The new regional brand

The Gazette Editorial Board

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"The Corridor” has been a common reference to the region reaching from Cedar Rapids to Iowa City and nearby communities for decades. It's also referred as “The Technology Corridor.” Various efforts have been made to organize and market this corridor as regional entity.

But comprehensive regionalization has never been sustained.

Two years ago, the still young Corridor Business Alliance - a dozen organizations focusing on regional economic development - created a branding task force as one of its three strategic goals toward stepped-up, lasting regionalization.

On Friday, the Alliance announced the results. A consultant's research and many meetings and discussions have produced an extensive database and a new brand name: “Iowa's Creative Corridor.”

We think the name is a good start. Its underlying concept makes much sense.

We like it because the brand name recognizes the familiarity people have with the “corridor” term, yet the emphasis is on “Creative.” There are and have been many creators in our region - prominent creators in technology, higher education, literature, medicine, aviation, business, arts and culture, and more.

The new brand is better because it reflects all that is creative and created in the Corridor.

It also offers a geographical definition: the counties of Linn, Johnson, Benton, Washington, Jones, Cedar and Iowa, also served by Kirkwood Community College - a key player in regionalization.

Why do we need a brand? So our region is better positioned to attract new development and more people with a variety of talents. So our region can become more competitive and high-performing on a global scale - so necessary to success and prosperity in today's world.

Better regional relationships already have evolved through the branding process. Now the challenge is to saturate the seven counties in awareness and understanding. Build more collaboration, trust, buy-in.

More stakeholders must embrace the brand's concept and its potential benefits if we're to become a highly effective region.

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