In early September 2004, a one-day special session of the state legislature settled a political and constitutional feud that had erupted over the Grow Iowa Values Fund. Created in 2003, the half-billion dollar fund for infrastructure and job development was struck down in June 2004 by the Iowa Supreme Court after Vilsack, a Democrat, attempted to line veto unwanted provisions attached to the bill by the GOP-controlled legislature. The compromise legislation allocates $100 million to the Values Fund and for rural work force centers that had been threatened with closure. For their part, Republicans won an accelerated tax deduction on business equipment and tightened provisions for second-time disability claimants.
      Iowa leaders are breathing easier now that the $56 million the state had pledged in support of 36 projects (including a $1-million promise to GCommerce) has been restored. Longer-term question marks persist, however. "I believe the success of this program merits a lasting commitment," says Vilsack, who will make permanent funding for the Values Fund a top priority when the legislature returns to Des Moines in early January 2005.
      Another priority for Vilsack, now halfway through his second term, is continued support for Vision Iowa, a $250-million drive to enhance Iowa's quality of life by helping communities construct recreational facilities, libra-ries, museums and other amenities.
      GCommerce's Smith says Iowa's excellent schools, safe streets and pleasant pace were all factors in his choice of Des Moines over competing destinations in Las Vegas, Chicago and New Jersey. "We're trying to cater to family-oriented workers, and this is an exceptionally good place to raise a family," he explains. Having personally witnessed the terrorist destruction of the World Trade Center as well as last year's Northeastern blackout, Smith welcomes Iowa's relative safety and predictability. Not every GCommerce employee agreed. "Some have moved here with us. Some haven't," he shrugs.
      On some business measures, Iowa suffers from an unflattering misperception. "The state doesn't always match up well in cosmetic comparisons," says Dan Otto, a professor of economics at Iowa State University (ISU). Workers' compensation rates appear high in the aggregate because of experiences in a small handful of industries, according to Otto. "The effective rate most companies pay is not as onerous." Though property tax rates are lofty, when looked at holistically the state's tax burden is about average. And three consecutive years of state budget deficits were plugged through spending cuts, not income tax hikes, Otto notes.
      Leading Iowa into the 21st Century has been growth in banking and insurance jobs. Iowa's status as a financial hub has been solidified by recent expansions such as Des Moines-based American Republic Insurance Company's new direct marketing center in Council Bluffs, where it will employ 130. The company chose 19,000 sq. ft. (1,765 sq. m.) of existing space at Omni Centre in downtown Council Bluffs. In June, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and Consumer Credit Group broke ground in West Des Moines on a two-building campus that will house 2,000 new additions to its already significant Iowa work force. The 900,000-sq.-ft. (83,610-sq.-m.) project, erected on a 176-acre (71.23-hectare) footprint, isn't Wells Fargo's only project in Greater Des Moines. A 360,000-sq.-ft. (33,444-sq.-m.) expansion of Wells Fargo Financial's headquarters is now being designed on property adjacent to its existing downtown Des Moines presence, a site that underwent a $90-million expansion just two years ago.
      Manufacturing and distribution operations, long an Iowa mainstay, are also showing renewed signs of life. Plumbing supply legend Ferguson Enterprises recently unveiled plans for a $21-million distribution center in Waterloo, a move that brings 180 jobs.