Dan Culhane, president and CEO of the Ames Regional Economic Alliance, talks with Bob Erickson of Webster City at the first annual Business & Industry breakfast. Erickson expressed enthusiasm for Culhane's strategy of regional economic growth, calling it "the best thing we have going for us at this time."

There are no flies on Dan Culhane. With responsibility for economic development in four counties, he’s never in one place very long.

Last Wednesday he was at the Briggs Woods Conference Center as keynote speaker for the first annual Business & Industry Breakfast, sponsored by the Hamilton County Growth Partnership.

His message couldn’t be missed: the techniques honed at the Ames Regional Economic Alliance that have super-charged economic development in Story and Boone counties can work in Hamilton County and Webster City.

Since he joined the Ames Chamber of Commerce in 2006, the city has seen dynamic growth, which Culhane explains isn’t magic or luck, but using practical tools that get results.

Two major projects — upgrading of the Ames airport and the Prairie View Industrial Park — have been finished. More than 75 companies have expanded in, or relocated to, Ames, creating thousands of new jobs. This, added to the economic juggernaut that is Iowa State University, has produced a growing diversified economy at the center of a region extending east, west and north of Ames itself.

Economic regionalism in Ames began in earnest in 2012 when Huxley joined the Ames Chamber. A year later, Story County did the same. In 2018, the Nevada Economic Development Council, an established organization with a history of success on its own, signed an agreement for the Ames Chamber to manage its economic development activity.

Seven years later, Nevada is growing rapidly. It’s just completed a new larger wastewater treatment plant on its south side and is building housing in two new subdivisions. The former Story Medical Clinic is being repurposed into 60 rental apartments.

In 2019, the City of Story City joined, and in 2022 the Boone City Economic Growth Corporation placed all economic development work under the Ames Chamber banner.

Just this summer, Greene County Development Corporation, in Jefferson, county seat of Greene County, joined the Alliance, extending its territory further westward.

In early 2024, Hamilton County Supervisor Rick Young and then-Acting City Manager John Harrenstein began exploring how the county and city could get in on the by-now-apparent

economic growth happening in Story and Boone counties.

The answer wasn’t long in coming. In May 2024, both Hamilton County and Webster City joined the newly re-branded Ames Regional Economic Alliance.

In early 2025, the Hamilton County Growth Partnership was launched with plans to bring the methods of economic development that have worked in Boone and Story counties to Hamilton County.

Culhane credited his staff of 17 at Alliance headquarters in downtown Ames as the organization’s “secret sauce.” Three of those staff members — Eric Smidt, vice president, Marketing & Communications; Elizabeth Berg, coordinator, Economic Development; and Ottie Maxey, director, Economic Development — were present at breakfast. Other staff specialize in business development, investor relations and marketing support.

No single member could maintain a staff with this level of depth and professionalism, but together it becomes feasible. Culhane cited the Alliance’s success in bringing Daisy Brand dairy foods to Iowa. The firm is building a $636 million factory in Boone that will bring in 255 new jobs. With one economic development professional, which it had before joining the Alliance, Boone’s odds of landing the new factory were slim. The Alliance prioritized the project; at one time 12 of its staff worked on it.

And, Culhane pointed out, “this is a true partnership. We have nothing to compare with the 600-acre industrial park Webster City has put together. When fully certified (sometime yet this month) it will become a unique asset for economic development.”

The meeting concluded with Berg introducing the new Hamilton County Growth Partnership website. Found at hamiltoncountygrowthpartnership.com, it’s straightforward and easy to use. Each of Hamilton County’s nine cities and towns is highlighted in the “communities” tab. Under another heading, there’s a directory of the Partnership’s members, known as “investors.” Memberships are open for any business, nonprofit or government. For more information phone Ottie Maxey at 515-232-2310.

John Harrenstein, left, Webster City’s city manager, discusses economic growth with Kirk McCollough at the Business & Industry breakfast last week.