8 Top Employers in Ames, IA
Iowa State, hospital, Hy-Vee are major economic leaders
Iowa State University is easily the largest employer in Ames thanks to a workforce of 15,000, but several other companies, agencies and organizations also contribute greatly to the economic quality of life. Here are examples:
In This Article
Iowa State University of Science and Technology
Commonly known as Iowa State or ISU, Iowa State University of Science and Technology has 15,000 employees that make the university the largest employer in Ames. A total of 36,000 students attend classes, with ISU offering 100 bachelor’s degree programs, 112 master’s degrees and 83 doctorates.
Mary Greeley Medical Center
More than 1,300 people work at Mary Greeley Medical Center, a 220-bed regional hospital that serves Boone, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Marshall and Story counties. The hospital offers multiple services that include a cardiology program, Birthways Center, home healthcare, cancer center and stroke center.
City of Ames
A workforce of 1,100 oversees operations in the City of Ames, with departments that include cable TV, finance, fire, housing, library, planning, police and public works. The community has 35 parks, 55 miles of bike trails and venues like Ames Animal Shelter, Ames Skate Park, Furman Aquatic Center and Homewood Golf Course.
Iowa Department of Transportation
Headquartered five miles northeast of Ames is the Iowa Department of Transportation, which regulates transportation throughout the state in areas such as trucking, rail, air freight and water shipping. The department manages more than 56,000 square miles in total area, including 402 square miles of waterways.
Hy-Vee
Open 24 hours a day and seven days a week is Hy-Vee, which operates two stores in Ames. The company’s slogan is “A Helpful Smile in Every Aisle,” and the 725 employees at the two Ames locations work in departments such as bakery, banking, floral, gas stations, kitchen and deli, and pharmacy.
Danfoss
Specializing in food refrigeration, air conditioning, heating buildings and powering mobile machinery is Danfoss, a Denmark-based company with 650 employees in Ames. The company supplies energy-efficient solutions and features more than 50 product lines, and four percent of its annual net profits are invested in new products.
Ames Community School District
Nearly 4,200 students attend Ames Community School District, which includes one preschool center, five elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. The community passed a $55 million school bond issue in 2012 that is allowing all five elementary schools to be rebuilt or remodeled, with a completion date of 2016.
Ames Laboratory
For more than 65 years, Ames Laboratory has operated on the Iowa State University campus as a national research laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy. About 500 people are involved with the laboratory in areas such as materials design, energy synthesis and processing, computational chemistry and condensed matter theory.
