Joe Carter had some encouraging words about growth during his remarks to the Marshalltown Rotary club. The product catalog for the Marshalltown Company has grown from 16 pages to 340 pages in the last few decades.

In addition to this organic growth, the company wrapped up three acquisitions during the year. Carter has been President of Marshalltown since 1998 and said both the company and the Marshalltown community are dear to his heart.

He touched on his Crosby Park project that has helped a very real housing issue, stressing that Marshalltown needs more starter homes and high-end units. He requires his executives to live in Marshalltown and is ashamed that he was not able to bring some of this talent to town for lack of adequate supply.

Just as Terry Buzbee noted last week, growth is critical for a company to be bigger and stronger and that such growth must be accompanied by a growing community and housing opportunities. Marshalltown is the 17th largest city in Iowa, and only two of seven in a group with a population between 24,000 – 27,000 that has seen growth in the last 30 years.

“It’s not nearly enough, and now is the time,” Carter said.

He emphasized that there are a lot of good things going on in the community, both pre and post-tornado, that we can be proud of. He applauded groups such as the Chamber and Vision Marshalltown that are promoting growth in a unified and positive manner.

The club recognized Kathy Baker for her years of service as club secretary. President Jim Goodman noted the position is “the glue that holds the organization together.” Baker is confident that the club will be in good hands with Kim Jass-Ramirez taking over.

Rotary: people of action.