Project to enhance regional economy to launch April 19

An effort to enhance a regional economy will take the next step later this month.

The Creative Corridor Project, designed to connect innovators and tell their stories, will launch April 19. A luncheon has been scheduled for noon at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center.

In February 2012, leaders unveiled the regional identity known as Iowa's Creative Corridor, a seven-county region centered around the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City metro areas. The goal of the Creative Corridor Project is to highlight the innovation and collaboration that's already happening in the area and foster more of it.

Amanda Styron, project lead and CEO of Seed Here Studio, said the event will cover specific ways people can get involved. A variety of business and community leaders from across the area will speak.

“What we ultimately are trying to do is unleash the creativity that is already here,” Styron said. “We believe that there are really brilliant people here working on amazing ideas, and they don't always know how to find and connect with other people in the region who could help them with their next step.”

For the past several months, a team has been collecting stories of innovation in the region. The videos produced will be shown for the first time at the luncheon.

Seed Here was contracted by the Iowa's Creative Corridor branding task force and Kirkwood Community College.

“We're trying to put a face on the creativity and innovation in the region by taking a lot of photos and a lot of video of the many, many people who are participating in the creative process in some way,” Styron said.

“There's a perception that creativity and big ideas happen in other places and they don't happen here. We know that that's just not the case.”

To register, go to

www.CreativeCorridorLaunch.eventbrite.com. More information is available at

www.CreativeCorridor.co.