|
| Affiliation | Democratic |
|
| <- |
2006-01-01 |
|
|
| Name | Mike Blouin |
| Address | 1848 Keyway Drive
Dubuque, Iowa , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | [Link] |
| Born |
November 07, 1945
(79 years)
|
| Contributor | eddy 9_99 |
| Last Modifed | ev
Jul 25, 2024 08:42am |
| Tags |
Catholic -
|
| Info | Mike Blouin's 40-year career can be accurately summarized in two words: Jobs and Education. In the Iowa Legislature and the U.S. Congress, teaching, and managing Tom Vilsack's Future Fund, Mike has devoted his career to ensuring the next generation of Iowans has the opportunity to raise their families in Iowa with good jobs in an economy that values intellectual capital as the preeminent asset of the new economy.
Mike understands and appreciates the often-brutal costs that Iowa families bear in the transition from an industrial economy to one reliant on education and a work force equipped for the emerging digital economy. The costly disruptions small towns have suffered as employment and opportunity have been increasingly centered in large urban areas have left many Iowans worried about their futures. Mike has devoted his career to ensuring that they are not left behind.
As a member of Congress he fought for and won Federal funding for Iowa community colleges and secondary schools where he and his wife Suzanne both taught. In the fight for health and retirement benefits for Labor, Mike had one of the highest levels of support in the US Congress. He helped fashion President Carter's Energy Department and was enlisted by Carter to manage implementation of the policy.
In Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Mike designed and managed the most successful jobs and business development programs in those cities' histories and then joined Governor Tom Vilsack to lead the Iowa Future Fund, which developed 20,000 good paying jobs across Iowa. Mike's leadership of the Future Fund and Governor Vilsack's economic policies have made Iowa the number one state in the natiion for personal income growth.
Mike Blouin recently left his post as director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) to focus on holding a conversation with Iowans about pursuing the Democratic Gubernatorial nomination. Governor Tom Vilsack and Lt. Governor Sally Pederson appointed Mike as director in January 2003. On October 25, Mike made it official, and kicked off his campaign for Iowa's governorship.
During Mike's two and one-half years with the department, IDED grew its prospect list from 51 businesses to over 450 companies looking to expand, relocate, or begin operations in Iowa. During that time, the Department assisted 369 projects around Iowa that will result in over $3 billion in capital expenditure. With over 30 years of public service and community development experience, Mike brought a strong understanding of Iowa’s economic needs and opportunities, and his appointment demonstrated the Vilsack administration’s commitment to economic development in the state of Iowa.
Prior to IDED, Mike served as President & CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. Under his leadership, the Greater Des Moines Partnership became the premier economic and community development organization serving Greater Des Moines, Iowa.
Mike came to Des Moines after 18 years in Cedar Rapids, where he worked first at Kirkwood Community College before going to work at the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce first as Senior Vice President of Economic Development and then as President. While at Kirkwood, Mike helped create some of the first job training programs in the state.
From 1975 to 1979, Mike served Iowa’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his time in Congress, he chaired the Education and Labor Committee’s Advisory Panel on Indian Education and authored the Consumer Homemaking Act, as well as amendments to Older American, Vocational Education Act of 1977, the Child Nutrition Act of 1977, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1978, and the Higher Education Student Assistance Act of 1978.
Mike was a member of the Iowa State Senate and the Iowa House of Representatives for Dubuque, Iowa, from 1969 to 1975. Mike was born on a Naval Air base in Jacksonville, Florida in 1945, and moved to the Midwest as a child. He graduated from Loras College in 1966 with a B.A. in Political Science and fell in love with Iowa, where he's lived ever since. He and his wife, Suzanne, have twin daughters.
[Link] |
 | BOOKS |
 |
|
| Title |
Purchase |
Contributor |
|
| Start Date |
End Date |
Type |
Title |
Contributor |
|
|
