As Chris Wheeler recapped his term as 2024 Marion Chamber of Commerce board chair during the Chamber’s annual meeting Oct. 30, he acknowledged it wouldn’t be easy to step aside.
“What can I say? Marion’s tough place to step away from,” said Mr. Wheeler, who recently retired as president of Point Builders. “It keeps pulling you back in, as I’m sure you all are aware. Since 1938, the Marion Chamber has been the backbone of our business community, putting the success of our members front and center, whether it’s through high-quality professional development, fun community events, or simply being the best cheerleader for businesses in town, this Chamber is all about driving success. And you know what they say – when businesses thrive, the community thrives.”
Mr. Wheeler was introduced by 2025 board chair Cydney Lovell, area manager of local government and community affairs for ITC Midwest, who attended the meeting virtually as she continues cancer treatment.
An estimated 200 Marion Chamber supporters gathered for the group’s annual meeting at the Epic Event Center in Marion, celebrating the Chamber’s accomplishments over the past year.
Among the highlights:
- After adding 39 new members over the past year, the Chamber now has 328 members.
- The Chamber hosted 55 programming and networking events, hosted 36 ribbon-cuttings and groundbreaking ceremonies, and co-hosted international delegation visits from two countries.
- The Chamber presented 12 free community events, totaled $13,200 in welcome center sales, compiled 37,900 attendees to its events and graduated 176 people from its Marion Leadership in Action (MLIA) program.
- The Chamber raised $24,500 toward the continued growth of the city’s Winter Lights display, which has now expanded into the Uptown Artway.
- Uptown Marion Main Street added 17 new businesses and awarded $100,200 in grants.
The Chamber also saw a transition this year, as former Uptown Marion Main Street director Brooke Prouty left for a new role with Main Street Iowa and was replaced by Lacey Schroeder, who began her new role in August.
In her remarks, Ms. Schroeder highlighted the ongoing progress on the city’s $8.35 Central Plaza project, which is expected to be largely completed by year’s end with the exception of the ice-skating loop feature, which isn’t expected to be completed until winter 2025.
The Central Plaza will represent a significant step forward for the Uptown Marion Master Plan, which includes the Seventh Avenue streetscape project and the North Plaza enhancements.
“These enhancements are essential for our long term growth, and are making Uptown Marion more vibrant and paving the way for continued investment and success ahead,” Ms. Schroeder said.
More than $1 million in private funds have been invested into Uptown Marion, Ms. Schroeder said, and the redevelopment of the former Marion Public Library site is “on the radar.”
Mr. Wheeler also highlighted the accomplishments of Chamber president Jill Ackerman during her 17 years of service, including Marion being named as one of Iowa’s “Great Places” in 2009, leading to the development of projects such as the Lowe Park greenhouse, Lindale Trail, Thomas Park maintenance facility and Klopfenstein Amphitheater for the Performing Arts; the launch of Imagin8, which created a visioning process to enhance the Marion public and business communities; recognition of Marion as a Preserve America community for protecting and celebrating its heritage and using its historical assets for economic development and community revitalization; the designation of Marion as the 49th Main Street Iowa community, leading to the development of Uptown Marion with a focus on historic preservation; Marion becoming the first community in the Corridor to be certified as a Blue Zone, encouraging healthy living among residents; and Marion’s designation as one of Iowa’s great places.
“This does not happen alone or in the back,” Mr. Wheeler said. “This is a heavy lift.”
Ms. Ackerman noted that over the past year, Marion has received 1.5 million visits from 312,500 individual visitors.
“That is some major traffic,” she said. “That’s a lot of shopping, eating and hopefully buying things people didn’t even know they needed.”
She also highlighted the launch of a new platform, Placer, which she described as “having a crystal ball for visitor behavior, but with fewer wizards and more data.”
She said Placer is a location analytics tool, using cell phone tracking data, that shows how people shop, where they go, how often they visit and how long they remain.
“In a nutshell, it’s informing us how to market better, both from an internal and an external perspective,” she said. “It’s also showing us what goods and services our own residents are leaving the community for, and how far they’re willing to drive to get those goods and services. We’re not even scratching the surface on what this tool can do.”
The event concluded with a keynote address by Dr. Dau Jok, a native of South Sudan who currently serves as the Executive Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the West Des Moines Community School District.
Mr. Jok, the brother of former Iowa basketball player Peter Jok, focused on the power of self-affirmation in building effective communities and leaders.
“When we all claim our humanity and our dignity and say we are not going to be different people or pretend to be somebody we’re not as a condition of belonging, that’s when Marion, Iowa will truly reach greatness. That’s when each of your businesses will truly excel as a collective, because (for) the belonging piece, we all have to belong to ourselves first and foremost.”
