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 8

August 2015

YRC FReight: ANy Need, ANy speed, guArANteed

the ARt o f t h e c i t y

“Animato” is a collection of strokes or marks that one might see while reading handwritten sheet music. the shapes have been extruded into three-dimensional forms and composed to emulate specific musical terms. the word “animato” is a musical term, which means to play in a lively and animated way. the sculpture by duke oursler, “Animato”, is in l.A. Ward park and visible from Northwest urbandale drive (pictured left).

“lively” describes the corridor in which the sculpture is located. the 100th street-Northwest urbandale drive Corridor between Hickman road and Interstate 35/80 has seen an impressive number of private and public investments in the last few years. there is a large concentration of home improvement service and retail establishments in this corridor — many that have recently invested in new locations or announced expansions. the home improvement corridor will also benefit from the douglas Avenue urbanization project underway now.

Home Improvement Corridor Marked by Recent Investments

gregg sigmund, director of Customer service for yrC Freight

remember when Harry potter mania swept the nation? After a new title was released, time-sensitive delivery demanded that thousands of books arrive at stores across America on the exact same day — not one day early or one day late. that’s why the publisher turned to yrC Freight.

“We understand time-critical, expedited shipping,” said gregg sigmund, director of customer service for yrC Freight in urbandale. “We deliver on our promise of any need, any speed, guaranteed.”

best-selling books aren’t the only shipments handled by yrC Freight, whose urbandale facility is located on 114th street in the Aurora business park. the company is woven into the daily life of communities big and small in North America

and beyond. there’s a good chance many of the millions of items available at the local big-box discount store, for example, were delivered by yrC Freight, which is known for cost-effective options like less-than-truckload (ltl) services.

In 2014, yrC Freight was named Walmart’s ltl Carrier of the year. It’s a big honor for yrC Freight, which was created in 2008 from the consolidation of yellow transportation and roadway express, two of the nation’s ltl carriers.

“every day we interact daily with 25,000 to 30,000 customers, so we have a lot of opportunities to be successful,” sigmund said. “We are relentless in doing what it takes to meet our customers’ expectations.”

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The City of Urbandale recently completed major updates to its municipal code and city website. Community Development Director Steve Franklin and Assistant to the City Manager John Konior give details about the impact of these changes on business.

In June, the City Council passed an updated municipal code. What’s new that affects development?

Steve: The primary change was updating several sections of the code to match current practice. For example, the previous Subdivision Code was heavy on procedure and timelines. The new code is more about communicating design standards and information that has been required by the City for years, so that it now matches developers’ expectations of how we conduct business.

What principles guided development of the new code?

Steve: The direction of the City Council was to remain competitive with other cities in the area and protect investments through development standards. Those standards are designed to allow flexibility within the code while maintaining high-quality development.

In July, the city unveiled a new city website. What new features stand out?

John: The predominant feature of the website is its responsive design. As people transition from desktop to tablet to mobile, the website will work seamlessly and efficiently. Information is much easier and more intuitive to find. The new site links to City social media accounts so when information is added to the website, it’s automatically pushed to social media.

How does the new website support development?

John: Business growth and development is spotlighted in several places on the new website. There is now a “Grow Your Business” tab, which has all of the resources businesses need for a project in one spot. Also, each department is listed separately with easy-to-find tabs for development-related resources.

How can the new website engage the business community?

John: The new website allows you to customize your experience by creating a free account. This way, you can track pages you’re interested in and the City can communicate with you if you request information. The “Notify Me” tool allows residents and businesses to sign up for notifications of changes made to certain pages of the website.

Q&A: CITY CoDe UpDATe AND RevAMpeD WeBSITe

YRC Freight employs 300 people in Urbandale.

Steve FranklIn CommunIty Development DIreCtor

JoHn konIor aSSIStant to tHe CIty manager

AUTOMATION / ELECTRICAL / LIGHTING /DATACOMM / UTILITY / ENERGY

gettIng tHe Job Done For ClIentS large anD Small

YRC Freight serves a wide range of customers across North America and beyond, from major corporations to small businesses. The company delivers flexibility, responsiveness and reliability to each client’s supply chain, with seamless service throughout Canada, Mexico and the United States, including YRC Freight’s Domestic ocean service to Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, the U.S. virgin Islands and puerto Rico.

YRC Freight’s skilled team members, including 300 people who are based at the call center in Urbandale,

help ensure expedited, guaranteed deliveries by ground or air with YRC Freight Time-Critical service. “our customers have high expectations,” Sigmund said. “We get the job done for them, even when it’s not easy.”

Urbandale has offered an excellent location to help YRC Freight thrive, from easy access to talented employees with a solid work ethic to support from Urbandale’s Chamber of Commerce. This support is helping YRC Freight develop closer ties with Des Moines Area Community College and provide additional training for team members. “All this is helping us grow for the future in Urbandale,” Sigmund said.

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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.

August 25 AM exchange | 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. | peterson Financial group (1011 office park Rd., ste. 4, WDm) | cost: Free. RsVps requested

August 28 senior services Industry Roundtable | 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. | urbandale chamber (2830 100th st., ste. 110, urbandale) | cost: Free members, $25 general admission.

septembeR 11 Wild West Golf Outing | beaver creek | Joint golf outing between the urbandale, clive, WDm chambers | cost $90 per person | Register through www.wdmchamber.org.

septembeR 3 High 5 | 4-6 p.m. | maxlife chiropractic (8671 northpark Dr., Johnston) | cost: Free. RsVps requested

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Services not available in all areas

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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

Good things are happening all around us in urbandale and the Greater Des moines area. as a chamber professional, i work with business owners daily who tell me their stories, their dreams, their visions. these owners are making their dreams possible. they are opening their dream business, expanding their product line or even expanding into an additional location. it takes work, but they are working their dreams. at the urbandale chamber we publish our member news online, push it out through social media, and in our monthly newsletter. members are encouraged to post their news when they log into the member information center and we will do the rest. Keep dreaming Des moines! Good things are happening here.

t H e bIG p i c t u r e TOP LEFT: tim triplett explains more about triplett

office essentials at the July am exchange event.

tOP MIDDLE: lucus scott, blair rosenberg, natalie finley, and amy eaton connecting at the July am exchange

tOP RIGHT: Joe Desmond speaks with mark Dieleman at the urbandale business expo event. LEFT: urbandale chamber freeze frame of the board of Directors and staff.

AUTOMATION / ELECTRICAL / LIGHTING /DATACOMM / UTILITY / ENERGY

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