400 New Downtown Neighbors

Sounds like we're going to get new neighbors down the street. Maybe it would be nice to bring them a pie.

Or a few hundred pies. OK, maybe cupcakes.

Actually, it's 400 neighbors, employees of Rockwell Collins who will soon be working in the Towne Center building a few blocks from The Gazette. The mayor and a star-studded cast of local movers and shakers gathered to announce the move this morning. Good news always draws a big crowd.

It was all smiles and suits and handshakes. Council member Chuck Swore's energetic grandkids threatened to steal the show, and possibly take down the lighting, but the event went off without a hitch.

Mayor Ron Corbett seemed especially pleased. "This is a big deal for Cedar Rapids," said Corbett, who joked that he was tempted to follow the lead of Vice President Joe Biden, who famously went with "BFD" to describe health care reform.

Who could blame hizzonor? After all, it was the then-newly minted mayor who had the audacity to call on Rockwell and Aegon, the city's largest private employers, to move some of their workforce to a downtown struggling to recover from flooding. There was lots of chuckling and eye-rolling at the time, followed by a very polite corporate brush off:

“We applaud Mayor Corbett's initiative and share his goal of rebuilding a vibrant downtown - which is an influencing factor for attracting and retaining a talented work force,” said Rockwell Collins spokeswoman Pam Tvrdy.“Unfortunately, because of the economic environment this past year, we've had to consolidate facilities into our existing C Avenue campus and have no plans to add facilities at this time.”

“Unfortunately, because of the economic environment this past year, we've had to consolidate facilities into our existing C Avenue campus and have no plans to add facilities at this time.”

Corbett's core point pointed to the west, where Des Moines' downtown has been reborn in no small part because some of its largest employers, Principal Financial, Allied, etc., have a major presence. That wasn't the case here.

But the environment has changed since Corbett made his pitch. When conditions turned contraction into plans for expansion, RC went looking for more space in late summer. Senior Vice President of e-Business Jean Paul Besong said his company normally likes the close collaboration of a campus-style workplace, but they're willing to try downtown. City incentives certainly can't hurt.  

In a downtown with about 13,000 workers, the addition of 400 is no small deal. And the big winners, fingers crossed, will be small businesses -- restaurants, bars, etc. -- who really, really need a broader customer base. There's the Coffee Emporium across the street, the Armstrong food court, etc. At least three more restaurants are planned downtown, so more hungry workers is welcome news.

And while public investment is flowing fast into high dollar public facilities, private investment downtown has been lagging. This helps, but much more is needed. And there was a lot of talk at the newser about RC being only the beginning.

"This is just the start," said Council member Kris Gulick. "I suspect there will be more to come."

The next year will tell us a lot. Construction will begin on several big projects, including the library and convention complex. If these gov'mint edifices truly are going to draw some private businesses nearby, we might start hearing about it.

We'll also see how much luck the city will have convincing state/federal officials to help pay for comprehensive flood protection. Potential investors in the city's core will be keenly interested.

Will the Branstad team be as interested in helping Cedar Rapids as his predecessor? Will CAT, if it survives regime change, smile on the city's multiple applications?

But those are the worrisome uncertainties that can cause our leaders to get indigestion. We have plenty of time to chew on those. Today is a cupcake.