Metro Economic Alliance CEO resigns

CEDAR RAPIDS - After more than four years at the helm of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, Dee Baird resigned Friday.

Baird, 52, had served as president and chief executive officer of the regional development group since its formation in November 2011. The Economic Alliance combined the efforts of the former Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, the Cedar Rapids Downtown District and Priority One - the economic development arm on the chamber.

She was paid a salary of $238,649 in 2014, according to tax documents.

Employees were notified of Baird's resignation in a closed-door meeting late Friday afternoon.

'Dee has done a tremendous amount of work to merge the organizations,” Lydia Brown, chairwoman of the Metro Economic Alliance board of directors, said in a phone interview. 'I think it was time for her to spend more time with her family.”

Brown said Doug Neumann, the Metro Economic Alliance executive vice president, will serve as interim president and chief executive officer.

'We will launch a nationwide search, probably starting on Monday,” Brown said. 'Once the conversation was held, the board felt very strongly that we would want to launch a search immediately.”

The Metro Economic Alliance is the primary organization working in the areas of business support, economic development, community development, public policy and regional development.

Baird 'is a tireless proponent of Iowa and of our region. She has done amazing work with a steadfast focus on economic development in out region,” said Phil Wasta, executive director of the MedQuarter - a 50-block district that includes Mercy Medical Center, UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital and the Physicians' Clinic of Iowa.

The Economic Alliance, under Baird's leadership, was instrumental in the creation of the MedQuarter, Wasta said. 'Its fingerprints are all over the district.”

The organization also puts on community events, including the Fire & Ice Festival and Cedar Rapids Downtown Farmers' Market, and works to improve quality of life issues, from downtown housing to dining and culture.

'Dee had a passion to the city of Cedar Rapids and was well respected,” said Scott Olson, architect and commercial real estate consultant at Skogman Commercial Group. Olson co-chaired the Economic Alliance's downtown housing committee.

Olson - who originally opposed the merger of the chamber, Priority One and the downtown district - said since the merger, the Economic Alliance became more regionally focused, working to develop the seven-county area of Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn and Washington counties.

During that time, though, he said the organization focused less on the downtown area and city of Cedar Rapids.

That development pushed the city to create its own economic development department, Olson recalled, to promote the cities interests. However, Olson said the two economic development agencies worked well together.

he said.

Going forward, he said, 'Roles need to be looked at. There is nothing wrong with (Iowa City Area Development Group) and the Economic Alliance promoting the Corridor if the relationship with the cities mesh well and they work together. The entire area will be more successful.”

Wasta said Baird's replacement will need be more 'than a chamber of commerce president.”

'We need someone with the same passion as Dee - someone with a high focus of economic development, regional development and regional collaboration,” he said.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, Baird expressed satisfaction with the organization's accomplishments.

'We've grown our membership to 1,200 employers, recently announced a joint venture with Iowa City Area Development Group and launched the Regional Vision Strategy,” Baird said. 'All of these efforts will continue to help the region grow and prosper.”

The Economic Alliance works with the city and the Iowa Economic Development Authority to secure tax credits and state aid for employer expansions such as Apache, Archer Daniels Midland, Diamond V Mills, General Mills, Geonetric, Heinz-Quality Chef, Quaker Oats and Raining Rose.

'I have known and worked with Dee Baird for many years and wish her all the best in this next chapter of her life,” Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham said. 'The transformation of the Cedar Rapids area over the past several years has been nothing short of amazing - and Dee should be very proud of the part she played in that.”

Mayor Ron Corbett and City Manager Jeff Pomeranz were out of the country and could not be reached for comment.

Baird was elected president of the Iowa Chamber Alliance in November 2015. The organization is a coalition of the state's 16 largest chambers of commerce. She is a member of the Hall Perrine Foundation board of directors, served two terms on the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission from July 1, 2007, to June 30, 2013, and was vice chairwoman of the commission when she completed her second term.

'I enjoyed working with Dee as a fellow member of the Cedar Rapids Airport Commission and in Corridor economic development initiatives, an area I have worked in for just short of 20 years,” said Josh Schamberger, president and chief executive officer of the Iowa City-Coralville Convention & Visitors Bureau.

'I have known Doug Neumann for about 19 of those years. That Alliance is in terrific hands.”

Reporter B.A. Morelli contributed to this story.