Mike Wells Selected To Chair Iowa Business Council
DES MOINES, IOWA – February 9, 2015. The Iowa Business Council has selected its leadership for 2015. Michael C. Wells, President and CEO of Wells Enterprises, Inc., of Le Mars was elected as the Council’s chair. Patrick J. Meyer, President and CEO of Pella Corporation in Pella, will serve as vice chair. John K. Sorensen, President and CEO of the Iowa Bankers Association in Des Moines was re-elected as treasurer. Council members determined the organization’s leadership during their annual business meeting held on January 26 in Des Moines.
Mike Wells is President and CEO of Wells Enterprises, Inc. in Le Mars, Iowa. He started with the family business in 1977 as a route driver while working his way through Morningside College in Sioux City, joining the Blue Bunny sales force in 1981 after graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Early in his career Wells held various positions, culminating with a series of roles in senior management that eventually led to his title as COO in 2007. On November 13, 2007, he assumed his current position as President and CEO of Wells Enterprises, Inc., a 102 year-old company that is the largest privately held and family owned ice cream manufacturer in the United States. Wells is the past president of the Iowa Dairy Foods Association, current chair of the International Ice Cream Association, member of the International Dairy Foods Association, and chair of the Iowa Business Council. Wells is also a member of the Retail Owned Food Dealers Association, the Iowa Grocers Association, and the International Association of Ice Cream Distributors and Vendors. He received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® 2010 Manufacturing Award in the Central Midwest region which recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic, growing businesses. In 2013, he was awarded the W. Edwards Deming Entrepreneurial and Business Excellence Award, which recognizes leaders who have exhibited originality, quality, productivity, and performance within the realm of their business.
Universities Adjust Classrooms Based On Enrollment Numbers
(Des Moines) — The University of Iowa and Iowa State University are taking steps to deal with increasing enrollments, while the opposite is true at the University of Northern Iowa. U-N-I’s vice president for facilities and planning, Phillip Simpson, says the Cedar Falls campus has more capacity than students.
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Simpson says. U-N-I had a fall enrollment of just under 12-thousand undergrads and Simpson says the school does have some empty classrooms.
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Simpson says the school is adjusting its campus buildings to meet the demands of its changing student body.
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More than 90-percent of UNI’s student body is from Iowa. Iowa State University in Ames has the problem of finding enough classroom space for its record enrollment. President Stephen Leath told the Board of Regents last week that he has instituted a program to create new flip format courses, that use one-line instruction to take some of the load off classrooms.
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Leath cited a couple of examples of how the program works.
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The University of Iowa is also addressing increasing enrollment. The school is scheduled to open a new residence hall this fall as the university continues progress on rebuilding buildings that were damaged by the flooding in 2008.
New Iowa Penitentiary Encounters Additional Construction Delays And Rising Costs
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – State officials say repairs at the vacant Iowa State are expected to cost an additional $7 million.
In a memo to state lawmakers last week, the Iowa Department of Corrections says the cost to fix a faulty heating and cooling system is at least $6.7 million. Prison officials say an additional $350,000 is needed for a defective smoke control system.
State lawmakers in 2010 approved $131 million to build the prison. Documents prepared by aides for Gov. Terry Branstad last summer, however, show the cost had risen to $165.5 million.
The prison in Fort Madison was scheduled to open last March to house inmates at the old Iowa State Penitentiary, located a mile away. But construction issues have delayed the prison’s opening.
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Muscatine Fire Fighter Injured
MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) – A firefighter has been injured battling blaze at a trucking company in Muscatine.
Firetrucks were dispatched to Daufeldt Transport after a 911 call was received a little before 11 p.m. Sunday.
The Muscatine Fire Department says in a new release that flames were contained to a semitrailer or near it in a shop, but there was heat and smoke damage throughout the building. The fire cause is being investigated.
The firefighter was reported in stable condition at a Muscatine hospital. His or her name hasn’t been released.
