Alliance likely to replace 'Technology Corridor' branding

A Corridor Business Alliance initiative to develop a cohesive regional brand is off and running – but that doesn't mean a new brand is just around the corner.

Finding a brand more appropriate than the current Technology Corridor will involve extensive research and strategies to achieve a regional “buy-in,” alliance members told the Gazette Editorial Board on Monday.

“I don't think there's ever been research in this depth Corridor-wide,” branding committee chair John Lohman of the Corridor Business Journal said.

The alliance hired North Star Destination Strategies of Nashville, Tenn., to perform the leg work on the branding study. Lohman said North Star has performed branding studies for at least 130 communities and regions.

The company will take nine to 12 months for the process, performing most of its research in the first four months.

Committee members said the effort could help redefine the region, cutting across political boundaries to identify the common attributes that create a regional identity.

The replacement of the current “Technology Corridor” brand is likely.

Priority One President Mark Seckmann said the brand was essentially “plucked out of thin air” without substantial research or buy-in within the region.

The Technology Corridor label adopted with little research because it was intended for limited use on business cards, letterhead, and brochures used to jointly market and promote Cedar Rapids and Iowa City as one region. It was intended to convey that the economic development groups in the area were working with companies utilizing the highest level of technology within their industry.

Later, the label was adopted voluntarily by other organizations for other uses.

Curt Nelson of the Entrepreneurial Development Center of Iowa said the results of the study won't necessarily be a fully-funded regional branding campaign. Rather, he expected individual organizations in the area to use the new brand in their own marketing.

The alliance provided updates to its two other strategic efforts, flood recovery and development of a regional economic development strategy.

Joe Raso of Iowa City Area Development said the economic development strategy is a three-pronged effort, looking at strategies for new business creation, existing industry retention and expansion, and business recruitment. He said each group is working on a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis.

The committee expects to find some issues that cut across all three areas of economic development.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett said the City of Cedar Rapids will not be abandoning its preferred flood protection system plan despite the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pronouncing that it failed a cost-benefit analysis test it uses to evaluate projects.

“We communicated to the city as much as we can that we're going to continue to push for this flood protection system,” Corbett said.

The fact that private companies are interested in buying the city's former library site is evidence of faith that the city will be successful in obtaining funding for an adequate flood protection system, Corbett said.