Creative Corridor must work collectively

By Dennis Tallman

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I applaud John Lohman, Chuck Peters, Dee Baird and many others for the work they have done leading up to the announcement of the “Iowa's Creative Corridor” name and logo for the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City region. The logo is a great first step in branding our area and fostering regionalism.

The real work now begins. We must implement a strategic plan that allows our region to compete nationally and globally for economic vitality. As a first step, I suggest the integration of economic development activities into a centralized regional authority. We can no longer compete city versus city or county versus county for the same project. We need to work together and understand that new business growth in any part of the corridor has a positive effect on the entire region.

My business relies on customers/clients throughout the entire region. A stronger regional economy is good for my business and all corridor businesses.

Cedar Rapids recently merged Priority One, The Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Cedar Rapids Downtown District into one group, The Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance. It is time to look at merging this entity with other groups such as Iowa City Area Development and the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce.

One argument against this merger is that local groups will lose their identity. I believe that our local identities will be lost if we do not work collectively and provide a more focused economic development strategy. Iowa's Creative Corridor needs to be creative and find a unified regional approach to economic development.

Much has been said recently about tax increment financing (TIF) and economic development in Johnson County. Competition for businesses within a small area has led to increased taxpayer-funded incentives for individual businesses to locate within a specific geography. This is a good example of how a broader-based economic development authority could benefit the entire region.

Iowa's Creative Corridor (Linn, Johnson, Benton, Iowa, Cedar, Washington and Jones counties) has a population of about 450,000. In today's competitive environment for new businesses, the corridor is competing with larger regions such as Chicago, Minneapolis, Research Triangle Park and others.

I suggest we are considerably stronger if we are seen as one region, reflected in fewer organizations, and focused on a common mission. I will proudly display the Iowa's Creative Corridor logo on my front door. I encourage all corridor businesses to do the same.

Dennis Tallman is owner of AlphaGraphics in North Liberty. Comments: dtallman@alphagraphics.com