Monday, November 19, 2007
Governor Culver Announces Ten Regional Marketing Awards To Recruit Businesses And Attract Skilled Workers
Funds Bring Communities Together to Address 'Jobs Surplus' and Economic Development
(Des Moines) Today, Governor Chet Culver announced Regional Marketing Awards totaling $460,000 for ten organizations across Iowa to promote collaborative community marketing efforts. Allocated from the Grow Iowa Values Fund, the funding will help Iowa communities recruit companies and attract skilled workers.
"As Governor, it is my goal to aggressively recruit companies to locate in Iowa and bring with them high quality jobs," said Governor Culver. "However, we must also do all we can to maintain Iowa's strong workforce. According to current projections, Iowa faces a 'jobs surplus' of more than 150,000 highly-skilled positions within the next five years. These awards will help Iowa communities to aggressively recruit high-quality businesses to their communities, attract and retain skilled workers and keep Iowa's economy moving forward."
“This is a perfect example of 'united we stand, divided we fall,'" said IDED Director Mike Tramontina. "Instead of divided efforts to market individual communities with small populations, we are establishing a unified effort to market communities together as regions. A collaborative approach to economic development marketing benefits everyone. Companies looking for locations to grow their businesses want to know that an area has the resources and amenities necessary to attract and sustain their employees. By representing communities in the state as groupings, we show that resources and amenities are plentiful."
Prosperity Eastern Iowa
Counties of Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Dubuque, Jackson and Jones; Cities of Springville and Marion
Award Funded: $50,000
Prosperity Eastern Iowa will collaborate with partners and with Smart Solutions Group to create a plan of action to transition the organization’s dependency on grant funding to become a self-sustaining and self-funded organization. The organization will also develop a Web page dedicated to the recruitment and retention of the young “Gen Yers” in the region, and collaborate with the Accelerator and local colleges to recruit companies to the region.
Region XII-Western Iowa Advantage
Counties of Adair, Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Greene, Guthrie, Ida and Sac
Award Funded: $50,000
Region XII-Western Iowa Advantage will implement a “Virtual Spec Building” project. The project involves the design of an expandable 25,000 square foot-frame building for marketing on “shovel-ready” sites throughout the region. The concept is to market several “virtual” spec buildings in the region that could be easily and quickly constructed.
Chariton Valley Planning & Development
Counties of Appanoose, Clarke, Davis, Decatur, Lucas, Monroe, Wayne and contiguous counties
Award Funded: $40,000
Chariton Valley Planning & Development will use their marketing funds to implement their Go and Grow entrepreneurial initiative through business workshops, entrepreneurial education, conduct training, create a peer exchange and mentorship network, promote best practices to lenders and development corporations, strengthen the capacity of existing business assistance organizations, create an atmosphere of entrepreneurialism, create active networking opportunities, mentor programs, and a resource network for entrepreneurs to strengthen the entrepreneurial culture, spur innovation, and generate greater understanding of investor recruitment.
Off-Shore Iowa
Cities of Algona, Harlan, Mount Pleasant, Oelwein and Osceola
AWARD Funded: $40,000
Off-Shore Iowa communities will implement targeted direct mail programs, regional advertising, and participation in trade shows and conferences.
Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation
Counties of Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson and Emmet
AWARD funded: $50,000
Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation will use the funds to implement the Iowa Lakes Corridor Entrepreneurial Initiative by creating a supporting and nurturing environment for entrepreneurs with key components of educating and training, access to information, capital, and expertise. The outcome is to start-up and produce successful businesses that become viable creators of jobs and generators of new tax revenues in the region. Specific activities include annual Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute (OEI), academic programming, and entrepreneurship education at the K-12 level, industry-specific entrepreneurial training, and market research assistance for existing and start-up companies.
River Hills Initiative
Counties of Appanoose, Davis, Keokuk, Jefferson, Mahaska, Marion, Monroe and Wapello
Award Funded: $50,000
The River Hills Initiative will develop an Advanced Manufacturing initiative and with supporting materials
including:
- A 10-minute DVD on Advanced Manufacturing in the region that ties into the Consortium’s marketing theme that can be used for school presentations and be given to guidance counselors in area schools to encourage local careers in manufacturing.
- Business card-sized CD that would be given annually to students throughout Area 15 AEA region that summarize careers in manufacturing. This CD would also have links back to the SE Iowa Manufacturer’s Consortium website for students to access additional information.
- Develop written marketing pieces to compliment the interactive materials developed.
