Representatives of the Kalona Economic Development, Inc. and the Kalona Chamber of Commerce attended the SMART Economic Development Conference in Des Moines Thursday, April 29, where they accepted the 1999 Community Economic Preparedness Program (CEPP) Recertification award for the town.

Jan Peterseim, Doug Morgan, Phil Marner and Ron Slechta were presented the award by David J. Lyons, director, Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED), during the recognition ceremony in the Polk County Convention Complex.

The 2nd annual SMART Conference was co-sponsored by the IDED and the Iowa Utility Association.

“By combining the efforts and resources of our two organizations, we provided our customers with the tools and resources need to become more competitive in the 21st Century,” said Lyons.

Conference highlights included a luncheon keynote address by Governor Tom Vilsack and presentations by business futurist Bob Treadway, Iowa Venture Capitalist John Pappajohn, Cargill’s Bioscience Division President Robert Parmelee and U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Peter Vidmar.

Kalona received the award for Industrial recertificaiton and

Commercial recertification. The award indicates that the community continues to meet the CEPP requirements, including an update of community information and marketing materials, and documentation of appropriate economic development activities.

CEPP, started in 1984, strives to educate and prepare Iowa communities for economic development opportunities. Communities may be certified in three areas: industrial development, commercial development and tourism. Recently, a workforce development component was added to the industrial section. To date, 170 Iowa communities have been certified in the industrial development program, 96 in the commercial and 79 in tourism.