Fairfield Chamber

What’s Great about Fairfield and Iowa

The lifestyle that America needs and wants — 21st century model of rural living

Fairfield is a city of 9,600 and the county seat of Jefferson County in southeast Iowa. Fairfield offers the lifestyle that everyone needs and wants - no traffic jams; a stable, growing economy; some of the most academically distinguished schools in the state; lots of ethnic restaurants, theater companies and great recreational opportunities including the Jefferson County Trail that circles the city.

Fairfield is known as the "entrepreneurial capital of Iowa" and "Silcorn Valley" because of the number of start up companies that have flourished here over the last twenty years. Fairfield has grown with the Internet and has proved that it is only a few milliseconds away from Silicon Valley, New York, London or New Delhi. Fairfield is home to Hawthorne Direct, one of the pioneers in infomercial production and direct-media marketing. Books are Fun, which employs 225 people, was started in Fairfield was acquired by Reader's Digest - their biggest acquisition in history. Chappell Studios is one of the largest photography companies worldwide specializing in graduation and marathon race photos. Cambridge Investment Research has grown one hundred and forty-fold since moving to Fairfield ten years ago. Over forty software and marketing companies are headquartered in Fairfield including Vision Improvement Technologies, Sky Factory, HR Soft, Creative Edge, Bovard Studios, ArtSelect, Brain Finger Printing and Human Factors. Old line manufacturing companies including Harper Brush, Dexter, Agri-Plastics and a dozen others provide a steady base of jobs and producing everything from washing machines to brooms and from hay-handling equipment to gloves.

In 2003 the National Council of Small Communities named Fairfield the top entrepreneurial small city in America by awarding the inaugural Grass Root Entrepreneurship Award. The Community Vitality Center, based in Ames, Iowa named Fairfield the first recipient of its Entrepreneurial Community of the Year in 2004. The Center for Rural Entrepreneurship recently named Fairfield as one of its Top Ten Entrepreneurial Communities and, in conjunction with the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI), will continue to research and monitor Fairfield for years to come.

Nearly $250 million has been invested in Fairfield start-up companies in the past fifteen years. The result has been thousands of new jobs, tripling of per-capita income and an average of $8 million in residential and commercial real estate development per year. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported in 2003 that Jefferson County ranked in the top five counties in the country in per-capita giving.

Fairfield is sixty miles from the nearest Interstate and 120 miles from a major metro, Des Moines. Fairfield’s deep entrepreneurial roots date back to the late 19th Century when William Louden invented the modern dairy barn, the manure spreader and the single track monorail system used in nearly every factory in the world. Fairfield had the first Carnegie Library and established one of the first municipal utilities in the country. It boasts the oldest golf club, not only in Iowa. but west of the Mississippi River as well.

Fairfield is the home (past and present) of both Parsons College and Maharishi University of Management. (MUM). In 1974, MUM moved from California and took over the old campus of Parsons College. The campus covers 262 acres in Fairfield, is accredited at the bachelor's, masters and doctoral levels by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and provides the highest caliber of higher education to its diverse international student body representing over sixty countries. MUM has been an important catalyst in attracting bright, young professionals to the Fairfield community. Fairfield’s success can be attributed to a dramatic change in culture in the last twenty years. This has been a shift from stodgy conservative business values to recognizing an entrepreneurial endeavor, whether successful or not, is a stepping-stone to future innovation, growth and prosperity. Social entrepreneurs who are committed to developing a new $7 million downtown civic and convention center or creating a new foundation, (this town has thirteen), enjoy the same enthusiasm and support the business entrepreneurs do.

The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids is a little over an hour away. There is a choice of three other regional airports less than two hours drive. Amtrak’s California Zephyr zips through Fairfield daily.

Lifestyle choices include what live music, theater or athletic event to attend; buy a house in the city or an affordable country estate. Many historic homes date to pre-Civil War era. Mortgage payments are often less than car payments. That equals affordable. There are fifty-five restaurants to choose from. That is more, per-capita, than San Francisco. If you liked the musical Music Man, you’d love Fairfield. There are 130 kids in the High School marching band. Local schools are considered some of the best in the state and have received numerous awards for academic, creative and athletic prowess.

Mid-American small town values are blended with enough big-city sophistication to make it constantly appealing and interesting. Fairfield’s 1st Friday’s Art Walk draws over two thousand participants every month. Fairfield’s Farmer’s Market is one of the largest organic markets in the Mid West. Fairfield is home to the Air Fest, Dodge Power Wagon Rally, Jefferson County Fair and Kiwanis Kid’s Day. Nearby attractions include the Villages of Van Buren County, Tulip Festival in Pella, Rathbun, the biggest lake in Iowa, Amish Communities in Kalona and Drakesville and Old Thresher’s Festival in Mount Pleasant. Just a little farther away are Iowa’s most famous treasures: The Field of Dreams, the Bridges of Madison County and Lake Okoboji.

SOME IMPORTANT STATISTICS ABOUT IOWA:
Entrepreneurial and Innovation

Knowledge Workers

Lifestyle