Jim Miller resigns NewBo/Czech Village role

CEDAR RAPIDS — Jim Miller has resigned as executive director of The District: Czech Village and New Bohemia after an eight-month stint leading the nonprofit, and he has some ideas on what The District should do next.

Miller was selected to succeed Monica Vernon as The District’s executive director starting Oct. 30.

On Monday, he will become director of development at Horizons, a Cedar Rapids social services nonprofit, doing fundraising, marketing, communication and events.

“I love being involved in the community and really wanted to figure out a way to still stay in the community and work in the community in a different way,” Miller said. “... I have not worked in human services and social services but feel called to that truly.”

He said Wednesday he is leaving because he was “looking for another place to be.”

His last day was Tuesday, adding to a slate of recent departures of directors in Cedar Rapids core.

‘Study is needed’ to organize district groups

Miller said The District is made up of several organizations that have some overlap but also serve different purposes:

The District also works with other entities, including the city of Cedar Rapids and the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance.

“That’s where some honest, direct discussions and plans really need to happen,” Miller said. “... It’s a challenge, but I think it’s also an opportunity to figure out who’s doing what.”

The District is Cedar Rapids’ “Main Street” organization, part of a grassroots network of more than 50 Iowa communities that offers access to resources and technical assistance. The Iowa Economic Development Authority oversees the Main Street Iowa program.

Miller said Main Street Iowa staff recently visited and discussed strategic planning. The District board did some strategic planning this spring discussing larger ideas and things to change.

There’s opportunity to look at the two historic neighborhoods, where the 12th and 16th Avenue bridges are “both a uniter and a divider, to say how can we figure out more things to do together,” Miller said.

In a challenging landscape for retail businesses and restaurants, the businesses and organizations in The District need to come together to share traffic and costs, he said.

“A study is needed, and let’s look hard and say, ‘What do we want to be? What are we?’ ” Miller said.

Ann Poe, a Cedar Rapids City Council member, and Barb Thompson are listed as the only employees at The District. Poe is program manager, and Thompson does marketing.

With Poe recovering from being hit by a motor vehicle last month, District board President Jeff Morrow said he is serving as the face of The District and primary contact. Board member Lauri Martensen is handling day-to-day office activities.

“We do have an executive search underway now,” Morrow said. He estimates it could take four months to find Miller’s replacement.

Asked about the prospects of an organizational study, Morrow said the board is focused on its largest fundraiser, Dinner on the Bridge, which takes place every September on the 16th Avenue Bridge. Regular events, such as the Cider Stroll, will continue, he said.

“We want to continue business as usual, so we’re in a tactical mode at this point, but we do always look at the future,” Morrow said. “We see ourselves as the nexus of all those groups in The District and a clearinghouse, trying to maintain communications on both sides of the river.”

The District’s goal is to continue being the common point for communications and boosting events, Morrow said. The District’s combination of residents, developers and institutions, like the African American Museum of Iowa and National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, make it “a unique place in the Midwest.”

“For a long time, there was a lot of separation and people not talking to each other, and I think in the last few years we’ve made huge strides,” Morrow said.

Core district director departures

Miller’s departure marks the third resignation of a Cedar Rapids core district director in less than a year.

Jesse Thoeming last October left the Metro Economic Alliance, where was downtown program manager for a couple of months after his longtime role as downtown executive director changed. His departure came as City Hall and the regional nonprofit began refreshing the Downtown Vision Plan to guide the future of Cedar Rapids’ urban core.

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When he resigned, City Council member Dale Todd had said, “My hope is that his resignation is not a symbol of the current rift between the city and (the Economic Alliance). If it was, then he became part of the collateral damage, and we need to do a better job of working together by building people up and not tearing them down.”

Nikki Wilcox in March left as the Economic Alliance’s strategic development director for a job with TrueNorth.

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At the Alliance, Wilcox had assumed a larger role coordinating downtown initiatives before Thoeming’s departure. She worked with Thoeming — who has since been replaced by Jennifar Bassett — and with city officials and the Downtown Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District Commission. This panel oversees tax dollars levied on downtown property owners toward district improvements.

She left as the SSMID was completing an assessment of downtown’s managing entity. When completed in May, the SSMID’s analysis determined downtown Cedar Rapids needed more focus with a physical storefront and an executive director to drive downtown initiatives and fundraise.

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