Raufeisen Development announces the funding of a feasibility study regarding the development of a Regional Sports Facility to be located at Spencer Creek, a 117 acre mixed use development located at the Northeast corner of Middle Road and Interstate 80, Bettendorf, Iowa.

The proposed 384,000 square foot facility consists of 7 modules that can be built in phases. Included is an Olympic size pool with a diving well that will also be used as an indoor water board training facility and two completes sheets of ice used for hockey. The center module main arena will be used for tournament finals in basketball, wrestling, volleyball, gymnastics, cheerleading and dance contests. Its seating capacity is 4500 for spectators. The other three modules will be flexible in uses, which include the activities listed above as well as track & field, tennis, badminton and more.

Sports Facility Advisors, a national leader in the analysis and management of sports facilities and athletic tournaments has been contracted to analyze the financial feasibility, analyze economic impact and phasing of the project. Their recommendation will come within 90 days.

Steve Van Dyke, Director, Economic Development, City of Bettendorf, IA says: "We are so proud to be working in partnership with Raufeisen Development concerning  Spencer Creek Technology Park, especially as it relates to the potential for an Indoor Sports Complex.  Creating an environment here in the Quad Cities that encourages a healthy lifestyle along with a well educated, hard working, diverse population base is our top priority."

Raufeisen Development has been working closely with the Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau to identify facility needs in the Quad Cities that would attract regional sporting tournaments and events. These events can bring 3500 to 6000+ athletes to the Quad Cities per event with an anticipated 26 events minimum annually. The financial impact to the region could be tens of millions of dollars because of hotel rooms, restaurants, shopping and tourist attractions.

Joe Taylor of The Quad Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau said, "Sports remains a growing segment of the tourist industry.   The Regional Sports Complex will bring many new opportunities to the Quad Cities and the timing is right.  Many communities are seeing a value of sports tourism and investing in sports complexes to an ever growing degree."

Todd Raufeisen says "this facility could be used by local school districts, community and private colleges. Local school districts and local colleges need new facilities but financial pressures make it cost prohibitive. A sports facility of this nature could provide top notch athletic training resources at a fraction of the cost."

Raufeisen states that regional sports tournaments are big business and economic engines. Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Rockford, Illinois are two communities that have announced the same type of feasibility studies. Raufeisen feels that the Quad Cities needs to "get in the game". This location is centralized and strategically located on interstate 80. It has the ability to draw from Chicago to Minneapolis to Omaha to St. Louis.

At this stage, a project of this size, scope and cost is big dream; however, if you look at the potential economic impact to the region it could be just what the Quad Cities needs. If we don't try, we could be traveling to Cedar Rapids or Rockford with our kids and spending our dollars to spur their growth and economy - Let's keep it in the Quad Cities!

Message: Tell the EPA to Put Family Farmers and Rural Economies Ahead of Big Oil Profits

www.SavetheRFS.com Launched

Watch 'Simple Choice': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKRRGDM6a3Q&feature=youtu.be

Washington DC - On the same day the EPA is holds its public hearing on the proposed rule 2014 Standards for the Renewable Fuel Standard Program, Americans United for Change announced it is soon hitting the airwaves in Iowa in defense of the RFS. "Simple Choice" will air primarily in the Des Moines media market in the heart of the country where real people and their lives and livelihoods are at stake, while big oil advertises to elites in the DC market.  The ad urges the millions of Americans who benefit from the RFS - from family farmers, ethanol industry workers, secondary industries, surrounding economies, to American consumers paying less at the pump - to tell the EPA to do what's best for rural America, not Big Oil's bottom line.

Viewers are encouraged to visit www.SavetheRFS.com operated by Americans United ally VoteVets.org, the 360,000+ supporter veterans group, and sign up to be part of a team of real Americans who will communicate the importance of renewable fuels and the RFS to our nation's leaders, including those who aspire to lead the country in the future. 

