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BLUM, Rodney

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BLUM, Rodney. (Dubuque, IA, Apr. 26, 1955-- ). Rod graduated from LORAS COLLEGE in 1977 with a degree in finance and went on to earn an MBA from the UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE in 1989. In 1990, he became the CEO of Eagle Point Software after working for CYCARE SYSTEMS, INC. (1) From then until October, 2000 when he left the company as a result of a "mutual agreement between him and the board of directors," the company experienced tremendous growth. The number of employees soared from 7 to 225 and revenues grew from $568,000 to $17 million. The company went public in 1995. Blum's tenure was not without controversy. In 1997 the U. S Department of Labor investigated the company for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The company had failed to record all hours work which led to failure to pay proper and correct overtime for all hours worked by non-exempt salaried staff. To reports of a poor work environment, Blum replied 'there's negative motivation at every company.' (2)

Blum became the owner of Digital Canal, another software company, in 2000. (3) In 1993 he was named one of 20 finalists for Iowa and Nebraska Entrepreneur of the Year, an award founded by Ernst & Young and sponsored by Inc. magazine, Merrill Lynch, and WHO-TV of Des Moines. (3) He went on to win the award. (5)

In his spare time, Blum coached high school basketball, served as a board member for the Hoover Presidential Library, trained as a student pilot and wrote a political column in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. (4) He was Dubuque County GOP chairman from 1995 to 1997 and a Republican National Convention delegate in 1996. (6)

In 2014 describing himself as a political outsider, Blum defeated Democrat Patrick J. MURPHY in a tight race for Iowa's 1st Congressional District. In winning the election, Blum succeeded U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Waterloo, who vacated his seat in an unsuccessful campaign for the United States Senate. Blum won with just more than 51 percent of the vote in the closest of Iowa's five federal races on the ballot. (7) Blum had run for the same office in 2012, losing in the primary.

In 2015 Blum was a member of the House Budget Committee Oversight and Government Reform Committee Subcommittee on Information Technology. (7) In March, 2018 he received the 2018 Spirit of Enterprise Award from the U. S. Chamber of Commerce for his pro-business votes in Congress. In the same month, he returned $102,109 in unspent federal funds to the United States Treasury to pay down the national debt.(8)

In 2018 Blum was defeated in a campaign for his third term by Abby FINKENHAUER.

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Source:

1. Ballotpedia: The Encyclopedia of American Politics, Online: http://ballotpedia.org/Rod_Blum

2. Berg, Renee, "Eagle Point President, Chief Executive Leaving," Telegraph Herald, October 25, 2000, p. 3

3. Bergstrom, Kathy, "EDSC Helps Companies Automate," Telegraph Herald, June 6, 1993, p. 6

4. "Eagle Point Software," Dubuque by the Decades, Telegraph Herald, July, 2020, p. 49

5. Bergstrom

6. Ibid.

7. Jackson, Sharyn. "Rod Blum Wins 1st Congressional District Race," Des Moines Register, November 5, 2014, Online: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/2014/11/05/iowa-first-congressional-district-rod-blum-pat-murphy-election/18433935/

8. Barton, Thomas A. "Awards and Recognition," Telegraph Herald, March 25, 2018, p. 22A