2024: A Year of Exciting Changes and Expansion

Now in our 17th year, it’s hard to believe how quickly time has passed since we celebrated our 15th anniversary. Nearly two years ago, Decision Innovation Solutions welcomed long-time, recent, and prospective clients to our headquarters in Urbandale, Iowa. Since then, we’ve continued along “tried and true” paths, while also blazing new trails and exploring fresh ways to enhance our team’s skills, modeling techniques, and proven processes.

Read on for a glimpse into some of the exciting work we’ve undertaken and the changes we’ve made since the beginning of 2024!

An Upgraded Website, Social Channels and Apparel

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new website! We’ve been growing rapidly and are delivering even more value to our clients. With this exciting growth, it became clear that we needed a website that truly reflects who we are and the cutting-edge work we do. Check out our team here.

Our new site is a reflection of our commitment to innovation and excellence. We’ve made it easier than ever to navigate our services, discover the latest industry insights, and see firsthand how we’re helping organizations like yours stay ahead in an ever-evolving landscape. Our new website was the catalyst for the following changes and updates:

  • Refreshed Branding
    • New colors, new styles and, despite our best efforts to hang onto our original, a newly designed logo that we think turned out great.
  • Updated marketing materials, including additional opportunities to interact with us on social media. Check us out on the following social channels:
  • New Apparel
    • With a new logo came new apparel. I wonder if the apparel company and our web designer worked out a side deal!
  • Proposal and Report Templates
    • Most of our client deliverables involve a report of some sort. The appearance of our proposal and report templates were sharpened to match our other updated materials.

Client Engagement Updates

As shown on our new website, we continue to complete work for our clients in the following areas:

  • Market Analytics
    • Originally completed in 2017, we are now updating a comprehensive report to estimate the volumes and values of feed ingredients fed to U.S. livestock and poultry and ingredients used in the nation’s dog and cat foods. 
  • Policy Analysis
    • Our work related to renewable energy, including capturing, transporting and sequestering carbon, has grown exponentially in 2024. Here’s an example of a report completed for the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association in early 2024.
  • Feasibility and Due Diligence
    • Recently working with a trusted analytics partners, we completed an in-depth feasibility study for the Heartland Port Authority of Central Missouri. 
  • Economic Impact and Contribution
    • We continue to complete many projects for clients needing to quantify the value of their industry to the overall economy, as well as what the impact of expansion or contraction of their industries may mean for the local economy. A few examples of project for recently completed or ongoing projects include:
      • Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers
      • Illinois Livestock Development Group
      • North Dakota Department of A
      • Minnesota Agri-Growth
      • Nebraska Soybean Board
      • Illinois Farm Bureau
      • United Soybean Board
  • Spatial and Time Series Analysis
    • Related to work completed with renewable fuels policy (see a well-written article by our Chief Economist, Dave Miller here), we are working with a Midwestern soybean organization to quantify the spatial impact of how the movement, crushing and use of soybeans in the Midwest is expected to change with a significant expansion in soybean crushing capacity in the Midwest. We expect the insightful analysis to be completed by the end of 2024.

The above examples are just a few of the exciting projects and engagements we’ve been privileged to work on in 2024. With as much variety as we have in our work and the talent contributed by each member of the Team, the rest of 2024 into 2025 looks to be even more exciting. We are eager to continue interacting with current and past clients and are excited to venture into new territory with completely new clients in the coming months. 

With warmest regards,

Spence Parkinson