Senate Journal: Page 35: Tuesday, January 11, 2000

  begun in their living room.  He and Dave created a high-tech shock absorber
  for
  wheelchairs, shaped like a frog's leg, hence the company name.  Dave
  Kaufman, a
  native Iowan living in Las Vegas, moved back to become the director of
  marketing.

  Now in their third year of business in Vinton, Iowa, Frog Legs sells
  worldwide and
  has ten employees.

  Quality air, water, and open spaces were Iowa's promise to Dave, Mark, and
  Dave.
  Welcome home to Iowa.
  It can be difficult to know when you are standing at the beginning of a
  scientific
  revolution.  When John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry put together the world's
  first
  digital computer in Ames in 1939, it was doubtful that they knew.  Likewise,
  the
  scientists and businesspeople around this state who are entering a golden
  age of
  discovery in agricultural research, probably can't realize the future
  ramifications of
  their work.  But as I travel to the biocatasis laboratory in Iowa City, and
  hear the
  plans for the new plant sciences center at Iowa State University, and see
  the new,
  leading-edge companies that use plants and animals for products ranging from
  fuels,
  fibers, to pharmacy products,  I can sense that Iowa is uniquely poised to
  become the
  epicenter of a new world food economy.

  Are we as a state going to rise to the challenge and become the food capital
  of the
  world?  It makes sense for us to do so.  We have the infrastructure, the
  knowledge and
  the history of agricultural innovation.

  Let us continue our quest to be the world's food capital for leadership and
  greatness
  in this scientific revolution by increasing funding for the plant science
  center at Iowa
  State University, and by improving the biology program at the University of
  Iowa and
  the biology instruction program at the University of Northern Iowa.

  Working with John Pappajohn and our Department of Economic Development, we
  have identified the nation's best practices for venture capital.  We present
  that to you
  as well. Let us, working together, create a climate where entrepreneurs can
  grow their
  dreams as easily as we grow our corn and beans.

  In doing so, let us create the opportunity to convert the 60% of the raw
  commodities
  grown in our state to value-added products, such as ethanol.  Let us,
  working together,
  figure a way to become the nation's leader in ethanol.

  Value-added agriculture, changing commodities to ingredients, is the key to
  keeping profits and people in Iowa.

  For Iowa to become a national leader in the new economy, rural Iowa must
  grow;
  and for rural Iowa to grow, it needs high-speed Internet access.  Today, I
  call upon all
  of Iowa's private telecommunications companies to meet with me, the Lt.
  Governor,
  and the state's technology and communications officials to develop a
  strategic plan to
  make that happen as quickly as possible.

  Last year, the Lt. Governor convened a group of talented Iowans and
  challenged
  them to provide solutions to skilled work force shortages.  I appreciate her
  efforts and
  the efforts of the 21st Century Workforce Council.  Our budget reflects
  their work.  The
  council confirmed that Iowa's skilled work force shortages derive from our
  stagnant

© 2000 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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