Recruit and retain a strong workforce

I would like to express my gratitude to the community for supporting the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance in our quest to make Iowa's Creative Corridor the top economic growth region in the country. I have the privilege to partner with, lead and access some of the most energetic, inspiring and hardworking professionals I know, and in this past year, we continued to move the needle because of these collaborations.

Although we can (and we did) celebrate significant accomplishments in 2015, we still have a lot of work to do. The new year brings focus and enthusiasm toward several items, but these three resolutions for our metro area are top of mind.

No. 1 is workforce.

It is imperative that Iowa prioritize economic development through effective workforce recruitment and retention strategies to ensure we have people with the right skills and who are ready to work. After hearing significant concerns from businesses about the availability, and, in certain areas - the capability of our workforce, the Economic Alliance created a multipronged campaign.

We generated the online job portal, CRICJobRush.com, for employees to find opportunities. The website drew 79,700 unique visitors from 45 states in the last year. More than 300 Economic Alliance members took advantage of posting their jobs and benefited, drawing more than 15,000 new applicants. This drumbeat will continue in 2016, and even louder than before. We know we can't rest on our laurels. The growth of the existing business base is at the heart of our regional economic development success.

With Stay Here, we asked young professionals to connect and help engage college students to stay here upon completion of their education. This past year, 196 local college students were matched with Community Champions, and we visited ten career fairs reaching 5,500 candidates. The plan is to increase those touch points again this year.

No. 2 is regional branding.

Recently we hosted five site location consultants from the Site Selectors Guild. During the two-day visit, the consultants toured regional assets, discussed trends in site location strategy and met with local economic developers and business leaders. Workforce, regional brand and economic development initiatives were also presented. The feedback we received indicated the region is ripe with potential, but we are not telling our story enough. We must make this a priority.

No. 3 is our legislative agenda.

I'll have a unique perspective in 2016 as Chair of the Iowa Chamber Alliance. The Iowa Chamber Alliance is a non-partisan coalition of the 16 largest chamber and economic development organizations across Iowa. The mission of the Alliance is to put forth and enact an agenda to grow the state's economy through support of proactive programs that stimulate economic growth opportunities for the entire state and its residents.

The Iowa Chamber Alliance looks forward to 2016 as a productive year that can address needed policy changes and erect the framework Iowa needs to extend and enhance its economic growth. The 2016 state legislative session can and should be the session that will advance Iowa's business climate in a number of ways including competitive and fair taxes; forward-looking programs to encourage entrepreneurship and attract investment; and a predictable and responsive regulatory environment - all of which I hope we will be part of in the coming year.

If a year from now we can count wins within these three initiatives, it will be a strong year for the growth of our regional economy.

' Dee Baird is president and CEO of the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance. More information: cedarrapids.org