Business and Community Services Stories & News

Vermeer Group Photo

Advance Iowa helps family-owned businesses thrive

It’s taken years for the Vermeer family to find their secret sauce. As owners of one the most well-known family businesses in Iowa — Vermeer Corp. in Pella — the Vermeer family has seen three generations come through the business. Jason Andringa, the grandson of Gary Vermeer, who founded the business in 1948, is president and CEO.

Military Vehicle

IWRC painter training program reflects on 25 years

The UNI Iowa Waste Reduction Center’s (IWRC) painter training program has evolved to serve needs.

In 1994, the IWRC launched a research project looking at two local Cedar Valley body and collision shops. They were similar in size, but one was producing twice as much waste as the other. The IWRC staff quickly found the excess waste was coming from inefficient paint application by the in-house staff.