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| More About Ottumwa and Wapello County |
Wapello County was established in 1843 by land rush along the banks of the Des Moines River. The initial population of 5,000 people built cabins with native trees, cleared the land to plant crops and made use of the abundant grass prairies for their livestock. Farming is still very much a way of life.
Today, Ottumwa is a city of 24,998 people in a county of 35,842 serving a regional population of 140,000 located in a state with 2,954,451 citizens. It is located in the southeastern portion of Iowa approximately 60 miles south of Interstate 80 and 90 miles southeast of Des Moines, the state capital. Air service is a short 90 minutes via four-lane divided highway from Ottumwa to Des Moines. Major airlines providing service include American, United, Northwest, America West Express, Midwest Connect, Allegiant Air, Continental Express, and Comair. Non-stop service is provided to: Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Orlando, Phoenix, St. Louis and Washington, D.C.
Ottumwa’s labor force is considered to be industrious and creative. Many are under-employed and anxious for an opportunity to improve themselves and work in a more challenging field. Ottumwans are also extremely well connected to the Internet with high speed broadband service through multiple independent service providers.
Both the city and county are fortunate to be able to embrace and nurture several economic engines: Ottumwa is best known for the quality and quantity of agricultural products which principally include growing corn and soybeans and raising feeder hogs. Since the beginnings of the John Morrell Meat Packing Company in the 1850’s, Ottumwa continues to both produce agricultural products and add value by processing those products to primary and secondary foods.
The processing of America’s foods continues today with the Cargill Meat Solutions Excel plant which processes four million hogs a year with 2,500 employees. The corn from Ottumwa and the surrounding 10-county region is processed into corn sweetener by Cargill’s Eddyville plant where enough corn sweetener is produced for 61 billion cans of soft drinks.
Since 1910, John Deere has been making quality farm equipment in Ottumwa, where today 950 employees produce haying equipment painted in the familiar John Deere green and yellow. Another metal fabricator, Al-Jon Company, manufactures metal recycling equipment and Winbco produces food grade tanks.
Further diversification of Ottumwa’s economy includes Indian Hills Community College, where the education of Ottumwa’s current and future labor force occurs with over 1,000 graduates each year.The Ottumwa Regional Health Center’s 950 employees keeps our labor force healthy and productive. The Ottumwa Community Schools provide 4,700 students with a quality education.
Quality of life is in the eyes of the beholder, and Ottumwans agree that the city’s warm, friendly environment and low crime rate make it a haven for raising families, educating children and reaching new goals in our work.
The goal of the Ottumwa Economic Development Corporation (OEDC) is to strengthen Ottumwa’s economic engines and further diversify our economy. If you would like to learn more about Ottumwa, its economy, opportunities and businesses, please feel free to make contact with OEDC and the other organizations listed on the back of this publication.
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