Welcome back to another installment of Fairfield Stories. Although I’m not keeping to my self-promise to publish more frequently, I hope to heat things up after the vote on May 4!

Today we’re profiling relative newcomer to town, Darryl Jarmasco.

Darryl, his wife and four kids (soon to be a fifth!), moved to Fairfield from Michigan last June. While vacationing in Hawaii, he met some Fairfieldians who told him he had to come. After visiting Fairfield and being highly impressed by the education offered by MSAE, he and his wife were sold and moved here.

I met with Darryl after I received a promotional email about his free seminar at Revelations, tomorrow April 14th from 11:30-1:00PM. I snooped around his website and I figured I’d meet with him, and maybe let people know about his seminar and leave it at that.

Well, not only is he a nice guy, but he is just so full of positive energy that I thought I’d devote this column to him. You see, he is a motivational speaker and although I am typically turned off by people who bill themselves this way, after an hour with him, I can tell you that he is, indeed, motivational.

He is a coach. A person who turned his own life around and, as a result, now helps others to do the same by tapping into the principles he taught himself.  He has found that people  have stories -  beliefs – that they hold on to that hold them back from achieving what they are capable of. So what Darryl does is helps people to get beyond their stories and to establish clarity in the form of purpose. To help them connect to what they really want and why they want it.

So the logical question in his mind is, What is your real challenge and what are the stories and excuses that are holding you back?

We all have patterns. Some of us are lazy, some blissful, and everything in-between. It is all based on emotion and Darryl helps you to understand where this emotion, this energy, comes from. And when you connect with that you can open your mind to what you really want. To moving ahead. To acheiving results…

Sound like hooey? Maybe. But I asked Darryl for success stories which were fairly easy for him to come by. Take that of a guy who works in Chicago at two jobs, 16 hours a day. His real dream was to become a full-time realtor and to give up the other jobs. As Darryl put it, “he was holding on to 20 plus years of conditioning where he was told to be quiet, reserved, to sit down and shut up.” He wasn’t excited. He needed encouragement to feel again… So after only 7 coaching sessions over a 1.5 month period, his client started to cold-call to get listings. And, through a sense of empowerment, plus focus, a positive physiology, and positive language – the client got 2 listings, a bunch of referrals and is starting to thrive.

As Darryl put it, the real magic is how the client is feeling, for he now has a new mindset that he will now have for good, and forever.

Darryl got into this after he had a financial disaster after graduating from college and while in Border’s bookstore, he stumbled on to the self-help book section. After reading numerous books, things started to click for Daryl and as they did, he felt compelled to share that knowledge with others. So he  hooked up with Tony Robbins with the objective of helping people to have the best life they could. He is now a Tony Robbins coach, wrote a book, does numerous speaking engagements, trains, and is challenging himself to become even bigger and better.

Darryl’s family is most important to him. He is spiritual in that he believes in a higher power. He is more interested in meaning and purpose than things. That is what makes him happy.

In addition to giving to people through his business, Darryl is a member of Rotary and the Chamber of Commerce , and helps out at the MSAE when he can. He loves taking his family on the trail system, and truly appreciates the community – in the form of the wonderful people he has met and continues to meet. Darryl also writes a column for our friends at the Iowa Source about concious living.

If you want know more about yourself, to challenge yourself, and to grow. As Darryl passionately put it “Do it now. Find it now. Be bold” and check out Darryl at Revelations, or visit his website.

Officials with the Fairfield Economic Development Association announced the launch Thursday of the 2010 Fairfield Existing Business Initiative [FEBI].  The Initiative, a business outreach survey and interview program first implemented in 2008, seeks to gather extensive intelligence on the condition of the local economy, said Pat Doyle, FEDA President.

“FEDA is committed to serving our local economy first, and by heading out and visiting with the men and women who employ thousands of Fairfield-area residents and who direct millions of dollars in capital investment, we ensure that we capture every opportunity to communicate with them as they plot expansion plans or who are considering pulling back as it relates to jobs or investment,” he said.  Doyle added that during the FEBI campaign, members from a six-member FEDA Board subcommittee will visit leaders at 36 of Fairfield’s largest employers in an effort to identify growth opportunities; retraction threats and gather marketplace, community and utility services satisfaction data.

The program takes a three-part approach to information gathering, said Samuel Busch, FEDA Administrator and controller of the FEBI program.  The first component, a company background information survey, has already been distributed to each of the participating companies and is expected to be returned by mid-April.  A live appointment follows.  “In the coming months, following receipt of the background forms, we will be contacting company officials to set up meetings during which two members of the FEBI subcommittee will visit the company site and conduct a comprehensive interview with question topics ranging in scope from international market share to local Internet service satisfaction,” Busch said.  The final component is a post-visit follow-up report submitted by FEBI committee members following the meeting to FEDA for analysis, he added.

Busch said that the results of the meetings will be analyzed, with trending, cluster potential and other factor reports generated via the eSynchronist PRIME economic development software FEDA has access to through a strategic regional relationship and compiled into a final report released to the community at the FEDA annual meeting in September.

The data collected, which can be aggregated hundreds of different ways at any time in order to better inform community and economic development-oriented decisions, said FEDA Executive Director Brent Willett, is a “powerful tool” which grows stronger following the execution of each generation of the Initiative.

“The 2008 campaign not only identified several ultimately successful expansion opportunities,” he said, pointing to a recent $2 million, 22-job project at Creative Master Shop as an example, “but also helped to form a foundation upon which we are now building our local business information database.  With each passing FEBI campaign, our understanding of the forces inside and outside our business community which influence investment and hiring behavior grows.”