Brad Woodhouse, President, Americans United for Change: "The industry that brought us the Gulf oil spill loves the new RFS rule as it stands and would love nothing more than to keep rural America quiet until the ink is dry.   That's why it's incredibly important that Americans in the heartland make their voices heard, because the strength in numbers of those who benefit from the RFS can beat Big Oil's deep pockets.  If this misguided EPA rule is made permanent, the ripple effect cannot be overstated.  As the family farmer and ethanol industry goes, so goes the positive economic growth we've seen in rural America since the RFS was established, so goes the hundreds of thousands of American jobs the industry has created, so goes the availability of fuel 70 cents cheaper wholesale than gasoline, so goes the billion dollars American consumers save every week, so goes the gains made in combating climate change and reducing dependence on oil from unstable regions overseas.   Big Oil knows that if they're successful at eliminating their cheaper, cleaner, better performing competition, then anything goes when it comes to prices at the pump.  The oil industry doesn't care what it takes to rake in more profits, even if it means sending more of our troops, and money and jobs overseas.  This is a whole new standard in greed: an industry that can reap $23 billion in profit in one day while shamelessly collecting tens of billions of dollars in tax payer subsidies, and still want more."

PREVIOUS RELEASES SINCE LAUNCHING OUR PRO-RFS CAMPAIGN WITH VOTEVETS :

11.22.13 Big Oil Reaps $23 Billion Windfall - In One Day

11.19.13 VoteVets.org, AUFC Join Forces Against Big Oil's Scheme to Repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard

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Don't Believe Big Oil's Lies About Renewable Fuels: They'll Say Anything to Eliminate the Cheaper, Cleaner Competition

FACT: Ethanol Creates Hundreds of Thousands More Jobs and Means Less Pinch at the Pump

• According to research conducted by economics professors at the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State University: In 2011, ethanol reduced wholesale gasoline prices by an average of $1.09 per gallon. Regular grade gasoline prices averaged $3.52 per gallon in 2011, but would have been closer to $4.60 per gallon without the inclusion of more than 13 billion gallons of lower-priced ethanol.  Since 2000, ethanol has kept gasoline prices an average of $0.29 per gallon cheaper than they otherwise would have been.  Based on the $0.29-per-gallon average annual savings, ethanol has helped save American drivers and the economy more than $477 billion in gasoline expenditures since 2000 - an average of $39.8 billion a year.
• Growth Energy: "The U.S. Department of Energy estimates for every one billion gallons of ethanol produced, 10,000 to 20,000 jobs are added to our domestic economy.  According to the most recent available data by the DOE, ethanol saves American consumers more than $35 billion per year at the pump.  In 2011 alone, the ethanol industry created and supported more than 400,000 new jobs across the country that cannot be exported or outsourced. In addition, ethanol production contributed $42.4 billion to the nation's GDP and generated $4.3 billion in federal tax revenues. Ethanol production also plays a critical role in revitalizing America's rural areas ? some of the hardest hit by the economic downturn ? by stimulating economic growth."

FACT: Ethanol Has Almost No Impact on Food Prices

• RFA: "A recent study commissioned by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) examined the impacts of ethanol policies, including the RFS and now-defunct blender's tax credit, on world crop prices in the 2005-2010 timeframe. Using a partial equilibrium economic model, the study found corn prices in 2009/10 wouldn't have been any different at all with or without the RFS in place. Corn prices would have been just 3.3% lower, on average, in the entire five-year study period without the RFS and ethanol blender's tax credit, the study found. The effect of the RFS and other ethanol-related policies on other crops is even less...The Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute (FAPRI), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Michigan State University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are among the many other organizations that have similarly concluded the RFS has had only modest impacts on crop prices and no meaningful impact on retail-level food prices."

