The Voice of Iowa Business

July 20, 2017

Legislative News

Federal Spotlight: Oppose Export-Import Bank nominee

President Trump's selection of former U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett of New Jersey to lead the Export-Import Bank is drawing criticism from manufacturers and influential business organizations. During his time in Congress, Garrett was an outspoken critic of the of bank.

One of ABI's national partners, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), has been leading efforts to urge the U.S. Senate to reject Garrett. Many ABI and NAM members and their suppliers have used the Ex-Im Bank to get American products overseas. According to an NAM fact sheet," For manufacturers, the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank is an essential tool for creating and supporting jobs here at home as we sell our products to other countries. Workers, families, communities, businesses and even taxpayers are all better off when the Ex-Im Bank is fully functional and has a strong leader who understands the mission of the agency and its importance for manufacturing in the United States."

If you have utilized the Ex-Im Bank, contact Sen. Grassley and Sen. Ernst and ask them to reject Garrett's nomination.

NAM President Jay Timmons wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal urging the Senate to reject Garrett's nomination. In the piece, Timmons highlighted Garrett's past votes against the bank's reauthorization and statements displaying opposition to the bank he seeks to head. In 2015, while in Congress, Garrett said the agency "embodies the corruption of the free enterprise system," according to Politico.

The Ex-Im Bank guarantees loans for foreign buyers of U.S. exports. It is a tool American manufacturers can use to help level the playing field when competing with other countries. Pressure will continue to mount on the Trump administration to withdraw the nomination and put forward someone who actually supports the functions of the bank. Click here to read more from NAM.

Federal Spotlight: Made in America week celebrated at the White House

President Donald Trump is celebrating products manufactured in the country with a Made in America week at the White House. The administration has been holding similar themed celebrations for several weeks. On Monday, President Trump surveyed products from all 50 states and spoke about policy positions he adheres to that support U.S manufacturing. President Trump has been a strong ally of manufacturers by working to roll back burdensome regulations and fighting to level the playing field for American manufacturers in a global economy. RMA Armament CEO Blake Waldrop of Centerville represented Iowa at the event. Read more: Iowan to be featured at White House manufacturing celebration (USA TODAY)

Focus on ABI Policy Committees: Economic Growth

Leading up to our ABI policy committees in late summer, we have been highlighting each of ABI's five policy committees so you know more about the mission and purview of each one. These committees steer the direction of ABI's policy agenda each legislative session. This week's profile on ABI's Economic Growth Committee is the final committee highlight. You can our other highlights in past issues. To sign up for a public policy committee, email Dorothy Knowles, dknowles@iowaabi.org. Click here to register for the Economic Growth Committee meeting on Aug. 15. Click here to see all the upcoming committee meetings and to register.

Economic Growth Committee Mission Statement: To advocate for economic growth policies that foster the prosperity of Iowa through the successful investment and development of new and existing business and industry. Vigorous economic growth results from a superior business, regulatory, and tax climate, as well as a safe, reliable and energy-efficient infrastructure. To improve the competitiveness of Iowa's business climate, federal and state government must work in partnership with business, industry, capital sources, education, and agriculture.

Current Chair: Russ Cross, Wells Fargo

Issues handled by this committee:

Economic growth incentives
Broadband infrastructure
Transportation
Energy Policy
Government purchasing
Immigration

Recent Successes: Last session, ABI worked to inform legislators about the impacts of proposed significant tax credit cuts, and the legislation did not move forward. ABI was a proponent of legislation that helped Iowa manufacturers competitively bid for state agency business.

Next Meeting: Looking to 2018, the committee will look to update its policies and hear from Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. The meeting is set for Aug. 15. Click here to sign up.

Air Quality Bureau stakeholder meetings continue

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Air Quality Bureau has been holding a series of day-long stakeholder meetings to discuss the bureau's budget deficit, permit fees and efficiencies within the department. ABI and many member companies have been giving input at these meetings to give feedback and to help set priorities for the department. Any recommendations that come out of these meetings will be shared with ABI's Environment Committee members, and covered at the upcoming Environment Committee policy meeting on Aug. 17. If you would like to sign up for the committee, contact Dorothy Knowles, dknowles@iowaabi.org .

Make an impact

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Participation opportunity: Board of Regents announces tuition task force meetings

The Board of Regents Tuition Task Force has announced dates and times for four public stakeholder meetings. The Tuition Task Force was established this year by the Board to facilitate a public discussion examining core issues and strategies central to the process of setting tuition at Iowa's public universities. ABI, along with other business stakeholders, has been invited to provide input and ideas at the first meeting which takes place on Thursday, July 27 at the John and Mary Pappajohn Center in Des Moines. Click here for a full schedule of the meetings. Contact Nicole Crain, ncrain@iowaabi.org, if you are interested in participating. All meetings are open to the public and during listening sessions at the three campuses, the task force will receive public comments.

ABI is hiring a communications coordinator

Do you know someone who would be great at helping share the stories of Iowa businesses? ABI is hiring a communications coordinator to lead the organization's communications and marketing efforts. Join a smart, energetic team supporting member businesses across the state! Read the job description here: bit.ly/2uejd7l and share with those you think would be a great fit!

From the Desk of...

Right-sizing a custom software project

Kelly Kimmich

Far Reach, Inc.

kelly@farreachinc.com

When you're getting ready to jump into a software project, you inevitably think about all the possibilities-about how great it could be some day. This is not a bad thing. By all means, dream big; know where you want to go with it.

Keep in mind, though, that your big vision won't happen overnight.

Following are some words of wisdom about how to realize your dream in a way that keeps your idea lean, focused, and as valuable as possible.

Step Back

Because your big vision won't be realized overnight, one of the most important steps after defining that big vision is determining what's best to build first-here and now. Go ahead and lay out your dream product, but then step back and prioritize. Prioritize the functionality and features that will add the most value for your users (and therefore for you). Save the nice-to-have features, no matter how cool they seem, for later in the process.

A simple example of a nice-to-have feature is an awesome graphic, fully animated with CSS, that displays after a user logs in successfully. While this feature can be labeled cool, it probably can't also be labeled necessary and/or valuable. The real value is in the user successfully accessing the system. Snappy graphics might add to the visual experience, but they don't help the user accomplish anything. Consequently, their value is limited. These should go to the bottom of the list. Keep reading...