“The beauty of the FEBI program is it both provides us with data that we are able to put to work to inform long-term strategic planning, which we did in the development of our 2011 Strategic Plan,” Willett said, “but also actionable intelligence on pending business decisions which demands our attention and the attention of community leadership immediately and which we otherwise may not have identified in time to affect a positive solution.”

Willett stressed that data collected during the private meetings is kept strictly confidential, pointing to a policy which permits only aggregate public data reporting of any kind and the fact that each participant in the program signs a binding confidentiality agreement.  “We’re asking questions designed to gauge business satisfaction levels and future plans.  In many cases, it’s highly sensitive information we collect, and we take that fact very seriously.”

The participation of company executives is critical. Every company executive is encouraged to take this opportunity to meet with FEDA to share views when contacted.

FEDA, established in 1979, works closely with local community development organizations, financial institutions and businesses, as well as agencies and elected officials in local, county, state and federal government to help facilitate economic growth in Fairfield by providing assistance in locating financing for business and community development projects, grant administration and land development.  The non-profit organization is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors.

The Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2010 Legislative Breakfast series concludes with its final installment this Saturday, March 20th at 7:30 am at Best Western Fairfield Inn.

On hand will be the Fairfield area’s elected state representatives: Sen. Becky Schmitz of Fairfield, Rep. Larry Marek of rural Washington and Rep. Curt Hanson of Fairfield.

The representatives will dine, speak and answer the questions of their constituent Chamber members during a formal question-and-answer period.

The Breakfast comes as the Iowa legislative session approaches a self-imposed March 31 end-of-session deadline legislative leaders have set to conclude the 2010 assembly early in order to save the state money.

Legislative sessions stretch into April in most years.  Legislators can be expected to address legislation still alive late in the session, including proposed changes to Iowa’s tax credit, cell phone and open records laws.

Registration is required and is $12, which includes a hot breakfast.

To register for the Breakfast, contact the Chamber at 641-472-2111 or chamber@fairfieldiowa.com.

The Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advocacy of its more than 350 member partners.  The Chamber produces dozens of community events year-round and works with local, state, regional and national partners to improve the Fairfield’s business environment and quality of life.  The Chamber’s 204 West Broadway offices also house the offices of the Fairfield Economic Development Association.

Tickets are now available for the Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Awards Banquet Presented by MidWestOne Bank, happening the evening of March 11 at Best Western Fairfield Inn. Fairfield City Councilman and attorney Myron Gookin returns for an encore performance as the evening’s emcee, as do award presenters Terry Baker and Jane Anne Harl, who will name winners in more than ten award categories.

The slate of programming awaiting those attending the celebration and dinner includes the Business. Community. Pride. Awards, which were first introduced in 2009, as well as time-honored traditions like the naming of the Libertyville Savings Bank Citizen of the Year, said Brent Willett, Chamber executive director.

“Every award we’ll hand out March 11 is designed to recognize investment and innovation on the part of Fairfield business and community institutions,” he said. “Be it capital improvements, resource redeployment, new media, or lifelong accomplishment, the Banquet is about celebrating progress in this community.”

In addition to the Business. Community. Pride. Awards, the Chamber will name a 2010 Citizen of the Year, which is awarded each year to the most outstanding Fairfield citizen. In 2009, Melva Dahl and Dr. Donal Hill were named Co-Citizens of the Year. Past winners of the prestigious honor determine the honoree(s) each year.

Aside from the awards, other Banquet programming will include a report on the City of Fairfield from Mayor Ed Malloy, remarks from Fairfield Economic Development Association President Pat Doyle, a “Night on the Town” basket silent auction and a photo slideshow of winners.

Award winners will be named in the following categories:

• Libertyville Savings Bank Citizen of the Year
  • Outstanding Fairfield citizen
• Cambridge Impact Award
  • Recognizing a longtime Chamber member who has made outstanding contributions to the Chamber and the community
• Progress Award
  • Business improvement or New Young Business of the year
• New Young Business Awards
  • Recognizing those businesses who entered their first year of existence in 2009 and who made marked improvements to their space of operation or product delivery
• Business Improvement Awards
  • Recognizing those businesses which made marked improvements to their space of operation in the last year
• Community Improvement Awards
  • Recognizing those community projects which made marked improvements to their theatre of operation in the last year
• Rising Star Award
  • Chamber member in its second or third year which has made outstanding early contributions to the Fairfield Area
• Chamber of Commerce
  • Adaptation Award
• Business which has redefined itself in the community or its marketplace over the last year. A transformation of purpose or product.
  • Interactive Media Award
• Web site/blog of the year
  • Web site/blog of the year
• President’s Award
  • Recognizing one outstanding contributor to the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce in 2009

The Annual Banquet, which begins with a cocktail hour at 5:45 pm and includes dinner, has sold out for the past several years, and reservations are required. Tickets are $30 and are available at the Chamber office at 204 West Broadway. Contact the Chamber by phone at 641-472-2111 or chamber@fairfieldiowa.com to reserve tickets.

For more information on the Annual Banquet, visit FairfieldIowa.com.

The Fairfield Area Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advocacy of its more than 350 member partners. The Chamber produces dozens of community events year-round and works with local, state, regional and national partners to improve the Fairfield’s business environment and quality of life. The Chamber’s 204 West Broadway offices also house the offices of the Fairfield Economic Development Association.