FACT: Ethanol Benefits, Not Hurts the Environment

• RFA: Using ethanol in place of gasoline helps to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by up 30-50% given today's technology. Because ethanol is made from renewable, plant-based feedstocks, the CO2 released during a vehicle's fuel combustion is "recycled" during the growth of ethanol feedstocks. Independent analyses comparing ethanol and gasoline show ethanol reduces GHG emissions from 30-50%. A study published by Yale University's Journal of Industrial Ecology found that GHG emissions from ethanol produced at modern dry-mill facilities are "... equivalent to a 48 percent to 59 percent reduction compared to gasoline, a twofold to threefold greater reduction than reported in previous studies."  New technologies, additional feedstocks, and higher blends of ethanol including E85 all promise greater C02 reductions.
• RFA:  In 2012, the 13.2 billion gallons of ethanol produced reduced greenhouse gas emissions from on-road vehicles by 33.4 million tons.  That's equivalent to removing 5.2 million cars and pickups (comparable to the number of registered vehicles in the state of Michigan) from the road for one year.

FACT:  Ethanol Does NOT Harm Your Gas Tank; Would NASCAR Have Driven 5 Million Miles on It if It Did?

• U.S. Energy Department: The Energy Department conducted its own rigorous, thorough and peer-reviewed study of the impact of E15 fuel on current, conventional vehicle catalyst systems. The Energy Department study included an inspection of critical engine components, such as valves, and did not uncover unusual wear that would be expected to impact performance. Rather than using an aggressive test cycle intended to severely-stress valves, the Energy Department program was run using a cycle more closely resembling normal driving. The Energy Department testing program was run on standard gasoline, E10, E15, and E20. The Energy Department test program was comprised of 86 vehicles operated up to 120,000 miles each using an industry-standard EPA-defined test cycle (called the Standard Road Cycle). The resulting Energy Department data showed no statistically significant loss of vehicle performance (emissions, fuel economy, and maintenance issues) attributable to the use of E15 fuel compared to straight gasoline.
• NASCAR: NASCAR announced November 12, 2013 that it surpassed more than five million competition miles across its three national series on Sunoco Green E15, a biofuel blended with 15 percent American Ethanol made from American-grown corn. The five million miles have been accumulated across practice, qualifying and racing laps dating to 2011 when the biofuel was introduced to the sport. ... In 2011 NASCAR entered into a groundbreaking partnership with Sunoco and the American Ethanol industry, launching its long-term biofuels program to reduce emissions of the fuel used across its three national series. The transition to the biofuel reduced on-track carbon emissions and teams report an increase in horsepower.

DES MOINES, IA (12/05/2013)(readMedia)-- During the holiday season gift cards are popular presents. State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald reminds Iowa consumers to shop smart when it comes to gift cards. "According to the National Retail Federation, 8 in 10 shoppers will give a gift card this holiday season.* Nationally, shoppers will spend an average of $163 on gift cards, up 4% from last year," Fitzgerald said. "Each year, over a billion dollars in gift cards go unclaimed because cards are lost or forgotten.** Don't let that happen to your gift. These tips can help you protect the value of the gift you give this season."

Tips for Gift Card Purchasers:

• Ask about expiration dates and fees. If the disclosures are too confusing you may want to avoid purchasing the gift card.
• Buy gift cards from reputable retailers and where you know will be convenient for the recipient to use.
• Give the original receipt and disclosure information to the recipient in the event it is needed to replace a lost or stolen gift card.
• Encourage the recipient to use the gift card right away.

"I plan to give some gift cards this year, but will always warn them to use it right away," Fitzgerald said. Even if there is an expiration date on a gift card, retailers are required to honor all of the gift cards they sell for five years.

Consumers with questions or concerns regarding an expired gift card that a retailer will not honor are encouraged to contact the state treasurer's office. Please provide a copy of the gift card and a brief letter stating the circumstances. The information can be sent to the address below or emailed to upreport@iowa.gov.

Michael L. Fitzgerald

Treasurer of the State of Iowa

Unclaimed Property Reporting Desk

State Capitol, Des Moines, Iowa 50319

*http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=1694

** http://business.time.com/2012/01/09/billions-wasted-do-gift-cards-make-sense-when-so-many-go-unused/

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