Another private-public partnership adds jobs

By Quad-City Times

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Those who repeatedly insist government has no role in job creation would probably turn down the $3 million in Iowa taxpayer incentives provided recently to Alcoa Davenport Works.

We're not among them.

Those incentives and a long track record of state and community support helped convince Alcoa to commit $300 million to expand plant production to include automaker aluminum, a nice addition to the aircraft aluminum that is the mainstay of the plant.

The expansion allows Alcoa - not the government - to create 150 new jobs and help secure 200 existing jobs.

Add in another 150 temporary construction jobs and you can see how a strong business-government collaboration strengthens our community's employment base.

Alcoa communications director Kevin Lowery bragged about that collaboration.

“Obviously, we've got a great work force in Davenport. It's a fabulous facility. It's a pillar for our aerospace business. There's not a plane flying in the world that doesn't have metal coming out of that plant.”

Alcoa CEO and board chairman Klaus Kleinfeld heralded the partnership when he visited the plant with President Barack Obama June 28. “Work force comes first. We can't make anything without these guys.”

Partnerships with government-run community colleges and Alcoa's unions helped develop that impressive work force.

Gov. Terry Branstad must agree. His Department of Economic Development, under director Debi Dunham, authorized the state incentives that helped secure the expansion.

And that's not all. Government works with Alcoa to stabilize groundwater contamination linked to manufacturing at the site, preventing it from reaching public water supplies. That collaboration helps keep Alcoa a growing plant, not an abandoned industrial heap.

Alcoa's continued growth in the Quad-Cities fosters many more community collaborations, including its commitment to Living Lands & Waters, a homegrown initiative making a national impact.

Our thanks to Alcoa, our self-proclaimed “quiet neighbor,” and a Republican governor who understands that smart partnerships, not divisive rhetoric, fuel economic growth.

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