a c u s t o m p u b l i c a t i o n f o r t h e c h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c e a n d c i t y o f u r b a n d a l e

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Invest and engage In Urbandale

Business Connectionvolume 2, Number 9

September 2015

IP Pathways Leads the data Center revoLution

workforce spotLight

Douglas FreemanDouglas Freeman is the president and Ceo of urbandale-based ADi Group, a print and materials management company. He’s an urbandale native and has owned ADi Group for 25 years. Doug is a business owner who values the way the community has had a positive impact on his professional and personal life.

ADi Group benefits from urbandale’s unique central location on two interstates, providing access to both

local and national supply partners and customers. most of the ADi Group team lives in or near urbandale and they appreciate how an easy commute contributes to a balanced work and home life. Doug also recognizes the impact of access to government and citizen leaders on making the community a great place to work.

Access to a network of colleagues, friends and family is another benefit of urbandale for Freeman. Interaction with business associates who have become friends and reliable advisers is among the factors he appreciates most about urbandale. to read the full interview with Doug, please visit www.urbandale.org/econdev.

Sean lair, vice president engineering and Joe Shields, president, lead Ip pathways, ranked the 14th fastest growing company in Iowa by Inc. 5000

With all the federal regulations on electronic medical records, it’s challenging for health care providers to manage these systems quickly and securely. that’s where Ip pathways comes in.

“From tap-and-go sign-ons at kiosks to remote applications and disaster recovering systems, we help develop creative, effective solutions,” said Joe Shields, president of Ip pathways. “We help clients do things differently, better and smarter.”

Health care providers aren’t the only ones who turn to Ip pathways for information technology (It) solutions. the urbandale-based firm serves industries ranging from government to education. Ip pathways helps them modernize their data center infrastructures through virtualization, incorporate cloud

solutions, protect their data, implement business continuity strategies and enhance mobility by delivering desktops, applications and data to any device, anywhere, anytime.

“We’re like the plumbers of the It industry,” Shields said. “While we don’t provide the water, we build the pipes and underpinnings that keep the system running 24/7 every day of the year.”

Data center opens up a worlD of possibilities

Founded in 2007, Ip pathways has grown from a fledging startup to a thriving firm with 45 employees. there was never a grand plan to create a new business, however.

AUTOMATION / ELECTRICAL / LIGHTING /DATACOMM / UTILITY / ENERGY

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SponSored by

The Urbandale City Council approved a $10 million general obligation bond sale last month. Proceeds from the sale fund transportation and storm water utility infrastructure projects as outlined in the city’s Capital Improvement Program. The city typically issues $10 million or less in general obligation bonds, which classifies the debt as “bank-qualified.” With bank-qualified debt, a broader scope of bidders has the opportunity to purchase the city’s bonds, thereby generating competition that lowers interest cost. In this bond sale, the city received a historically low interest rate of 2.1 percent. This saved Urbandale taxpayers money since the debt service cost on these bonds will be $300,000 lower than originally budgeted.

In addition to the bank-qualified status, this low interest rate is also the result of a

strong credit rating from Moody’s. The city has maintained a Moody’s rating of Aa1 since 2010, an increase from its previous Aa2 rating. This places Urbandale well within Moody’s 10 top-rated cities in Iowa.

Urbandale’s conservative approach to financial management contributes to the rating. The City Council supports a low, steady tax rate, and the city’s annual budget for infrastructure projects is typically determined in a way that keeps the general obligation debt service levy constant from year to year. This approach requires careful planning to ensure that growth is met with adequate infrastructure while maintaining a low tax rate.

Consistency in financial management contributes to the bond rating as well. The

city familiarizes the bond market with its policies and procedures by selling bonds on an annual basis. With every bond sale is an official statement that provides a comprehensive view of Urbandale. Important components of this report are statistics on Urbandale’s employment and tax base growth, which shows the market that Urbandale is a thriving community and a safe place to invest.

Urbandale officials strive to protect residential and corporate investments in their community. The city’s low tax rate and excellent services represent a long-term value proposition for any investor in the community.

You should know About: UrbAndAle’s FInAnCIAl MAnAgeMenT And TAxPAyer VAlUe

Joseph Fry, support engineering supervisor, inspects network switching in the data center.

“I was disillusioned with the companies I was doing business with and thought I could do things differently — and better,” said shields, a native of denison who co-founded the company with Wade brower. “When we started, we were just going to do some consulting and have a few clients, but things quickly grew from there.”

The company focuses on midsized clients, although the team also serves some large firms and small businesses across Iowa and surrounding states. “The cloud, along with our recent acquisition of a data center, opens up a whole new world of possibilities to help clients remain agile and adapt to changes in their industries,” said sean lair, vice president of engineering.

While IP Pathways has added offices in Omaha and Overland Park, Kan., two-thirds of the company’s employees are based in Urbandale, which offers an accessible, central location. “This is a great place to live and work,” added lair, a 1999 graduate of Urbandale High school and a drake University alumnus. “Urbandale has been extremely supportive of IP Pathways.”

The firm, which has been featured in CIO review Magazine, is poised to expand its team of IT professionals. “We enjoy being on the cutting edge,” shields said. “We embrace new challenges to help our clients take their business to the next level.”

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a c u s t o m p u b l i c a t i o n f o r t h e c h a m b e r o f c o m m e r c e a n d c i t y o f u r b a n d a l e

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upcoming eventsplease register to attend through www.uniquelyurbandale.com or by calling the urbandale chamber of commerce at 515-331-6855. more information on each event may be found on the website.

September 22 AM exchange | 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. | urbandale High School media center (7111 Aurora Ave., urbandale) | cost: Free rSVps requested

September 24 MOXIe | 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. | chamber office (2830 100th St., Ste. 110, urbandale) | open only to members business owners. no cost to chamber member business owners to participate.

october 7 MOXIe Plus | 8:00 – 10:00 a.m. | chamber office (2830 100th St., Ste. 110, urbandale) | open only to member business owners with 100K net revenue annually. no cost to chamber member business owners to participate.

october 8 High 5 | 4-6 p.m. | Quality marble & tile (3900 beisser Dr., grimes) | cost: Free

october 13 genYPrix | 5-7 p.m. | mb2 raceway | cost: $30 genYp members

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SponSored by

chamber business value city of urbandaleTiffany Menke President, Urbandale Chamber of Commerce (515) 331-6855 tmenke@urbandalechamber.com

AJ Johnson City Manager (515) 331-6705 ajohnson@urbandale.org

Curtis Brown Director of Economic Development (515) 331-6756 cbrown@urbandale.org

economic Development contacts

at the chamber, we frequently receive resumes from individuals looking for a

new career. at the same time, we hear from many members that finding qualified

employees can be difficult. the chamber has an active job board on www.

uniquelyurbandale.com to help. the direct link to available positions within the

membership is: http://businesses.uniquelyurbandale.com/jobs. members can post

openings here for job seekers to review and apply. the available positions are

also posted on the chamber’s fb page and on twitter. together, we retain talent in

central iowa and help to fill critical positions within our member companies.

t H e bIG p i c t u r e TOP LEFT: urbandale chamber genyp

members connect during a speed networking event at sam & louies new york pizzeria.

tOP MIDDLE: member presentation by balance first chiropractic partners during a chamber contacts & contracts meeting.

tOP RIGHT: left to right: mary anne Kennedy with primary source connects with susan bonnicksen with superior printing & promotions at the august am exchange. LEFT: urbandale chamber members enjoy the High 5 event held at Golden openings in august.

Katie Gieszler Economic Devel-opment Specialist (515) 331-6738 kgieszler@urbandale.org