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Is your program officially or unofficially multimedia? Explain.
The Iowa Waste Reduction Center (IWRC) is officially
multimedia. The IWRC has provided multimedia assistance since
inception. We provide environmental compliance assistance for small
businesses (less than 200 employees) throughout the state of Iowa.
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How and when did
your program start as multimedia?
The Iowa Waste Reduction Center started in 1988 as a result
of the Iowa Groundwater Protection Act.
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Does your program provide confidential services? Explain.
Yes. Assistance provided by
IWRC staff is considered
confidential and is not to be disclosed to anyone
outside IWRC.
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What role does
the Ombudsman play? What is the relevance of the Ombudsman’s role
to the multimedia component?
The Ombudsman in Iowa is located at the Iowa Department of
Economic Development. The Iowa Ombudsman acts as a liaison between
small businesses and regulatory agencies to ensure small business
owners and operators are treated fairly by regulatory staff. The
Ombudsman does not provide multimedia services; the Ombudsman deals
with air issues only.
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What types of multimedia assistance does your program provide (air,
hazardous waste, solid waste, water quality, air, other)? Describe
your program.
The IWRC provides a variety of multimedia assistance
including:
1)
Air
assistance in permitting and emissions inventory
2)
Regulatory compliance assistance including hazardous waste, solid waste,
storm water, used oil, universal waste, wastewater, emergency planning
and community right-to-know act (EPCRA), etc.
3)
Pollution
prevention and waste reduction assistance including new environmental
technology implementation and waste exchange.
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Is your program’s work prioritized? If yes, explain (e.g., by
media, rule, industry sector).
The priorities vary depending on funding as well as state and
federal regulatory priorities.
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Describe how
multimedia assistance is provided:
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Through
referrals to appropriate regulatory media staff?
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Through
personal contact with resources outside your program (e.g.,
arranging meetings with regulatory staff from different media,
having each program outline their respective rule requirements,
following up as needed)?
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Through
internal expertise (e.g., gathering all information, presenting
as package, walking client through requirements)?
The foundation of IWRC is the one-on-one assistance our staff
provides to small business which includes gathering information and
walking clients through requirements.
We act as the intermediary between the business and the
regulatory agency and refer clients to regulatory media staff.
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What types of
assistance activities does your program provide (e.g., onsite
visits, training programs, permit assistance)?
The IWRC provides on-site visits, phone assistance,
e-mail, workshops, industry sector demonstration events,
participation in trade association meetings and training events,
business and trade fairs, newsletter, trade journal articles. We
also offer permit assistance as well as assistance with other
environmental requirements.
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Do you have program staff members with expertise in pollution
prevention/EMS, as well as regulatory compliance?
The IWRC does have staff with pollution prevention (P2)
knowledge, EMS, and regulatory compliance.
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What range of
industry sectors has your program helped with multimedia
assistance? List all types of participating businesses.
The IWRC provides assistance to any business or industry with
200 or fewer employees. Past business sectors include; Metal
Manufacturing, Vehicle Maintenance (e.g. salvage yards, body shops,
and automotive dealers), Ag Services, Schools and Local Government,
Wood Manufacturing, Food Processors, Printing, Rubber and Plastic
Manufacturing, Appliance Demanufacturing and Dry Cleaning.
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Are there any industry sectors for which you cannot provide
assistance or can provide only limited assistance? Explain.
There are no particular industry sectors for which we cannot
provide assistance or provide only limited assistance. Typically,
the IWRC does not serve business or industry with more than 200
employees.
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Where is your program housed (state environmental regulatory agency,
Small Business Development Center [SBDC], college or university [not
SBDC], other state agency)?
The IWRC is housed at the University of Northern Iowa. The
IWRC is a Department of the College of Business Administration at
the University of Northern Iowa.
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Where does
funding come from for your multimedia program (air permit fees only,
air permit fees plus other sources, task-specific funding, other)?
What are the funding criteria? Please note that since this could be
sensitive information, this is an optional question.
Our organization is funded through state and federal
programs.
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How many staff
does your program have (using FTE-full time employee equivalents)?
The IWRC has 11 FTE with diverse areas of expertise.
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Does your
program have a documented performance measurement system (system to
track data on activities such as web site hits, hotline/telephone
assistance calls, mailings, onsite visits, publications,
seminars/workshops/ trainings, teleconferences/videoconferences,
other)? Describe.
The IWRC has developed a client database, which allows us to
track our performance measurements for each of our clients.
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What have been
the benefits of providing multimedia versus air only assistance?
Have you performed any cost benefit analyses? Describe your
successes.
Multimedia assistance better serves our clients.
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Provide an
overall link or links to your online multimedia assistance web
page(s), checklists, calculation spreadsheets, guidance, factsheets,
publications, and contacts.
http://www.iwrc.org
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What kind of peer assistance (for other SBO/SBAP programs) is your
program willing to contribute at this time (information provided
here only, telephone/email assistance, program visits, training,
other)?
It depends on the assistance requested and the financial
resources available. However, assistance from the IWRC may include
technical assistance by phone, email, or may include program visits
along with one-on-one training.
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Please list the industry sectors that you assist/have assisted most,
and feel you have "expert" knowledge about. If possible, use
the provided list of industry sector examples to categorize (www.smallbiz-enviroweb.org/sba/multimediafiles/Questions_MentorPrograms.pdf).
You may also be more specific, include additional details, or write
in a category that is not listed. In addition, please provide
contact information for each industry sector "expert."
Agriculture
Appliance Demanufacturing
Automotive
Die Casting
Dry Cleaning
Electronics/Computers
Electroplating
Fiberglass Operations
Furniture
Golf Courses
Hospitals/Medical
Iron and Steel
Laboratories/Schools
Lumber and Wood
Machining
Manufacturing
Metal Fabrication
Metal Finishing
Military Establishments
Painting and Coating
Pesticides (under Agriculture)
Printing and Photoprocessing
Recycling
Retail
Rubber and Plastics
Solvents/Cleaning
Textiles/Textile Services
Transportation
Used Oil
Contact:
Jeff Beneke, 319/273-8905,
beneke@uni.edu.
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Provide contact information for peer assistance with your program.
Jeff Beneke
Iowa Waste
Reduction Center
Phone: 319-273-8905
Email: Beneke@uni.edu
10/05
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