Davenport Mayor Mike Matson gives his 2025 State of the City address on Thursday, June 5, at Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Davenport is a “riverfront gem” that is attracting more businesses, more jobs, is getting national attention for its projects, and building amenities that are improving the quality of life for its residents. Those were the top messages delivered by Davenport Mayor Mike Matson Thursday afternoon, June 5, during his final Davenport State of the City […]
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Davenport is a “riverfront gem” that is attracting more businesses, more jobs, is getting national attention for its projects, and building amenities that are improving the quality of life for its residents.Those were the top messages delivered by Davenport Mayor Mike Matson Thursday afternoon, June 5, during his final Davenport State of the City address, held at the Rhythm City Casino, 7077 Elmore Ave., Davenport. In March, Mr. Matson announced he would not seek re-election, and his term in office is up at the end of the year.The mayor used his State of the City Address to review many of the city’s success stories from the past year, and look forward to possible more good news in the future.Mr. Matson said that even though more work needs to be done in the city, his main theme for the address was: “We’re doing a good job.”
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Members of a color guard present the flag at the start of the Thursday, June 5, Davenport State of the City address at the Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Members of a color guard get ready to present the flag at the start of the Thursday, June 5, Davenport State of the City address at the Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Members of the audience listen to Davenport Mayor Mike Matson’s 2025 State of the City address on Thursday, June 5, at the Rhythm City Casino Resort. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Davenport Mayor Mike Matson gives his 2025 State of the City address on Thursday, June 5, at Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport. CREDIT DAVE THOMPSON
Many of those good jobs are coming in the city’s economic development efforts. The mayor said Davenport has been successful in attracting big and small businesses to the community, bringing in thousands of jobs and preparing sites to attract even more jobs in the future.“We used to hear people say ‘We need more jobs.’ Well, we have jobs. … The environment here is strong and it’s a place to do business,” the mayor said.
Economic development
The top examples of economic development advances in Davenport Mr. Matson gave the audience of more than 200 people on Thursday included:
The Eastern Iowa Industrial Center in northern Davenport is home to businesses such as Kraft Heinz Foods, Sterilite Corporation and John Deere. This area has seen $950 million in private investment, is 95% occupied with 14 acres remaining, and companies in the area have created 3,200 jobs.
The Amazon Robotic Fulfillment Centerat 2022 Research Parkway opened in 2023 and employs about 2,100 people. Also, Amazon has started to build a second facility in Davenport. It will be a 114,000-square-foot “last-mile delivery station” located near the current build and is expected to add another 100 jobs.
Work continues on a new Fair Oaks Foods plant. That state-of-the-art food production facility will be a $134 million investment and create about 250 jobs. The 150,000-square-foot production plant is expected to be completed next spring.
The West Locust Business Park, located off the Interstate 280 and Locust Street interchange, is the city’s future business growth area. The goal for this area is to have more than 700 acres of shovel-ready, prime development land.
All these economic development stories are happening because of the hard work of city staff members, partnerships with local, state and federal officials and many people in the city caring about improving the community, the mayor said. Mr. Matson spent much of the State of the City Address thanking those many individuals and groups for their hard work, and for having the goal of keeping Davenport in a “continually state of improvement.”
$29M in street repairs
Many of those improvements are also coming in street repair projects in Davenport.Some of them include: East Locust Street bridge rehab; 53rd Street and Elmore Avenue repairs; resurfacing on Bridge, Grand and Main streets; and repairs to 25 neighborhood streets in the city. Those projects, and many others, add up to almost $29 million in street improvement jobs in fiscal year 2026, Mr. Matson said.“I used to hear people say ‘Mike, fix the damn streets.” … Now people say ‘Stop fixing the streets. I can’t get around,’” the mayor said.Good streets are just one of the things that makes Davenport a quality place, Mr. Matson added. He said downtown Davenport is also seeing great things happen with the recent improvements to the Figge Art Museum. The museum now is lit up at night with more than 1,000 powerful, full-color LED lights. Those lights are part of a new $4 million project called “Evanescent Field.” It’s the largest public art installation in Iowa.Also, construction has started on a four-season recreational area along the riverfront called Main Street Landing. That 10-acre park is between Main Street and the roller dams and will feature play areas, water features, a multi-use space for sports and more. It is expected to be completed late in 2026.“We will be the beacon of attention. … This will be the place to be,” said the mayor.He added that national media outlets have been dubbing Davenport as a “riverfront gem” because of all the features, parks and other improvements in the works.In fact, the mayor reminded the audience that Davenport was recently number 43 in the U.S. News & World Report 2025-2026 Best Places to Live rankings. Davenport was the only city in Iowa to make that list.
Improvements citywide
Some of the other areas Mr. Matson discussed in his State of the City included:
Public safety: Violent crime is down. Shots-fired incidents fell by almost 27% last year, and have fallen 66% in the last five years. The police department has added seven new officers since last June. The fire department has added nine new firefighters since June, and Central Fire Station has a new engine. Also, the mayor pointed out that the Downtown Davenport Partnership has launched a downtown public safety pilot program. Since April, the team has made 800 contacts with local businesses.
Park upgrades: Upgrades including playground equipment, new splash pads and/or multi-sports courts have been added to Cork Hill Park, Dohse Park, Harbor Road Park, Herington Park, Lafayette Park, Van Buren Park and Whalen Park.
Emeis Golf Course: Fundraising has started to build a 5,600-square-foot new clubhouse at the golf course. A fundraising event for this clubhouse is scheduled for Sept. 8.
Fairmount Community Center: This center's $3.6 million facility, located at 2980 N. Fairmount St., opened last August. It has 4,500 square feet of space. That space includes a basketball hoop, partial gymnasium and service kitchen. The multi-purpose center hosts youth basketball games, after-school events, city meetings, training and more. Since it opened, it has booked 60 reservations for various events.
Trail system: Work has been done to extend trails in the city. Some of that includes West Loop, extends trail from Emeis Park Drive to Wisconsin and Locust Street; Veterans Memorial Trail, connects Veterans Memorial Parkway to Goose Creek Trail; and Goose Creek Trail, connects Veterans Memorial Parkway to Duck Creek Recreational Trail.
Duck Creek Sewer Interceptor: This project adds five miles of new sewer pipe extending from Hickory Grove Road to I-280.
Housing investments: A city urban revitalization plan is helping fix up old homes and get new homeowners in the Central City section of Davenport. For instance, Davenport DREAM is a neighborhood restoration project that hopes to inspire a renewed interest in the unique architecture and character found in the city’s heritage neighborhoods. That project has provided $900,000 for 24 homeowners in round six of the program, and provided almost $6 million since 2019.
City finances: Davenport’s fiscal work has been praised by outside agencies. Moody’s gave the city a Aa2 rating, positive outlook; and S&P Global gave the city a AA rating with stable outlook.
The mayor praised the programs and work of city employees. He had this advice for future city leaders: “This matters. Keep it going.”
