(Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Chamber Ambassadors visited with Scott Bennett, owner of NISHNANET, on Thursday, December 15th, 2022, to learn about new technology and services they will be providing.

NISHNANET came to serve the rural Atlantic and Audubon counties in 2018. Since then, NISHNANET has expanded to serve over 300 customers providing them with low cost, high-speed internet, phone service, tech support, and more. NISHNANET takes pride in customer service and recognizing a problem before the customer experiences the issue, which sets them apart from other larger companies. NISHNANET recently invested in a new hardware & software platform that allows their team to view and track “how the internet feels to the customer” regarding latency. Scott explained that latency is how long it takes for the customer to ask for something and for the internet to give it back them. This in turn determines how the customer experiences their internet services.

Ambassador’s Pictured Left to Right: Steve Tjepkes, Jennifer McEntaffer, Bailey Smith, Steve Andersen, Scott Bennett, Kelsey Beschorner, Dolly Bergmann, Bill Saluk, Anne Quist, Julie Waters, Dr. Keith Leonard, Jim Kickland, Elaine Otte, Jeremy Butler, Tiffany Johnson, Grace Garrett, and Kathie Hockenberry

On top of the new software, NISHNANET will be launching a technology in Atlantic that is as fast as fiber but can be done wirelessly. The benefit of this technology is having the speed of fiber optics without the price of installation, which allows this small local company to provide low-cost internet to the customer. Starting Thursday December 15th, NISHNANET will be accepting reservations for residential customers inside Atlantic city limits. These internet plans will start at $75 a month, 50 mbps by 10 mbps, unlimited.

For more information about NISHNANET and the services they provide, visit their website https://nishnanet.com/ or call 712-243-2497.

(Rural Atlantic, Iowa) – The Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce has presented a second, Angel of Christmas Award this week. As we’ve previously mentioned, the award, sponsored by Cass Health, was first presented Wednesday morning at Cass Health, to Tom McLaren, for his inspirational posts on social media, and his prayers for people around the world, who request them. This (Friday) afternoon, Chamber representatives, CCHS CEO Brett Altman, and others gathered outside the house of Steve and Sue Andersen, about one-half mile north of the KJAN studios, to surprise the Steve with the Angel of Christmas Award. The Andersen’s were nominated Jon Jordan, Wellness & Lifestyle Director at WesleyLife Heritage House.

In nominating the couple, Jordan spoke of their civic and community spirit.

He said Steve is a vital member of the business community through his drinking water supply company, Crystal Clear, as well as his bicycle repair business, the Bike Farm. Jordan mentioned the Andersen’s have had more than their share of tragedy over the past couple of years. Steve’s dad died in late January, 2021. Less than 11 months later, the couples’ 20-year old son Avery died in an accident while on a delivery of water from the family’s business. And, on November 16^th of this year, a shed on the Andersen farm burned to the ground, destroying one of their delivery trucks and other property.

Through it all, Steve Andersen remained active in his church, volunteered on the Family Crisis Support Network Board of Directors and announces all of the home football games for the Atlantic Trojans. Sue Andersen was the driving force behind, and is President of, the Avery Andersen Foundation (www.averyandersenfoundation.org). Jordan said for those reasons and more, the award is well deserved.

Steve Andersen with his Angel of Christmas Award, presented by CCHS CEO Brett Altman, and the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce.

Steve Andersen was modest in accepting the award. He joked “I wish I could think of something profound to say.”

The anniversary of Avery’s death is coming up on December 23^rd, just days before Christmas. Steve said he and Sue will get through it together, because they have each other, and the experiences of others who grieve, to comfort them.

He said it’s hard to say what he and Sue did to deserve the award, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t grateful for the nomination, and for being selected. Steve said Tom McLaren was also deserving of the award, because of his prayers, not only for the Andersen’s, but for families around the world.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources issued an Emergency Order today (Friday) against the company that was the scene of a large explosion and fire in Marengo on December 8th.  More than one dozen employees were injured in the explosion at the C-6-Zero plant that was making oil and other products out of old shingles.

The D-N-R order says the plant is a “clear threat to public health and the environment” in its current condition and there’s a possibility of “another catastrophic event” due to chemicals still inside the building.

The emergency order requires the immediate stabilization of hazardous conditions and the removal of all solid waste on-site, as well as the full remediation of the area. A spokesperson for the D-N-R says they are not commenting on the order as this is an ongoing investigation.

(Radio Iowa) – The manager of an eastern Iowa food bank says her big wish would be to provide more beef and chicken to those who need food assistance through a local pantry.

“I would love to have a plethora of meat available,” says Kim Guardado, the food reservoir director for Hawkeye Area Community Action Program in Hiawatha. “We always say for donations we’d like to have peanut butter and canned fish, canned chicken and all of those things, but honestly I’d really love to have tubs of ground beef and ground chicken and whole chickens and parts of chickens that we can provide. That is something that’s often limited at pantries because there just isn’t enough meat available.”

Food bank managers say donations from meat processors have declined, due to inflation and supply chain issues, plus USDA meat shipments have decreased since mid-2020. In the first year of the pandemic, the USDA spent $4 billion buying meat and other food from hundreds of private companies as schools and restaurants closed — and shipping it to food banks. That was six times the normal budget for the agency’s food box program.

A year ago, the USDA launched a $400 million initiative to help food banks and schools buy locally-produced food. Guardardo says she’s trying to buy more fresh food for her Hiawatha-based food bank.

“We’re really focusing on having more healthy options available,” Guardardo says. “Locally grown items as well, but I would love to be able to have potatoes, tomatoes, green peppers, onions and carrots available every day.”

But she says produce is expensive and her food bank’s budget is pinched. Its budget for buying food has skyrocket — just as it serves about 40 percent more people than it did last year. Guardardo made her comments during taping of “Iowa Press” which airs tonight on Iowa PBS.