• Background: A Brief History
• Structure: County Officials
• Recent Developments: A County Changes its Career

Background

Jasper County is a county located in the state of Iowa. It was organized in 1846 and is named after Sergeant William Jasper, Revolutionary War hero.

Structure

Elected Officials:

• County Supervisor, Chair - John Parsons
• Supervisor - Richard Tiedje
• Supervisor - Max Worthington
• County Attorney - Steve Johnson
• Sheriff - Mike Balmer
• Treasurer - Doug Bishop
• Auditor - Dennis Parrott
• Recorder - Nancy Parrott (Source: NACO)

Recent Developments

Offsetting the departure of the Maytag’s Company in 2007, Jasper County has turned to the development of motor racing by building a major raceway to accommodate over 25,000 spectators and hopefully bring in out of state revenue from racing teams throughout the Midwest.

Accomplishments

Criticism

Additional Information

For many years the county and especially the city of Newton has depended on its leading employer the “Maytags Company”, which was founded in 1893 by Louis Maytag. The Maytag’s company was purchased by Whirlpool in 2006, operated for a year and for finical reasons decided to relocate the manufacturing facility to another state, thus leaving many of Jasper County’s residents searching for employment and a new career in a predominately agricultural state.

Former employee’s feelings and hardships may be read in an article and later TV Special by CBS, entitled: The Town Maytag Left Behind.