- Development of SE Iowa Manufacturer’s Consortium Logo/Website telling the story of area manufacturing, targeted to area students. This would help dispel negative stereotypes about manufacturing jobs while giving students interactive and fun ways to investigate manufacturing careers. Also included would be links from the Consortium’s website to the individual partner industry manufacturing sites (directed to a recruiting page on the industry’s website) targeting new employees. This will help in targeted recruiting efforts to area students and give the industry/Consortium a way of tracking potential local hires.
- “Response & Catch” protocol: During the development of the video/DVD, project partners will develop a protocol on: standard response to inquiries from students, others after viewing DVD; recording/reporting of individual contact; immediate follow-up to contact and secondary/ongoing contact; provision of some mass transportation opportunities of students for industry site visits; as well as other issues articulated by the partners that will evolve as the project moves forward.
Greater Cedar Valley Alliance
Cities of Cedar Falls and Waterloo
Award Funded: $50,000
Greater Cedar Valley Alliance's goal is to attract, retain and engage talent needed to fuel economic growth and development in the economic region with an emphasis on targeting knowledge and skills to spur growth in target business clusters including: information technology/financial and insurance services, advanced manufacturing and bioproduction/processing. The intent is also to stimulate new entrepreneurial ventures through a strategic effort to retain and encourage retiring skilled, technical and professional workers and business owners to start new businesses in the region.
Southeast Iowa Great River Region
Counties of Des Moines, Henry, Lee and Louisa
Award Funded: $30,000
The Great River Region Partnership proposes to conduct marketing campaigns for residents in the Midwest metro areas for tourism, business relocation, and people. This effort would enlist various media outlets to broadcast the benefits and opportunities of the region. Partnerships will also be pursued with Amtrak (3 Amtrak stations in the region), air service and other transportation connections to provide easy accessibility to the region. Targeted cities include Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Omaha, Kansas City and Indianapolis. The Great River Great Region would serve as the focal point of the campaign and begin in the fall of 2007.
Greater Council Bluffs Region
Counties of Harrison, Mills and Pottawattamie
Award Funded: $50,000
The Greater Council Bluffs Region will use their state marketing funds to:
- Develop resources for business enhancement programs: lay the groundwork for an economic gardening program, develop a resource manual (programs and incentives offered by local, state, federal; contacts for technical assistance, etc.); develop a virtual business incubator; collaborate with existing organizations to develop training seminars for existing small businesses and entrepreneurs.
- Develop and implement industry decision-maker roundtable program for events held 2-4 times per year. Each session would have a guest speaker, educational component, and opportunity for industry decision-makers to network with each other. Topics would be determined by a steering committee made up of industry decision- makers from all three counties.
- Enhance the leading edge Web site to include an expanded industrial site and available building system using GIS technology and LoopNet services.
- Develop, expand, and implement multi-channel direct marketing-sales approach to include micro-targeting. This is a continuation of the current marketing program (trade shows, business call trips, print advertising, etc.) with the addition of micro-targeting component for warehouse/distribution facilities, refrigerated warehouse industry by becoming a member of the Association of Refrigerated Warehouses; have a display booth at its annual conference; do print advertisements in their trade publications; and send direct mail to IARW members, etc.
- Build awareness of regional workforce through updated labor shed report working with IWD.
Northeast Iowa Business Network
Counties of Allamakee, Clayton, Delaware, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek
Award Funded: $50,000
The Northeast Iowa Business Network will advance our existing economic development activities with two essential strategies--expand our recruitment activities and we will further our business education as identified in the 2007 Strategic plan for regional economic development. The region will continue its campaign to target key industries with a link to its cluster industries and will expand recruitment efforts by establishing sell Northeast Iowa Trips.
Other Business Recruitment efforts target:
- High School Alumni who have moved away are the most likely market to return to northeast Iowa. The region will target the age groups of 28 year-olds to 68 year olds and further target those who are known to be in business.
- Targeted International Marketing in Norway and Italy – Decorah has strong ties with Norway. Oelwein has a strong connection to areas of northern Italy.
- Targeted marketing to Hasidic Jewish business communities in New York, California, and Chicago. Key Jewish business people in Postville endorse marketing to attract more businesses to Postville and surrounding areas. NIBN will work closely with Postville business community to recruit Hasidic business persons.
- College alumni in the business fields will be contacted by working with area colleges and state universities specifically including Luther College in Decorah, the Upper Iowa University in Fayette, the Regents Institutions, and Northeast Iowa Community College.