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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Cedar Rapids metro leaders launch ‘Collaborative Growth Initiative’ to attract workers
Consultant will create plan for growing the workforce, focusing on out-of-state talent
CEDAR RAPIDS — Communities in the Cedar Rapids metro are working together to attract people from out of state to live and work in the region, setting aside past feuds over jobs in an effort to address the worker shortage.
Cedar Rapids, Marion and Hiawatha mayors and the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance announced Thursday a new Collaborative Growth Initiative.
The endeavor seeks to create a road map to address current and future workforce needs as area employers and prospective businesses report the top issue they face is the shortage of available workers to fill open jobs.
“We can recruit companies all we want, but we've got to have the people in the pipeline to fill those jobs, so this is a very targeted effort,” Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell told The Gazette’s editorial board. She brought the initiative forward to the other community leaders.
A memorandum of understanding in May launched the partnership. The organizations have committed $115,000 for the first phase, with the city of Cedar Rapids kicking in $55,000 as the project’s lead partner. The Economic Alliance is contributing $30,000, Marion $20,000 and Hiawatha $10,000.
Two phases
Development Counsellors International, a national firm with expertise in talent attraction and economic development marketing, has entered into a contract with Cedar Rapids to be the consultant for the first phase, expected to take about nine months.
In the first phase, the consultant will draft a market assessment of the metro area to sustain and grow the population and workforce, develop a goal for metro-area growth and identify the region's strengths and target markets.
Using that data, the consultant will create a marketing plan — including a budget — to draw new residents who are seeking the types of jobs available in the region and who have the training needed for those roles.
For example, O’Donnell said the consultant will identify the top five cities where Iowa college graduates live and help figure out messages to send them to attract them back to the area.
The second phase would include the implementation of that marketing blueprint.
O’Donnell said the Cedar Rapids already has engaged with businesses to understand their needs and perception of the area, guided by the city’s updated Economic Development Strategic Plan, crafted with the help of Texas-based Angelou Economics.
“We've identified how businesses see our region, but we need to know how people view our region, then be able to create benchmarks on that image and the perception that we can measure and then understand the local and national workforce trends,” O’Donnell said.
This initiative also will build on state marketing efforts with the “This Is Iowa” campaign to boost the state’s national profile with a metro focus, O’Donnell said.
Population growth
Anne Parmley, vice chair of the Economic Alliance policy board, said Iowa’s population and workforce is rebounding at the state emerges from the pandemic. But there are populations the metro communities still need to tap into to grow the workforce.
“We're really excited to get some intent and some direction and specificity around population growth,” Parmley said. “This is something a lot of marketplaces are challenged by, and if they don't go after it with intent, they're just setting themselves up for failure, so I think this is a prime time to be doing that.”
Collaboration
In the past, the metro cities have at times had public spats over worker attraction. When Ron Corbett was mayor in 2010, for instance, The Gazette reported he upset Hiawatha city officials when he put together a financial incentive package to try and lure internet domain-registrar business GoDaddy — and hundreds of jobs — to downtown Cedar Rapids instead of locating in Hiawatha.
But Marion Mayor Nick AbouAssaly said the new initiative shows metro communities are aware they need to collaborate to address workforce needs.
“People may live in Cedar Rapids and work in Hiawatha and shop in Marion or in the region,” AbouAssaly said. “This issue doesn't know boundaries and workforce attraction benefits all of us.”
Hiawatha Mayor Bill Bennett said his city is striving to attract more young people, and he hopes this initiative will help lure young talent to the region.
“We see so many of our kids running off to the big cities, and there's so many things to do and so many options, but Cedar Rapids has that same effect,” Bennett said. “We've just got to fine-tune it.”
AbouAssaly said communities around Iowa and in the metro have invested in place-making and quality-of-life amenities to make their cities attractive places to spend time in. O’Donnell said the data the consultant gathers could further guide city investments in amenities.
AbouAssaly and O’Donnell said it will take business leaders, residents and others to share far and wide why people should live in the metro area.
“This effort is to help us identify all the assets, all the wonderful things about living here, and figure out how to tell that story,” AbouAssaly said.
Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com
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