Iowa wins two corporate expansions.

Two highly sought, high-profile business expansions will bring more than 300 jobs to Iowa, according to recent announcements by the state's Department of Economic Development.

The Cedar River Paper Co., a joint venture of Weyerhaeuser and Midwest Recycle Co., will build a state-of-the-art paper mill that uses recycled paper. Maytag Corp., based in Newton, Iowa, in January announced a major expansion of its laundry products operation, which will launch a new product into the U.S. market.

Ted Chapler, executive director of the Iowa Finance Authority, said the Iowa Finance Authority has completed the issuance of $67.5 million Solid Waste Disposal Revenue Bonds to finance part of the cost of construction of the new paper mill.

Cedar River Paper Co. is a general partnership joint venture formed by Weyerhaeuser Midwest Inc., a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser Co., and Midwest Recycle. On the basis of the commitment from the Iowa Finance Authority to issue the bonds, the joint venture said it would locate in Iowa and applied for tax-exempt financing that was approved by the finance authority.

"We were pleased that we could expedite the tax-exempt financing for the plant so that a decision could be made by the company to locate this important facility in the state of Iowa," Chapler said.

Paul Kiffe, vice president of Weyerhaeuser Midwest Inc., praised the governor and the Iowa Finance Authority for expeditiously developing the plan to finance the bond issue.

SPEEDY FINANCING

"Without the quick commitment from the Iowa Finance Authority to approve this amount of tax-exempt financing, it would have been much more difficult to make our decision to locate in Iowa," Kiffe said.

The Weyerhaeuser-Midwest mill will eventually employ approximately 125 workers in the Cedar Rapids community, producing 750 tons of corrugating medium, the paper that forms the middle fluted layer of a corrugated box. The mill will make a positive contribution to helping reduce solid waste in Iowa and surrounding areas since 100 percent of its raw material will be sourced and recycled paper fiber. Start-up of the new mill is planned for mid 1995.

Paul Gordon, vice president of BE&K Construction, the construction firm that Cedar River Paper Co. has selected for engineering and construction of the mill, said the construction of the plant will provide opportunities for local suppliers and contractors to bid on the project to the maximum extent possible. "Bid packages are already being released so that site development work can proceed immediately upon the completion of the legal closing arrangements for the mill," Gordon said. "Meetings will be held to brief local suppliers on how to do business with BE&K. Extensive planning and engineering for this project has already been completed in order to obtain all necessary permits and approvals, so work on the project will proceed very rapidly from here on out."

Kiffe expressed his appreciation to the Cedar Rapids community and the state for support during the planning of the mill. "We could not have asked for a more proactive group of government and community leaders. One of the key considerations for the location of the mill was the availability of a high-quality work force, since the vision is for Cedar River Paper Company to start up the mill using the latest concepts in highly involved, self-managing work teams. The training programs available through the local college are an excellent resource for the mill. Cedar Rapids has shown strong support for industry as evidenced by the number of firms that have also chosen to locate here."

Added Kiffe: "Construction and operation of this mill should be of enormous benefit to the community. It creates substantial economic benefit from increased employment and the purchase of support services. It will purchase and use excess capacity at the waste water treatment facility and the local utility. It will produce environmental benefits by reducing the amount of waste going to landfill through the use of recycled paper as raw material. This will all work to create a win-win for the Cedar River Paper Company, the local community and the citizens of the State of Iowa."

MAYTAG EXPANSION

Maytag Corp., in announcing its expansion, said it was looking for the most economical place to produce a newly designed clothes washer. It chose Newton, Iowa after an extensive study in which it also considered a site in Herrin, Ill. Said Leonard A. Hadley, Maytag chairman and chief executive officer: "The driving force behind the necessity of a new washer design is anticipated future government regulations dealing with reduced water and electric use. Although we will continue to make energy improvements in washers of the current design, all of us in the industry eventually must come up with an alternative product that will offer customers even greater energy saving."

Added Hadley, "In today's highly competitive major appliance industry, when consideration is being given to manufacturing a new product, one of the first things you need to know is where you can build that product most economically and exactly what your per-unit costs will be."

The Maytag site location study was conducted by a team of representatives from the company's Newton and Herrin manufacturing operations, along with corporate staff members.

Hadley said that during the study, information was gathered from union officials and management representatives at each location to determine what employment and production costs would be. Additionally, Maytag representatives visited state and local government officials in Iowa and Illinois to determine what economic development funds and other assistance would be available. Maytag is a leading appliance enterprise focused on five principal areas: laundry, cooking, dishwashing, refrigeration and floor care. Vending equipment is an additional corporate business. The corporation's appliance brands include Maytag, Hoover, Jenn-Air, Magic Chef and Admiral. Headquartered in Newton, the company has 21 manufacturing operations in seven countries and approximately 21,000 employees worldwide.