Regionalism holds key to economic development, Corridor leaders say

On July 25 local business leaders gathered at the Hotel at Kirkwood for the Corridor Business Journal’s (CBJ) Future of the Corridor event, to celebrate the publication’s 20th anniversary and to hear experts discuss the future of regionalism. When John and Aspen Lohman started the CBJ 20 years ago, there were no business publications dedicated to the Cedar Rapids area, so they looked to Des Moines’ Business Record for inspiration. Connie Wimer, chairman of the Business Record and founder and owner of Business Publications Corp. (BPC), told the Lohmans that Cedar Rapids was “too small” to sustain its own business-only publication. During that time, however, Cedar Rapids and Iowa City were initiating a regional economic development partnership, using the informal “technology corridor” name to market the area in an effort to attract new businesses and stimulate workforce growth. “As I worked on the business plan, I thought, you know what, Connie was probably right, that a business journal wouldn't just work in Cedar Rapids, and it wouldn't just work in Iowa City,” Mr. Lohman said, to an audience of approximately 260 attendees. “But the idea was if we created a business journal and marketed towards the entire region, maybe we would have something that's sustainable.” Twenty years and two business publications later, the Corridor Media Group is thriving, and so is the region. The speakers at Thursday’s event introduced common themes throughout the evening:

• Regionalism is a practical means to accomplish economic goals
• Marketing a region is more vital than ever to attract workforce talent
• Job seekers look for quality of life scenarios in addition to career opportunities
• Regions need to agree on common priorities to be efficient and effective
• Modesty in marketing can hurt, not help, a region

Still, there are unique challenges facing mid-size cities looking to band together for a common economic good, and Thursday’s speakers offered optimism and practical insights throughout the afternoon.

Private and public sectors work together

Keynote speaker Mike Malone, vice chancellor for economic development with the University of Arkansas, said regionalism is a means to accomplish larger economic goals, mainly the attraction and retention of workforce talent and businesses.

“If we're blended together and people are moving around (and) across the region, we got a shot,” he said, referencing the smaller cities in northwest Arkansas. “You [have] to bundle up the assets you have, and many times it takes the region to be able to achieve what those goals and those dreams are,” he added. Giving an example of what business leaders can accomplish for regionalism, he told the story of how the state of Oklahoma wanted to build a highway and needed to convince Arkansas officials to build their portion. Arkansas business leaders Sam Walton of Walmart, Don Tyson of Tyson Foods, JB Hunt of JB Hunt Transport Services and others worked together to advocate for funding for the highway, knowing the added infrastructure would benefit their businesses in the long run. As a result, in 10 years’ time the partnership between public and private organizations in Arkansas led to not only a highway, but eventually an airport. “It was a true partnership,” said Mr. Malone. One of many challenges facing regionalism is attracting site selectors, who rely on city statistics, he said. Combined statistical areas do not warrant a rating on sites such as U.S. News & World Report. “It’s a challenge,” he said. To face these challenges head-on, a region needs to curate a professional staff who bring a variety of backgrounds to the table. “It’s not all economic developers,” he said. “We've got public policy, we've got government folks. We've got people that lead at the state level, the local level and even the federal level…it was about collaboration. You're trying to figure out what brings people together and get them working together.” “That's so important to understanding what it is you want to achieve or what you want to take on,” he continued. “And because you've got these different jurisdictions, the different communities, you can't pick things where there's a clear winner and a clear loser for your regional organization. You've got to figure out those things that help everybody achieve at least some of what they want.”

In Wisconsin, a win for one is a win for all

The loss of manufacturers in northeastern Wisconsin 20 years ago is what drove local business leaders to rebrand themselves as a united region with a unique identity to attract new businesses and fill empty buildings. The result was New North, Inc., an economic development collaboration between private and public sector leaders spanning 18 Wisconsin counties.

