Jefferson County Health Center : Community

Our Community

Welcome To Fairfield, Iowa
Fairfield is a city of 9,600 and the county seat of Jefferson County in southeast Iowa. Fairfield offers the lifestyle that everyone needs and wants - no traffic jams; a stable, growing economy; some of the most academically distinguished schools in the state; lots of ethnic restaurants, theater companies and great recreational opportunities including the Jefferson County Trail that circles the city.

Fairfield is known as the "entrepreneurial capital of Iowa" and "Silcorn Valley" because of the number of start up companies that have flourished here over the last twenty years. Fairfield has grown with the Internet and has proved that it is only a few milliseconds away from Silicon Valley, New York, London or New Delhi. Fairfield is home to Hawthorne Direct, one of the pioneers in infomercial production and direct-media marketing. Books are Fun, which employs 225 people, was started in Fairfield was acquired by Reader's Digest - their biggest acquisition in history. Chappell Studios is one of the largest photography companies worldwide specializing in graduation and marathon race photos. Cambridge Investment Research has grown one hundred and forty-fold since moving to Fairfield ten years ago. Over forty software and marketing companies are headquartered in Fairfield including Vision Improvement Technologies, Sky Factory, HR Soft, Creative Edge, Bovard Studios, ArtSelect, Brain Finger Printing and Human Factors. Old line manufacturing companies including Harper Brush, Dexter, Agri-Plastics and a dozen others provide a steady base of jobs and producing everything from washing machines to brooms and from hay-handling equipment to gloves.

In 2003 the National Council of Small Communities named Fairfield the top entrepreneurial small city in America by awarding the inaugural Grass Root Entrepreneurship Award. The Community Vitality Center, based in Ames, Iowa named Fairfield the first recipient of its Entrepreneurial Community of the Year in 2004. The Center for Rural Entrepreneurship recently named Fairfield as one of its Top Ten Entrepreneurial Communities and, in conjunction with the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI), will continue to research and monitor Fairfield for years to come.

Additional Information