QC businesses grow, as chamber works to attract new industry

Even as multiple existing businesses are or will be expanding their Quad Cities operations, the region’s lack of construction-ready sites continues to challenge efforts by the Quad Cities Chamber and others to lure new major manufacturers to the region. Those were among the key takeaways from a lively presentation hosted recently by the Rotary Club […]

Even as multiple existing businesses are or will be expanding their Quad Cities operations, the region’s lack of construction-ready sites continues to challenge efforts by the Quad Cities Chamber and others to lure new major manufacturers to the region. Those were among the key takeaways from a lively presentation hosted recently by the Rotary Club of Rock Island. It featured Chris Caves, vice president, business retention & expansion, workforce, for the regional chamber of commerce.  The primary focus of Ms. Cave’s small chamber team is business retention and expansion and she’s proud to report that despite challenges such as workforce downsizing at John Deere that also impacts local suppliers, many Quad Cities manufacturers are expanding their local footprint. That’s critical, the award-winning economic development consultant told Rotarians late last month because “80% of business growth happens with existing companies. We want to get more companies who want to expand their footprint.” Through her work, Ms. Caves sits down with some 130 manufactures a year throughout the six-county, bi-state region. Among the things they talk about are: How are your markets? What are your plans for expansion? Who's investing in automation? What’s your workforce profile look like? What are your supply chains? Are there any challenges with community services? “It’s a great conversation and I’m privileged to be able to do that,” she said. “What I find out is, No. 1, many of these companies are interested in adopting automated technologies. It isn’t to displace a single worker, it's actually to add proficiency, productivity to their operations.” Many already are doing that on their own factory floors, she said, to improve efficiency and “run better, smarter, leaner.”

Manufacturers ‘reshoring’

In other good news, local manufacturers also aren’t “looking at offshoring any production, they're looking at reshoring options.” For example, she added, “Before they were using outside services to warehouse their material, now they're looking to bring that here. So what we’re seeing in business retention is that our companies are looking to expand with just 10,000 to 20,000 square feet of additional space for production operations or warehousing. There's an appetite for that. So that keeps me busy.” But business retention is just one of the chamber’s economic development pillars. Also critical are Regional and National Marketing, and outside Business Attraction and Solicitation on behalf of individual communities. Take Tami Petsche, the chamber’s vice president of business & economic growth, for example. She meets with national site consultants who represent companies looking to relocate businesses across the U.S. Among the recent wins is the Fair Oaks Food development in Davenport that recently restarted construction. “We’re kind of a sales team, so if the cities can’t send their staff, which generally they don't, they send us,” Ms. Caves said. Much of that Quad Cities national advertising campaign is done virtually and through social media. “Lots of it you will never see,” Ms. Caves said. “Why? Because you’re already here. We need to get in front of people who don’t know a thing about the Quad Cities.” There are several things that make the Quad Cities an enticing place to take a look at from a business perspective, Ms. Caves said, starting with “location, location, location.”

Affordability, reliability

She added “Just being at the intersection of major interstate systems, that’s a huge sell for us.”  Then there’s affordability and reliability of energy that includes clean energy in Iowa and Illinois’ powerful and reliable nuclear energy resources. The bistate laborshed is also both a major advantage and a challenge. “You guys know better than most, the Quad Cities are home to John Deere and we are home to a very highly dense metal fabrication community – we know how to make some stuff!” she told the Rotarians. One formula for future success is diversifying those skills “to attract companies that may be adjacent to metal manufacturing,” Ms. Caves said. “Maybe they're doing plastic manufacturing. Maybe they want to do textile manufacturing. Maybe they want to do technical manufacturing. We want to be able to be attractive to them.” Especially important for the Quad Cities success is addressing the critical lack of development-ready sites. It’s also why last year the chamber hired Hickey Global, a third-party site consultant, to help the Quad Cities create a site readiness strategy. What Hickey discovered is that although there may appear to be a host of buildable sites around the region, few of them are ready for construction. For example, they lack critical utilities such as electricity, water, sewer or do not have clear titles. “Hickey Global did a full audit of the existing properties that we have within the region in each community,” Ms. Caves said. They ranked the sites and gave each community a prescription for what to do to help make that happen.

‘Get these sites ready’

Hickey’s overriding message is, she said: “Let’s get these sites ready because as soon as a company wants to move they are not waiting for you guys. It’s a competitive game out there and if other communities are more ready than we are, they’re going there in a heartbeat.” She added “We’re trying to prepare decisionmakers in the Quad Cities with the information and the resources they need to make sure our sites look the most attractive and the most ready. In addition to site readiness and utilities, workforce development is another critical ingredient in attracting manufacturers.  The Quad Cities has a leg up in that area when it comes to heavy manufacturing. “When we have guests come and we host site visits, people come and look at the Quad Cities because of our generational manufacturing labor force.” She added “We are known globally for the density of our manufacturing labor force. They also know that they can get it at an affordable price.” The challenge, however, is working to ensure that the traditional Quad Citians’ welding, machining and other refined skills can be adapted to new types of manufacturing and products such as textiles.