Pleasant for seven years, Reynolds expressed a particular fondness for returning to the area saying, “It’s always great to be back in Mt. Pleasant.”

“It is always an honor to have state leadership in Mt. Pleasant,” Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Rachel Lindeen commented. “It was a really great roundtable discussion and it’s awesome to showcase our manufacturing.”

According to Reynolds, hearing from these individuals in the manufacturing field is important as manufacturing makes up the largest sector of Iowa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). As they discussed workforce, the Governor said many of the issues local manufacturers face are tied in with federal issues.

Concerning workforce, Reynolds commented on the challenges related to legal immigration stating, “Legal immigration is so hard, and it cost so much for people to go through that.” She said her discussions included identifying these struggles along with other workforce topics such as automation and upskilling employees instead of losing employees to automation.

“It was great to just listen most importantly and have the opportunity to say thank you,” she said of her visit.

The Governor made further comments about the recent injunction granted by Southern District of Iowa Judge Stephen Locher on the Illegal Immigration reentry law. She stated that she supports the appeal of an injunction of this decision.

Reynolds described the law as “basically enforcing the United States immigration laws that are on the books.”

“You know, it's horrible when we have a president of the United States is not doing to protect the United States citizens and most importantly, the sovereignty of this country,” Reynolds explained. “We have seen a tremendous uptick in the amount of fentanyl illegal drugs that are coming into our communities. We are seeing an uptick in death over human trafficking because we have an open border and there's only be described as potential. And so, if I have a president that will not do his duty, then you bet the states and governors are going to step up to protect the citizens that I serve.”

Collins, who joined Reynolds in Mt. Pleasant, stated that visiting with constituents in settings like these remains important so they can not only hear from them, but also share their knowledge.

“It continues to be workforce, workforce, workforce and housing, housing, housing,” Collins said. “And we continue to work on that, you know, we provide a lot of funds a different incentive programs. It's really just making sure that folks are educated about the programs that are out there. And that's why these visits are so important.”

Collins also said his time spent with the manufacturers included discussion on a need to continue to expand energy access in Southeast Iowa to avoid hindering growth.

“There are businesses willing to invest, but we got have the capacity in order to do so,” Collins said. “Obviously we have the workforce here that’s ready to go. We have folks ready to continue to grow and invest in their communities, we just have to have the capacity to do so.”