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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
City leaders aim to leverage municipal funds to net private support for resident recruitment, retention efforts
New talent attraction director is making the circuit of Cedar Rapids, Marion and Hiawatha to discuss next steps for the Collaborative Growth Initiative.
Jun. 26, 2025 5:30 am, Updated: Jul. 22, 2025 10:46 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — Nearly two years after the launch of a regional growth initiative, three area cities are being asked to reaffirm their support.
Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance talent attraction director Jodi Schafer this week provided Cedar Rapids City Council members with an update on the Collaborative Growth Initiative’s year-one goals and funding needs.
The initiative began in 2023 as a public-private partnership among the cities of Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha and Marion along with the Economic Alliance to bolster resident recruitment and retention.
That initial push led to the creation of Schafer’s position and funded a report about the area’s demographics, perceptions of the region and strategies for growth. Now, Schafer is ready to put those strategies into action, but the three cities must first approve further financial contributions.
For the impending fiscal year, Cedar Rapids has been asked to provide $327,500 while Marion and Hiawatha will be tasked with covering $87,000 and $21,600, respectively, with additional funding coming from the Economic Alliance.
Those figures were based upon overall project costs and divvied up according to cities’ per capita and tax increment financing revenues. Final contributions will be contingent upon consideration and approval from each of the three city councils.
“It’s a long game, but we’re full-speed ahead,” Schafer told The Gazette. “There’s some technical details that need to be worked out, but the plan all along was that the cities would contribute funding to get this initiative off the ground” until private fundraising picks up.
Year one initiatives are split between two prongs, Schafer explained. The first would account for the creation of a talent attraction website and the execution of agency marketing campaigns to bolster regional brand awareness.
The marketing campaign would spread the word about the greater Cedar Rapids area in key markets identified during the initial growth study while the website would be used to showcase area employers, available jobs, housing opportunities and other community resources.
“(Potential business partners) are excited about the website because it’s a very tangible benefit for them, and it’s an extension of the recruiting efforts they’re already doing,” Schafer said. “It gets their name out to candidates” and provides those candidates with the resources they’re looking for.
‘The quick win’
Prong two would fund a targeted recruitment campaign to bring more remote workers to the greater Cedar Rapids area in partnership with MakeMyMove, an online service connecting remote workers with cities with relocation incentives.
The goal is to attract 15 remote workers by the end of year one by offering incentives to income-qualified, out-of-state remote workers willing to move to Cedar Rapids, Marion or Hiawatha within six months.
While the number seems small, Schafer stressed that resident recruitment tends to have an exponential economic impact and that MakeMyMove partners in states like Indiana and Arizona have seen significant returns on investment.
In addition, she noted, quantifiable relocations like those tracked by MakeMyMove also offer the collaborative growth initiative some quick wins that can be used to attract and incentivize private investment.
“This is the quick win. These are the people who can move within six months, come to our area and contribute to our economy and to the tax base,” Schafer said. “There is a price tag attached to (that campaign), … but we need to show these kinds of wins to fundraise” moving forward.
That fundraising should help decrease the need for municipal support over time, Schafer said, as private businesses and other partners hopefully contribute outside funds to the initiative once provided with a tangible proof of concept.
After Schafer’s presentation, Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell echoed the belief that cities’ early investment will spur private interest and reiterated her support for the initiative’s various efforts to bolster resident recruitment.
“I believe the cities have to take the lead on this at first, but we won’t always take the lead,” she said. “Stakeholders in the private sector are also clamoring for this type of organized, measurable effort” around worker recruitment.
Schafer’s presentation on Tuesday was the first time the entire City Council was provided with tangible funding figures, O’Donnell noted, and the topic will return for continued conversation and an eventual vote at a future meeting.
Similar presentations are scheduled early next month in Marion and Hiawatha, as well, where council approval also will be required to finalize funding support.
Contacted by The Gazette on Wednesday, Marion Mayor Nicolas AbouAssaly said he was looking forward to engaging Schafer in continued dialogue about how upstart municipal investment can make the region more competitive in recruiting and retaining residents.
“The council will have to discuss what level we’re able and willing to support this project, but we certainly all have an interest in seeing it succeed for the good of the region,” he said.
Comments: grace.nieland@thegazette.com
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