Mark Seckman named president of Marion Economic Development Corp.

MARION — Mark Seckman will assume the role of president of the Marion Economic Development Corp. starting Sept. 5, succeeding Nick Glew.

Seckman comes to the public-private partnership with 30 years of experience in economic development, beginning his career with Priority One where he led the organization until 2011 before it merged with other organizations to become the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance.

Notable projects from Seckman’s time at Priority One included supporting Toyota Financial Services, Nordstrom Direct, J. Rettenmaier USA, Red Star Yeast and International Paper Cedar River Containerboard Mill.

Seckman said he has lived in Marion for over 20 years and his wife grew up here, so the opportunity to get back to his roots in community economic development for this city is one he couldn’t pass up.

“To see what's the transformation that Marion has been making in the last several years has been very, very impressive and the collaboration that takes place in Marion between MEDCO, the chamber, the city, Uptown Marion — it's a collective group effort,” Seckman said. “ … The stars just really seemed to align to this opportunity.”

The transformation of Uptown Marion with a variety of amenities, restaurants and pubs, improvements to the trail system and growth around highways 151 and 13 are among the things Seckman said are significant assets in the community that show promise to him as an economic developer.

“There’s a lot of excitement in this area that is attracting people here,” Seckman said.

In 2011, Seckman moved to the Greater Dubuque Development Corp., a position he held until 2016. He played a key role in bringing organizations to Dubuque including Hirschbach, RIE Coatings and Rock Farm Supply Chain Solutions, and he assisted with numerous industry expansions including Progressive Processing, a Hormel Foods company.

For the last six years, Seckman has worked as Alliant Energy’s senior economic development manager, a role in which he supported and mentored economic development organizations throughout Eastern Iowa.

Seckman played a role in the organization’s selection as a Top 20 Utility in economic development by Site Selection Magazine over the past five years and two years in a row by Business Facilities Magazine. According to a news release, this was the first time the organization reached the milestone of being among the top 20 utilities of the 3,300 utilities in economic development across the country.

Seckman also is one of two individuals representing Iowa as a board member on the MidAmerica Economic Development Council, which is a 13-state economic development organization.

“Mark’s vast experience and his roots in Marion were a key factor to our decision to bring him in as the next MEDCO president,” MEDCO board President Steve Neighbor, the Farmers State Bank executive vice president, said in a statement. “MEDCO has led a lot of exciting development in the past few years, and I know Mark’s leadership will continue to raise the bar.”

Seckman said he plans to meet with business community and community leaders to be clear on what they want from a partnership from MEDCO. He also said he will look to understand additional assets in the community for outward marketing to attract new industry and to support the expansion of existing businesses, as well as developing and fostering a locally grown workforce.

Leveraging his long history in the area at Alliant and through relationships with staff at the Economic Alliance, Seckman said he hopes to foster more opportunities to collaborate on a regional level.

“Nick Glew and the team that’s already in place at MEDCO have really laid a strong foundation,” Seckman said. “What's exciting is to see the trajectory of the community and how we can enhance that trajectory by being a good partner.”

Glew, the former MEDCO president, announced in June he was stepping down to pursue a job in the private sector.

Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com