Nearly 300 new jobs are impacted with the financial assistance awarded today by the Economic Development Board and the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) to advance business expansions in information technology, advanced manufacturing, and value-added agriculture. Many of the businesses are entrepreneurial start-ups and homegrown.

since July 2003, the Iowa Values Fund and other IDED programs have assisted 309 companies that will create and retain 19,435 jobs at an average wage of $37,400 (for incented jobs) and result in a total capital investment for Iowa of $3.2 billion.

With the assistance of $250,000 in CEBA funds approved by the Economic Development Board today, LXI Enterprise Storage is relocating computer hardware design, manufacturing and assembly from Massachusetts to Iowa. The new operation in Mason City will employ 43 persons, 24 of the jobs qualifying for the CEBA award at an average annual wage of $18.91 per hour. LXI provides data storage management products to preserve, protect, store and restore data for many leading companies, including Bank of America, JP Morgan, Chase, EDS and Disney. LXI is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

A CEBA award of $180,000 was approved by the Board to accelerate new product development at Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. (ISI) in Urbandale. ISI will hire 18 new people at an average wage $39.91 per hour and retain four employees. Working through distributions, resellers and service companies, ISI designs software used by companies in a wide variety of industries including energy, insurance, manufacturing and banking.

Another Urbandale company, C & L Companies, was awarded a $60,000 CEBA investment and approved for tax benefits from the High Quality Jobs Creation (HQJC) program. A manufacturer of motorcycle performance and replacement parts, C &L is constructing a 45,000 square foot building to replace its present facilities. The $4 million expansion creates 12 jobs, six of them qualifying for HQJC with an average wage of $28.04 per hour. C & L manufactures and wholesales motorcycle parts to distributors throughout the world.

The Economic Development Board awarded $75,000 of CEBA funds and qualified Loparex, Inc. for HQJC tax benefits to assist the Iowa City plant in getting a $5 million expansion and equipment upgrade. The project creates nine jobs at an average hourly wage of $19.56 per hour and retains six jobs. It involves construction of a 7,480 square foot addition and installation of new machinery and equipment to produce plastic film stock used in medical packaging and roofing materials.