David M. Huey

David M. Huey has more than 30 years of writing and construction experience. After graduating from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, with a B.A. in journalism, he worked for more than five years on various commercial and residential building sites. Following that experience, he earned his journalism M.A. at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He taught writing at Des Moines Area Community College and Vatterott College in the Des Moines Area. He has written about construction job sites from the Deep South to New South Wales in Australia. He was working as a freelance writer in Des Moines when he was named editor for Midwest Contractor magazine in May of 2007.

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Midwest Contractor

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Ethanol Plants Hungry for Corn

March 18, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

The boom in buildling ethanol plants is hitting a snag - farmers are relluctant to dedicate their crops to the facilities. This could slow down the construction of the plants - meaning that companies and workers who hoped that the atlernative fuel craze would offer them jobs and a paycheck. With the housing industry in the dumps, any surge in construction, especially for alternative fuels and energy, is a source of optimism. Iowa is getting into the wind farm business big time, along with other states, and ethanol production is seen as a salvation for farmers and companies that build the plants (though meat producers who buy corn for feed are not as happy about corn prices and subsities for farmers).
I'm going to be looking at other Midwest states to see if the trends are expanding. I would appreciate any feedback from contractors that are seeing profits in these new industries.
Industries: Building Construction

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Funding Midwest Roads and Bridges

February 18, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

What are good, safe roads and bridges worth?

The Iowa Legislature is looking at ways to maintain Iowa roads but everything someone comes up with is shot down by everyone else. An increase in gas taxes won't fly, increased registration fees would hurt the economy, and so on and so on. What's it like in your state? It got me thinking - what better stimulus package than to invest in our transportation system. It would give contractors a lift, requiring them to hire more workers to handle the new projects, which would give those folks money to pump into the local economies - all while giving all of use safer, better roads and bridges. And we're talking projects that will be going on for years!
As this debate runs its course, I be looking at other states to see how they've handled both the slowing national and local economies and their worsening roads. Let know....Thanks.
Industries: Bridge Construction, Highway and Road Building, Legislative Issues

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