Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance Nov Dec 2018

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UPCOMING EVENTS CALENDAR november 13 BizMix Nov. 15, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Legacy Manufacturing Co. 6509 Partners Ave., Marion December 4 Recruiting and Retaining Millennials Dec. 6, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Kirkwood Community College Kirkwood Blvd. SW 6 TechBrew AM Dec. 11, 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance 501 First St. SE ICR Legislative Launch Dec. 13, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. Cedar Ridge Winery & Distillery 1441 Marak Rd. NW, Swisher Economic Alliance Annual Meeting Jan. 24, 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Doors open 11:00 a.m., Program at 11:30 a.m. Doubletree by Hilton 350 First Ave. NE 2 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 13 15 January For our full Calendar of Events including member events, visit www.cedarrapids.org. Hiawatha Business Summit Nov. 13 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Kirkwood Linn County Regional Center 1770 Boyson Road, Hiawatha Resolve to Transform Your Online Presence Dec. 4, 8:00 - 9:15 a.m. Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance 501 First St. SE 6 BizMix Hosted by Hy-Vee *Special Date!* Dec. 6, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Veterans Memorial Building 50 2nd Ave. Bridge, Cedar Rapids 11 LFS Alumni Holiday Breakfast Dec. 13, 7:30 - 9:00 a.m. Kirkwood Community College Linn County Regional Center 1770 Boyson Rd. Hiawatha 13 24
LOOKING OPTIMISTICALLY AT THE FUTURE IN THE MIDST OF END OF YEAR PLANNING Doug Neumann, Executive Director Melissa McCarville COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Ellen Bardsley COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST Clarissa Koch GRAPHIC DESIGN SPECIALIST Judith Cobb CBJ ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Corridor Business Journal PRINTING & CIRCULATION WWW.CEDARRAPIDS.ORG The Economic Alliance works on a calendar year, so this fourth quarter is a key time for setting 2019 goals, approving an annual budget, revisiting key ongoing programs, doing performance evaluations of our Team, aligning their work with the overall goals of the organization, filling Board and Innovation Council seats and determining volunteer leadership. It makes for long days, given we’re doing this on top of our regular workload. But I find this to be a most energizing time. It’s the best chance we have each year to recognize success, shore up deficiencies and imagine the future. Strategic planning sessions that accompany this work can be so valuable. I’ve had the opportunity over the past few weeks to spend some dedicated time with the Economic Alliance leadership team, the ICR IOWA Team and the ICR IOWA Board which is composed of leaders from the Economic Alliance and Iowa City Area Development Group. We’ve also held strategy sessions with all three of our Innovation Councils, with some of you helping us look in focused ways at goals for Community Development, Business Support and Economic Development. As business leaders know, it can be a valuable experience to get off-site, have facilitated discussion and spend some extended “think time” working on the business instead of in the business. And for us, working on the business means thinking about ways we can help you - to grow the economy, to add workforce and to help your business succeed. The series of strategy sessions in recent weeks reaffirm much of our focus for the next year, but there are always new wrinkles to the playbook. These sessions provide an opportunity to look into the more distant future and imagine how this region can lead a decade or two from now. ON THE COVER The Economic Alliance recently created a new opportunity for members to connect, called Speed Networking. This rapid-fire, high-energy morning event brought together nearly 100 professionals from across the region. The first attempt at this new style of networking received positive feedback and indicated great value to participating members. Speed Networking will return in Spring & Fall 2019. Watch for final dates and details soon! In the here-and-now, workforce remains the No. 1 regional challenge and both ICR IOWA and the Economic Alliance will have aggressive strategies to help move the dial on that. We’ll continue traditional programs like Leadership for Five Seasons and ImpactCR, and you’ll see ongoing efforts to engage the development and construction industries to ensure local labor gets as much work as possible in our strong development economy and throughout the years-long construction of a $500M+ flood protection system. We’re trying to raise consciousness about the benefits of buying local and supporting small businesses. We see several public policy opportunities going into 2019. All of those things will be publicized in greater detail in upcoming communications and events, culminating with our Annual Meeting on January 24. In imagining the more distant future, it’s hard not to be optimistic about the advantages Iowa can and should be leveraging – natural resources, a productive workforce, an ideal geographic location, an agricultural and manufacturing base that will be part of any future economy, opportunities to be leaders in education and technology. The community leaders I’ve been honored to do strategic planning with are all optimists about our future, and realists about the hard work that it’ll take to get there. Doug Neumann Executive Director ECONOMIC ALLIANCE REPORT 3
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Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance Nov Dec 2018

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