Jason Levan speaks during Perry Economic Development’s Annual Meeting on Feb. 26, 2026, at the Hotel Pattee. Allison Ullmann/Raccoon Valley Radio

Perry Economic Development took a look back at 2025 during its annual meeting.

The organization held its annual meeting on Thursday at the Hotel Pattee, where board members discussed the various pillars of new business attraction, existing business retention and expansion, building sites and infrastructure, community development and marketing partnerships. 

President Jeff Huitt served as the Master of Ceremonies and invited the board members to review the 2025 year for the community of Perry.

He said some of those highlights over the past year included a flex lease space, or business incubator, along with two groundbreaking ceremonies in the Perry Industrial Park. ADR Axles, based out of Italy, broke ground for its US headquarters in Perry while JBS broke ground for a sausage plant. 

“As I look at our year in review, we’ve seen continuing investment and business expansion and infrastructure improvements and strong partnerships across our region. And these accomplishments represent more than just statistics, they reflect the confidence that people have in Perry and then the collective effort of our stakeholders that were here tonight.”

The program featured keynote speaker Alex Lynch, the Director of Regional Community Integration for the Greater Des Moines Partnership.

Huitt closed the meeting by thanking everyone for being part of the annual meeting and for their continued support of Perry Economic Development.