It was another amazing day in Jefferson Wednesday as the community was given another big boost forward toward becoming a genuine information technology (IT) hub –with a development project that is already being watched and envied by small communities across the nation.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg and state and national business leaders were on hand in the rotunda of the Greene County Courthouse for the announcement of some major new partnerships for this Jefferson project.
The big boost is being led by visionaries Linc Kroeger, now of West Des Moines, an executive at Accenture, the multinational corporation that a year ago purchased Pillar Technology, and Jefferson native and resident Chris Deal, an engineer and entrepreneur.
Their project, The Forge, will develop commercial computer software for major companies across the nation and perhaps beyond, working from facilities under construction now in a former Odd Fellows Lodge near the northeast corner of the courthouse square in Jefferson.
On Wednesday it was announced that Corteva Agriscience, the newly independent company spun off from the former DuPont Pioneer, is investing $187,500 in full-ride scholarships for 25 students in the computer training programs at Des Moines Area Community College.
After their classwork at DMACC is completed, those students will then also receive a four-month software development training internship at The Forge in Jefferson, and Corteva hopes that will lead to software innovations that can especially benefit agriculture.
In addition, the Silicon Valley non-profit museum and learning center, The Tech Interactive, announced that it is contributing new training programs for Greene County Community Schools faculty, in coming days and through the next school year, too.
Kroeger and Deal also led a tour through $1.8 million in construction happening at The Forge, which he said will have its grand opening in September. The first employee at The Forge will begin working there in late June, and he is currently buying a home in neighboring Grand Junction.
Kroeger said The Forge could eventually have up to 30 employees, many earning in the $75,000 per year range. “Behold, Jefferson!” said Tim Ritchie, president of The Tech Interactive, when he addressed the crowd that filled the courthouse rotunda. “Your time has come. The world’s needs are your opportunities. Seize them!”
A few minutes later, when Tim Christensen, superintendent of the Greene County Community Schools, came to the microphone to thank the companies for all the investment in computer classes, programs and training here, he led off by saying, “To be honest, sometimes I have to pinch myself.”
Deal and Kroeger have worked for nearly three years on a project to open the commercial software development company in the former Odd Fellows Lodge. With The Forge comes a $1.8 million total overhaul to the old lodge.
Kroeger has developed Forges in a half-dozen major cities across the U.S. for the former parent company, Pillar Technology. He’s a native of Independence, Iowa, and at one point in conversation with Jefferson’s Deal, Kroeger said he eventually wanted to build a Forge “in a small town.”
Deal’s response was immediate: “How about Jefferson?”
