IowaWORKS closes Lindale Mall location, moves in with Kirkwood

CEDAR RAPIDS — As of Thursday, IowaWORKS, Iowa’s state career and unemployment center, part of Iowa Workforce Development, has closed the doors to its Lindale Mall location.

Now, they are moving in with Kirkwood Community College at a new location in a partnership desired to improve career services to Eastern Iowans.

IowaWORKS made the move as the new location will better help the office help the community with career services, Operations Manager Matthew Auliff said.

“I know that our leadership in Des Moines is always looking for better opportunities,” he said. “The nicest space that we can serve our customers.”

Auliff said the new space, located in East Hall on Kirkwood Community College’s Cedar Rapids campus, is an exciting and fresh opportunity.

“The space is more modern, it's updated, it's bright, it's welcoming,” he said. “We have all of the services that we offered in our old location, now just better facilities.”

The move is a partnered effort, actually, with Kirkwood itself. East Hall has two floors, the bottom of which Auliff said IowaWORKS will inhabit. But Kirkwood’s career training and preparation services, including its English language learning program, also will find a new home on the building’s second floor, according to a joint release from both organizations.

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The partnership between IowaWORKS and Kirkwood has existed, Kirkwood Workforce Development Dean Carla Andorf said, for 25 years. Kirkwood employees have always been involved at IowaWORKS, she said, as the two organizations are jointly motivated to improve career and education advantages.

“We're very excited to have the IowaWORKS center over here on our campus,” she said, “and it is such a great opportunity for us, for our students, to be able to connect in and work with the services here.”

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