Economic development organizations across the country are continually trying to adapt to the changing economic landscape. Prior to the pandemic, many were focused on nurturing entrepreneurial activities. Now the shift is back to recruiting businesses and, most importantly, attracting more residents.
To this end, the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce announced at its Aug. 7 annual meeting the creation of Grow Quad Cities, an external economic development arm that is designed to bring more people and businesses to the region. It was clear when the chamber hired its new CEO and President Peter Tokar III earlier this year that a strategy change was afoot.
The new entity is reminiscent of the old Quad City Development Group, which was among the organizations that became DavenportOne, which eventually merged into the existing chamber structure.
As a result of the new change, the chamber organization will continue to focus on internal economic development and growth, while the new organization will be charged with external economic development that will center on external marketing and growth efforts.
Those efforts are essential in the Quad Cities, which has seen a population growth of less than 1% over the past 10 years, Mr. Tokar said. The region must attract new industry and a new and diverse population in order to have the workforce it needs to grow and prosper.
The groundwork for that, he added, has been laid since the region consolidated multiple chambers on both sides of the river into one single Quad Cities Chamber organization in 2010.
Mr. Tokar stressed at the annual meeting that the chamber would continue to function and that no other chamber funds will be used to support Grow Quad Cities. “No. This will not replace the chamber. Grow Quad Cities is aimed at making the chamber more efficient and available to focus on its core mission better,” he said.
“The chamber has been a work in progress since its consolidation and is now a highly effective organization,” Mr. Tokar said. “And today, just as they did those many years ago, we’re taking our first step to the formation of Grow Quad Cities to begin our regional economic development journey together once again.”
Organizationally it makes sense to have one entity focused on internal economic development activities (i.e. chamber functions) and one focused on external. The challenge remains how do you fund it and how do you get the business community engaged?
The one underlying goal that everyone should be able to rally around is the need for more residents and workers.
Of course, most communities and regions in the Midwest are focused on these same challenges. The regions that can do it the best will succeed. Let’s hope that Grow Quad Cities can be one of the best.
