Riverside Paper Honored with Iowa Venture Award
Riverside Paper Corporation was honored with the Iowa Venture Award in Des Moines. The Iowa Area Development Group (IADG) on behalf of Access Energy Cooperative and Iowa’s electric cooperatives and member municipal systems honored ten distinguished Iowa companies with the Iowa Venture Award. This is the 17th year that IADG has recognized and celebrated Iowa’s business leaders and entrepreneurs. Since 1988 IADG has recognized over 130 successful Iowa companies with the Iowa Venture Award.
Riverside Paper, headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin recently opened a paper converting facility in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Riverside Paper is the leading converter and manufacturer of paper products sold to schools, offices, and consumer markets. The 240,000 sq.ft. facility in Mount Pleasant converts construction paper into pad and tablets for schools and office use. A $16.5 million investment was completed at the Mount Pleasant facility that now employs 165 people. Riverside Paper was nominated for the Iowa Venture Award by Access Energy.
“The Iowa Venture Award has a proud history and it has become recognized as one of the state’s premier business recognition programs. Iowa Area Development Group and our member electric cooperatives and municipal electric systems are grateful to have the opportunity to honor and recognize Iowa’s outstanding companies,” said IADG President, Rand M. Fisher. Established in 1985, the Iowa Area Development Group will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2005. “Each year as we honor business leaders and entrepreneurs with the Iowa Venture Award we also thank these accomplished companies for their commitment to Iowa through capital investment and job creation,” added Fisher. Since 1985 the Powerful Partnerships and economic development efforts of IADG have helped generate over $3.2 billion dollars of capital investment and over 30,000 jobs for Iowa.
Iowa Venture Awards were also presented to nine other businesses for their significant contributions in diversifying and developing Iowa’s economy. The 2004 Venture Award
winners include: Big River Resources, West Burlington; CCB Packaging, Hiawatha; Center Fresh Egg Farm, Sioux Center; Cookies Food Products, Wall Lake; Hall Industries, Sheffield; Metal Works / M.W.I. Components, Spencer; Nutriant, Fredericksburg; Shine Bros., Spencer; and Vantec, Webster City. USDA State Director, Dr. Daniel Brown assisted in presenting the Iowa Venture Awards.
IADG is the marketing and economic development department for Iowa’s rural electric cooperatives, including Access Energy Cooperative. The 2004 Iowa Venture Awards ceremony was held at the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives’ annual meeting in Des Moines.