Rockwell Collins CEO calls for regional progress

IOWA CITY - The chairman, president and chief executive officer of Rockwell Collins on Thursday said it's time to stop talking about regional development and do what is necessary to create a true regional economy.

Clay Jones, in a keynote speech at the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce annual banquet at the University of Iowa Memorial Union, said the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Corridor needs to get serious about looking for synergies and efficiencies in the public and private sectors.

“Along this Corridor, we have a population base of close to 300,000 people with associated economic power,” Jones said. “Unfortunately, we are diluting that power and missing investment opportunities due to redundant infrastructure.  We have a word for that in business. It's called ‘waste,'”  Jones said.

“How many county seats, city halls, boards of education, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, social services and charitable organizations do we really need? I don't know either, but my answer is fewer than we have today.”

Jones said the United States faces tremendous challenges from globalization and all organizations need to change to meet those challenges.

“We have to change and we have to do it fast,” Jones said. “We need to take ownership, which I believe is a commitment to the task at hand and a feeling of accountability for its successful achievement.

“We also need a sense of urgency. The world is moving too fast and change is all around us. While we're thinking about what we should do, people are acting and acting fast, and they're catching up with us and moving on.

“We also need to be urgent because urgency is the only antidote to complacency, which is the greatest disease that any organization or entity can ever have over its lifetime.”

Jones said a true sense of urgency is needed for the Corridor to be successful. Noting that Rockwell Collins wlll mark 100 years in 2033, he said the next 23 years will be more volatile, produce more change and be more dynamic than the first 77 years of the company's history.

“We at Rockwell Collins have a feeling of ownership and a sense of urgency,” Jones said. “If we all work together on the challenges we face and get about doing it, we will have a great community in which this company will operate.”