Charles City Area Development Corp. begins consideration of next 5-year strategic plan

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Area Development Corp. is considering an ambitious five-year strategic plan to help promote the area economy, but some members of the CCADC board and staff wonder if the proposal with scores of goals and action points may be too unwieldy.

The eight-page plan was brought up at a recent CCADC monthly meeting. Its overview says it “was developed by the CCADC Board of Directors and staff … and contains leadership’s vision for the organization as well as the specific goals and action steps necessary to position the organization and the community for continued success.”

The planning process was facilitated by the University of Northern Iowa’s Institute for Decision Making.

“After successfully accomplishing most economic development goals within the Charles City Area Development Corp.’s previous strategic plan, it was determined that the time was right to develop a new plan to provide clear priorities, goals and a roadmap for success through the next five years,” the document states.

“To develop this new strategic plan, the CCADC queried stakeholders for input, reviewed demographic and economic data, and held planning sessions to determine areas of priority and outline feasible strategies for implementation. The following strategic plan is the culmination of that process and resulting work,” it said.

Under priorities, the plan states, “Economic developers hear one need repeated over and over by employers: workforce. Population decline, a core element of the workforce shortage, also affects governments, schools, hospitals, churches, etc. and contributes to an overall diminishing of a community’s ability to provide a good quality of life.

“To attract and retain people, communities need certain assets, key among them housing – housing that is decent, affordable and available for the workforce and other residents,” the draft plan says.

The plan has four main areas of emphasis, with from three to six goals identified under each topic. They are:

Business Growth

• Goal 1 – To launch a strategic marketing plan targeting industry and site selectors by Aug. 1, 2024.
• Goal 2 – To intensify business retention and expansion (BRE) efforts by conducting at least six annual BRE interviews with existing business and industry.
• Goal 3 – To ensure Charles City continues to have available and certified industrial space and related infrastructure to service prospective projects.
• Goal 4 – To provide support to new small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Housing

• Goal 1 – To support the development of 40 new single-family housing units by 2028.
• Goal 2 – To support the development of 36 new rental units by 2026.
• Goal 3 – Coordinate housing related research including housing studies and employer/employee need surveys.

Workforce Development

• Goal 1 – Develop and coordinate an HR Roundtable to work together to address common workforce issues.
• Goal 2 – To promote automation and other efficiency strategies to minimize the impact of the worker shortage.
• Goal 3 – Strengthen CCADC’s relationship with statewide workforce-related service providers to receive increased levels of direct technical assistance.

Organizational Stability

• Goal 1 – To increase CCADC revenues to operate with a positive cashflow by 2028.
• Goal 2 – Retain quality staff for the CCADC for successful implementation of current and future goals.
• Goal 3 – Prepare the organization for staff transition/succession by 2028-2029.
• Goal 4 – To ensure an engaged and knowledgeable Board of Directors.
• Goal 5 – Raise the profile of the CCADC as the leading organization for economic development efforts in the area.
• Goal 6 – Continue to maintain AEDO Certification through the International Economic Development Council.

Each of the 16 goals also has from two to six “action items” listed to help accomplish the goal, and that’s the part of the proposed plan that drew concern from some of the board members.

For example, under the Business Growth Goal 2, on BRE efforts, the action points are:

1. ​​Develop a platform for tracking visits and follow up efforts, e.g. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system or spreadsheet.
2. Maintain a menu of statewide service providers who offer technical assistance, training and/or assessments on topics critical to area business and industry, e.g. process improvement, automation, workforce development, robotics, business succession, family business, making referrals as appropriate..
3. Collect testimonials for businesses assisted through the BRE program to be used as a testimonial of the breadth and depth of the assistance CCADC is capable of providing.
4. Host business workshops/trainings/educational sessions on common topics identified by multiple businesses, e.g. Industry 4.0, automation/robotics, cybersecurity, Internet of Things, transition planning.

Dean Andrews, Charles City mayor and a member of the CCADC board, said he agreed with the four main areas of emphasis, “but there’s 55 action items and it’s going to be really difficult to do 55 action items. Usually if you can do 10 action items that’s pretty good.”

But Randy Heitz, a retired Iowa Farm Bureau regional manager who was appointed to the board by the Floyd County Board of Supervisors, said one of the action items had already been accomplished at a recent 50-year anniversary get-together for the organization when several area human resources managers committed to collaborate to address workforce issues.

“After that was done we’ve got 54 to do. We’ve got a start,” he said, suggesting that one approach would be delegate each set of action items out to members and staff and let them run with them.

Board member Tammy Elthon, of Circle K Communications, said the action item list “seemed a little aggressive,” and CCADC Executive Director Tim Fox commented that it “seems like a lot of busy work for staff, in my estimation.”

Andrews said, “Maybe we look at this and provide some suggestions as far as what are our top priorities.”

Board member Sarah George, of Machine Tool Engineering Inc., suggested a prioritized set of goals and action items could be turned into a three-year plan.

Asked how the CCADC’s previous strategic plan was largely accomplished, Fox said that plan “had a lot more physical action items – really defined-out action items. These are more nebulous.”

The strategic plan was still a work in progress, Fox said, and he would get back in contact with UNI’s Institute for Decision Making to see if that group had recommendations on narrowing the focus.