Retiree continues to lead, counsel

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By John Willard | Sunday, March 2, 2008 11:09 PM CST | () comments

John Wetzel, second from left, trains a new volunteer at the SCORE offices in Moline. (Jeff Cook/QUAD-CITY TIMES) Buy this Photo

John Wetzel is retired after more than 40 years with a major Quad-City utility, but the community has not lost his business expertise, his commitment and his knowledge.

Since stepping down two years ago as the vice president of economic development at MidAmerican Energy Co., he continues serving his hometown as a volunteer. He has filled his calendar with activities that cover a broad spectrum of Quad-City life.

They range from small business counseling and community planning to rail transportation and local history. A leader as well as an energetic volunteer, he serves as vice chairman of the Quad-City chapter of SCORE, a small business counseling service and resource partner of the Small Business Administration, and the chairman of the Quad-City Passenger Rail Task Force.

He views volunteer service as a natural progression from his career with MidAmerican Energy and its predecessor, Iowa-Illinois Gas and Electric Co.

“My work with Iowa-Illinois and MidAmerican allowed me to help grow the community and to give back. I feel that I can continue to do so through volunteer work,” he says.

His dedication earned him the Illinois Quad-City Chamber of Commerce’s volunteer of the year award for 2007. “The Quad-Cities and the Chamber are very fortunate to have found such a passionate and intelligent man to help lead the region in our growth efforts,” the Chamber reported in announcing the award.

Wetzel is described as a knowledgeable, able leader with a broad understanding of community issues.

“John has dealt with people at all levels,” said Dick Weeks, the eastern Iowa director of SCORE and a former president of the Quad-City Development Group. “He is a very effective leader who sees the big picture.”

Wetzel, 65, grew up in Rock Island, the son of the late John H. Wetzel Sr., who sold machine tools, and the late Arretta Wetzel, who retired as an employment counselor for the state of Illinois. He played second base on the baseball team and managed the football and basketball teams at Rock Island High School, where he graduated in 1960.

At Augustana College, he earned a degree in geology in 1965. He also was captain of the golf team, where he perfected the skills he had picked up on his job as a caddy at the Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club. He continued his education at the University of Iowa, where he earned a master’s degree in geography in 1968. “I was always interested in the surface of the earth,” he said of his academic pursuits.

After graduation, he was offered two teaching jobs and a position at what then was Iowa-Illinois Gas and Electric Co., where he had worked summers during college. He took the job at Iowa-Illinois, where he became thoroughly familiar with urban infrastructure as a gas transmission specialist. In 1972, he became a community development representative. His rise through the community development ranks culminated in 2003 when he was appointed vice president of economic development for the utility, by then known as MidAmerican Energy Co.

His years spent working in community development for the utility gave him insight into issues not just affecting the Quad-Cities but those throughout the utility’s service area comprising 500 communities in a region extending from Sioux Falls, S.D., to the Quad-Cities.

He worked closely with chambers of commerce and economic development groups, the organizations that foster economic growth. “Utilities can’t do it alone. They have a vested interested in seeing their service territories grow,” he said.

Along the way, he looked for opportunities to help grow the region through community service and volunteerism. His many civic activities include the Moline Plan Commission, the Greater Davenport Redevelopment Corp., the Rock Island Arsenal Development Group, the Rock Island Arsenal Task Force, the Quad-Cities Henry Farnam Dinner Committee and the Quad-City Times editorial board, where he is a community representative. He also serves on the board of the John Deere Classic and was chairman of the PGA golf tournament in 1984 when it was known as the Miller High Life QCO.

As the vice chairman of SCORE, he meets regularly with small business owners and prospective small business owners, counseling them in such areas as marketing, management and cash flow analysis.

He and his wife, Marcia, a Quad-City native whom he met at Augustana College, live in Moline. He enjoys golf, collecting baseball and travel to such spots as the Chicago area for visits with his daughter, Jennifer Mowen, who is expecting twins.

While he believes the Quad-Cities is making progress, especially in recognizing the potential of the Mississippi River as an asset, the community has room for improvement. “You can be pleased but you should never be satisfied,” he said.

(This story appears in March’s Quad-City Business Journal.)

The business desk can be contacted at newsroom@qctimes.com.