The Marion Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) appointed Mark Seckman as the new president of the organization on Aug. 22.
Mr. Seckman will succeed Nick Glew who has been with MEDCO since 2014, and will begin his new role Sept. 5th.
“I’m excited about getting back to my roots with community economic development,” Mr. Seckman said in a statement. “I’ve been a Marion resident for the past 20 years and the progress in Marion has been impressive to see. I look forward to working with the outstanding team at MEDCO and our partners at the City of Marion, Marion Chamber, Uptown Marion and our regional partners at the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance.”
Mr. Seckman comes to the organization with 30 years of experience in economic development. He began his career with Priority One and led the organization until 2011. While at Priority One, his notable projects included Toyota Financial Services, Nordstrom Direct, J. Rettenmaier USA, Red Star Yeast and International Paper Cedar River Containerboard Mill.
In 2011, Mr. Seckman transitioned to the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation. He was integral in bringing Hirschbach, RIE Coatings and Rock Farm Supply Chain Solutions to Dubuque. He also assisted with numerous industry expansions including Progressive Processing, a Hormel Foods Company. Mr. Seckmen was with the corporation until 2016.
More recently, Mr. Seckman has spent the past six years as the Senior Economic Development Manager for Alliant Energy.
He supported and mentored economic development organizations throughout Eastern Iowa. He was also an integral part of having the organization chosen by Site Selection Magazine as a Top 20 Utility in economic development over the past five years and two years in a row by Business Facilities Magazine. This was the first time the organization reached the historic milestone of being amongst the top 20 utilities of the 3,300 utilities in economic development across the country.
Mr. Seckman is also one of two individuals representing Iowa as a board member of the MidAmerica Economic Development Council, a 13-state economic development organization.
“Mark’s vast experience and his roots in Marion were a key factor to our decision to bring him in as the next MEDCO President,” MEDCO Board President and Farmers State Bank Executive Vice President Steve Neighbor said in a statement. “MEDCO has led a lot of exciting development in the past few years, and I know Mark’s leadership will continue to raise the bar.”
MEDCO plans to host a meet and greet social for the community to meet Mr. Seckman later this fall. The event has yet to be announced publicly.