New North’s co-founder and board member, Kathi Seifert, stressed that today’s challenge is filling the job roles that Boomers leave behind as they retire. For a region to cultivate a robust job market, leaders need to think globally and recruit talent from around the world, as well as invest in quality of life amenities. To do that, Ms. Seifert said the counties began by conducting a survey that identified their strong suits, which were skilled labor and manufacturing. “That's all great, but we're real modest. And we don't toot our horn and we're really not telling anybody about our story and how cool we are,” she said. “So that was a big aha for us.” In addition to enthusiastically marketing the strengths of their region, New North worked with manufacturers to better understand their needs in order to keep them flourishing in the region. “Not just manufacturing,” she clarified. “Insurance and health care and the educators – really trying to understand what are some of the unmet needs, and really come together, so we could come together with: what are our priorities? What are our top three priorities?” Not everyone was excited to participate on New North’s board in the beginning, but people are “lining up” now. “They see the results that have happened,” she said. While there’s still some competition with bigger cities like Appleton and Green Bay, the organization remains largely collaborative. “Now we have people applauding for each other,” Ms. Seifert said. “If Green Bay is named City Of The Year, fabulous. If Oshkosh is, terrific. But now, we're celebrating our successes in helping each other.” “If you can break out of (self interest) and think of what you can accomplish together, (you) can really hit it out of the park,” she continued. “And it’s not just for you. It's for your kids, and it's the next generation and the next company that comes here, or the next supply chain partner that you're going to bring here, because it's going to be a whole lot more economical.” With regionalism, she said, a win for one county is a win for all if it’s picked by a site selector for a new facility, because people from all over the region will commute to work there. “Companies are hiring people from all over your geography. And the kids are going to schools all over your geography. So if we're not working together in a collaborative way, what does that say to our kids?” she said. “Let's work together and win and show people how we can make a significant difference – and have fun while you're doing it.”

Local leaders emphasize highlighting regions’ benefits

Five panelists representing the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City areas and spanning the industry spectrum rounded out the event by highlighting key ways the region can encourage economic cooperation. Tatum Buse, chief financial officer of Collins Aerospace, said regions should work together to highlight the quality of life amenities they offer to attract businesses. “When people come here, they're surprised at how awesome it is and how inexpensive it is compared to where a lot of our other employees are on both coasts, to live here. So it's a high quality of life and a low cost of living, and I think we need to do more to enhance that,” she said. President of Kirkwood Community College Kristie Fisher said when recruiting talent, there should be an emphasis on the fluidity of the two regions. “Make sure that they just understand from the get go, that you move along the Corridor, and there's great cultural events on both ends, and there's great employers and there's great schools and sporting events,” she said, adding that the drive between the two regions is “not very far.” Even for global companies with an international reach, quality of life amenities for mid-size communities are worth the investment, panelists stressed. Cedar Rapids is home to 8,000 of Collins Aerospace’s employees, and the company spends approximately $225 million annually on suppliers located in the city, said Ms. Buse, calling Cedar Rapids a “hidden gem.” “I would say a lot of people are looking to get away from the bigger cities. We have shorter commutes,” she said, speaking about the city’s attraction for potential hires. “I tell people if you drive to Iowa City from our campus in Cedar Rapids, it's 30 minutes and 30 miles, not it's not 30 minutes and one mile, which is what they're used to.” Pankaj Monga, CEO and president of Channel Fusion, discussed the concept of disruption – a process in which a smaller company with fewer resources is able to successfully challenge an established incumbent business. “We've got great business leaders, great educational leaders, great public leaders, we've got great health care, we've got a great airport. We've got great weather, we have really good education. And marketers have done a lot of good with products with a lot less than that,” he said. “We've got a great entrepreneurial ecosystem here. We have access to lots of grants and funds at the state and federal level that need to be tapped into. So I think there's a lot of opportunity.” The health care sector is a large draw in Johnson County, which is home to the nationally-recognized University of Iowa Health Care. The academic medical center, located in Iowa City, “has the best record in the country for ensuring that preemies survive at the youngest age in the country,” said Barabara Wilson, president of the University of Iowa. “People are coming from all over the country to learn how we manage to keep 25-week old babies alive and healthy as they get older,” she said. “That's just one example of the impact that we have across the country. I wish that we could elevate the health care a bit more because honestly, what we have amongst the experts and the talent on the healthcare side is unparalleled. And we don't have any competition. We are the main complex care facility in the state. And we've got experts doing all kinds of incredible work…and that is something that we don’t talk about enough.” Regionalism in Iowa can be successful, according to Shive-Hattery president Jennifer Bennett, who spoke about saving manufacturing jobs and successfully lobbying to build the $1.4 billion I-74 Bridge, which connects Bettendorf, Iowa to Moline, Illinois. “That was also a regional effort,” she said. “It took a lot of us going and visiting with legislators and getting that funded – and we didn't just fund a regular bridge. We got a state of the art bridge with the first pedestrian crossing and some really unique things…again, led by business, but in cooperation with the cities. Every mayor was involved. Every city administrator was involved. And the businesses were involved, economic development organizations were involved.”