Carroll Band Day Parade

At 10:30 AM, Saturday, October 3, the Carroll Band Day Parade, sponsored by the Carroll Chamber of Commerce, began it's march down N Adams Street with spectators lining the streets enjoying its sights and sounds. Miss Daleney Teske, Little Miss You Can Do It, was honored as the 2009 Parade Marshal. Following the parade, the public enjoyed field presentations at the Carroll Stadium performed by Carroll High School and Jefferson-Scranton High School Bands.
Trophies were then awarded to the following: High School: Class 3A: 1st place - Jefferson-Scranton, 2nd place - Carroll High; Class 2A: 1st place - Roland-Story, 2nd place - East Sac County, 3rd place - Kuemper Catholic; Class 1A: 1st place - Glidden-Ralston, 2nd place - Ar-We-Va. Middle School: Class 3A: 1st place - Jefferson-Scranton, 2nd place - Perry, 3rd place - Boone; Class 2A: 1st place - Ogden, 2nd place - East Sac County, 3rd place - Audubon. Best drum major: Roland-Story High School, Best color guard: Roland-Story High School and Best baton twirler: Krystal Schulte of Carroll High School, Best overall band performance and winner of the traveling trophy: Roland-Story High School.

Chart of the Week

Carroll 2008 Holiday Sales Increase Beats State Average

The Iowa Department of Revenue (IDR) released retail sales for the quarter ending December 31, 2008. This Chart of the Week pulls out Carroll and the ten counties in Iowa whose county seat town's population is closest to Carroll (click HERE to enlarge the chart). IDR's reporting lags about nine months, but is the most current data available on a statewide basis.

City of Carroll's retail sales totaled $56.8 million in the quarter vs. $54.8 million in the same period of 2007. This 3.2% increase is considerably better than the state of Iowa's .2% decrease on sales of $8.88 billion vs. $8.89 billion in 2007.

Of the ten comparably sized communities in Iowa, Carroll's increase of 3.2% ranks 6th. Three communites had decreases. Follow this link to view sales tax reports at the IDR's website.

52nd Annual Carroll Band Day Parade

Tradition marches on as the 52nd Annual Carroll Band Day Parade sponsored by the Carroll Chamber of Commerce, takes place on Saturday, October 3 @ 10:30 AM. Fifteen High School and Middle School Bands will showcase their marching and musical talents before local and out-of-town spectators lining the streets from Adams Elementary to the Carroll Stadium. 50+ local business and organization parade entries will also be a part of this community tradition. As an addition to trophies being awarded to the top 3 performers in each Class 1A, 2A and 3A , a traveling trophy will be awarded to the best overall band performance along with trophies for best drum major, color guard and baton twirler.

Carroll's already low crime rate drops even further

In case you missed it, click here to read The Daily Times Herald's coverage of Carroll Police Department's annual report. The lastest crime statistics reflect one of the best reasons to live and work here...a very low crime rate.

Safety is something we tend to take for granted. As Carroll Police Chief Jeff Cayler said in the DTH article, "We're lucky, we really are, to live in this kind of environment. We should count our blessings that we live in an excellent place. A lot of it is due to the cooperative effort of the people who live here, their community pride and our excellent police officers."

Take time today to stop and yourself and others in the community a well-deserved pat-on-the-back.

Carroll County Leadership Institute Holds First Session

Last night from 5:30 - 9:00 P.M. 24 individuals from various Carroll County businesses joined together for the first session of Carroll County Leadership Institute. John Brockelsby, DMACC and Jim Gossett, Carroll Chamber of Commerce lead the group through conceptual models of leadership and encourage participants to apply this information to their careers. There was lots of group interaction and input.

Carroll County is fortunate to call these 24 people residents.

Chart of the Week

Real Estate Sales Report - Carroll Multiple Listing Service

Chamber President Mike Franey of Mid-Iowa Insurance and Real Estate shared information on the status of residential real estate sales activity with Carroll Area Development Corporation members today. The table at the right points out how the Carroll Multiple Listing Service stacked up against like size towns' MLS. This report for the month of August, 2009, compares owner-occupied single family unit sales with comparable communities and the state of Iowa. Also included is information about median sale price in August and number of Days on the Market.

Is there information you are interested in concerning the economic health of Carroll and Carroll County? Take a look at the labels at the bottom right of this blog, click on "Chart of the Week" to see past posts. Let us know your thoughts and ideas for other indicators and we will find them for you. Just comment on this post or email me: cadc@carrolliowa.com.

St. Anthony Regional Hospital Receives "Best in Value" Award

St. Anthony Regional Hospital recently received 2009-2010 Hospital Value Index: Best in Value Awards from Data Advanage, LLC., and independent hearlthcare data company.

The award recognizes St. Anthony for:

• Best in Value: Superior Patient Satisfaction Merit Award
• Hospital Value Index: Top 100 Hospital
• Hospital Value Index: Best in Region
• Hospital Value Index: Best in State

Data from approximately 4,500 hosptials nationwide was ranked to measure their success in quality, affordability, and efficency and patient satisfaction.

Congratulations to St. Anthony from the Carroll Chamber of Commerce for this honor.