Focused Partnerships; Focused Growth

By Joe Murphy, IBC President

Regional collaboration, with a focus on public private partnerships, fuels economic vitality. That was the resounding theme from business and community leaders during the Iowa Business Council 's (IBC) Vision to Vitality event held in Cedar Rapids last month.

Throughout the year, the IBC travels the state and engages local communities through this special event series. We were proud to work alongside our member, UnityPoint Health, and the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance to bring this event to eastern Iowa. Hearing directly from community leaders on local challenges, and how they are tackling problems, is incredibly insightful as we work to provide statewide solutions that enhance Iowa’s competitiveness.

Working together, businesses and their communities can strategically allocate capital and resources to enhance quality of life initiatives, increase access to social infrastructure such as housing and child care, and create meaningful strategies to retain the next generation of Iowans. Specific examples cited during the Cedar Rapids Vision to Vitality event included:

• Regional quality of life initiatives to enhance experiences. This is a key outlook in finding ways to retain young families and recruit people back into our communities. Research shows that people look to activities outside of work first, and then start to explore employment opportunities in that region. Combined with amazing employers looking for a talented workforce, Cedar Rapids has a great opportunity to lift their home-grown experiences and market the community as a great place to live, work, and thrive.
• Creating public private partnerships impacting housing and child care. More than ever, businesses are partnering with their local communities and investing in child care and housing. These two areas are routinely cited as barriers to enter the workforce and the IBC is proud to advocate for these initiatives with local, state, and federal officials.
• Partnering with middle and high schools to fill the talent pipeline. The IBC has long been a supporter and collaborator with work-based learning opportunities among our member companies. By focusing on high-quality work experiences such as registered apprenticeships, quality pre apprenticeships, and high school internship programs, companies can gain a competitive advantage by creating a sustainable talent pipeline. It is great to see IBC companies in Cedar Rapids such as UnityPoint Health, Collins Aerospace, and Alliant Energy all working in this direction.

While there are many things to improve upon, Iowa is well positioned as its economy continues to be resilient in the face of national uncertainty. In fact, according to our latest Economic Outlook Survey, we are once again projecting a positive six-month outlook. This positive outlook is important to note as it affords our partners and policymakers the opportunity to be bold in their efforts to increase business competitiveness and economic prospects for every Iowan.

We look forward to working with community leaders in Cedar Rapids and throughout the state as we close out 2023 and work towards building new partnerships, and strengthening existing ones, to usher in a new generation of Iowa opportunity.