Business View Magazine | December 2019

351 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2019 WAUKEE , IOWA residents, but we’re starting to see quite a bit of growth in that side of commercial development as well, with several new restaurants, various new medical facilities, grocery stores, and basic needs stores. The Waukee school district is in the process of building a second high school that will open in the fall of 2021. As part of a partnership we have with the school district, the city has acquired property adjacent to that new high school for the development of a fairly significant park, plus sports facilities including 12 baseball and softball fields as well as an America League field, an inclusive playground, and handicapped-accessible fishing on an, approximately, 13-acre pond. The school district is also building its tenth elementary school.” Dutcher adds, “The school district is the major employer. Holmes Murphy Insurance is also a major employer with a 93,000-square-foot office building and around 350 employees. Hy-vee grocery is another very large employer here, the dominant grocery store in this area. an office park with an additional 9,540-square- foot gathering space for small and large events of up to 500 people. Funding for the project has been headed by local investment firm, Pan and Piper, which has helped The Quarter become a reality. Recently, Business View Magazine spoke with Waukee’s Community & Economic Development Director, Dan Dutcher, Development Services Director, Brad Deets, and Marketing & Communications Director, Summer Evans, about what’s happening now in Waukee and future plans for the city. Deets observes, “We have been experiencing pretty expansive growth, both commercially and residentially. We issued close to 1,200 building permits last year, including about 250 single-family homes and a significant amount of townhouses and multi-family, as well. As a bedroom community, what we really lacked over the years is mainly goods and services for our Development Services Director, Brad Deets Storywalk