The Ground Floor: Texas native recruited to help Cedar Rapids, stayed to build business

Vanessa Solesbee, an Austin, Texas, native, had worked in Cedar Rapids as the Cedar Rapids Downtown District's marketing and events director for about a year before returning to Austin.

But she was recruited back after the flood of 2008 to become operations director and to take on the city's downtown parking system, which had suffered major damage.

“No one else wanted to touch it,” she recalled.

Solesbee engaged community stakeholders and downtown business owners to lead the transition of the city's parking system to a public-private partnership.

After the Downtown District merged into the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance in late 2011, Solesbee remained on staff for several months.

During this time, she started thinking about going into business for herself, using the contacts she had across the country through her work with trade organizations and advisory panels.

She opened the Solesbee Group in 2012 to help communities and organizations plan, implement and market their programs and initiatives, with a particular focus on downtown revitalization efforts and parking systems. Solesbee uses a network of industry experts to convene project teams that handle all aspects of an initiative - from strategic planning to community outreach.

“My role is largely a connector,” she said. “I work with people on challenging problems other people have given up on. I love to get people connected to others who can help them out.”

Solesbee currently is working with Colorado State University to develop a parking and transportation master plan. Closer to home, she is assisting the Cedar Rapids Science Center with a rebranding effort as the organization searches for a new, permanent location following its post-flood stay at Lindale Mall.

Solesbee said she may never have made the leap to business owner if it hadn't been for the encouragement she found in her adopted community.

“That was the tipping point,” she said. “I don't know if I would have done it without the support network here.”

• Owner: Vanessa Solesbee
• Company: Solesbee Group
• Email: vanessa@thesolesbeegroup.com
• Phone: (319) 654-4050
• Website: thesolesbeegroup.com

Know a company in business for less than a year that would be ideal for “The Ground Floor”? Contact business editor Michael Chevy Castranova at michael.castranova@sourcemedia.net.