WATERLOO, Iowa --- Early last year, the Bosnian community in the Cedar Valley celebrated the 15th anniversary of refugee resettlement in Iowa. Marked with concerts and dance performances, the milestone gave the refugees the chance to show their pride in their heritage as well as revel in the accomplishments made since their arrival.

Since the resettlement, which brought more than 3,000 Bosnians to the area, as a group they have accomplished much. With such notables as artist Paco Rosic, of Galleria de Paco fame, and Anesa Kajtazovic, the first Bosnian-born American elected to the Iowa Statehouse, among their ranks, the refugees have a lot to be proud of.

The first refugees arrived in the mid-'90s, fleeing the turmoil of a civil war, and were brought in to work at IBP Inc. Since then, many Bosnians have become business owners, pursued higher education and flourished in professional fields varying from medical to academic.

While IBP, now Tyson Fresh Meats, attracted a large number of Bosnian workers --- at one time, about a third of Tyson's Waterloo work force was Bosnian --- others found ways of using their existing skills to make a living in their new country and add to the local economy.