Community Notes: Anniversary is a time to take note of changes

By Tim Fox, Executive Director, Charles City Development Corp.

Aug. 3, 2023, marked my 25th year of employment with the Charles City Area Development Corp. I thought it instructive to look back and examine changes in the economic development profession over that span.

The primary change is that communities are not, by and large, engaged in “smokestack chasing.” Formerly a municipality would predicate success upon hitting the home run, a transformational project altering the economic scope.

Today we realize that being dependent upon a single company can prove treacherous. Former long-term Charles City Councilman Jerry Joerger once famously stated that “Fox is really good at large projects, but not worth a darn at the small ones.”

The rise of entrepreneurship and economic “gardening” reflects a realization that many amenities encompass a company’s willingness to do business there. Parks, trails, child care, business support, schools and other social infrastructure constructs help determine competitiveness.

In 1998 entrepreneurial support was virtually nil. Today we value entrepreneurs as integral components of a functional economic development system.

Of course, social media is a big change over 1998. Related to this is the ease and importance of accessing data. The presumption is that the one with the most data is going to win.

Many economic development entities subscribe to services churning out data. To me, the differentiation point is how you use the data.

I primarily use similar data sources as in 1998. I am relatively proficient at using that data in extrapolation and making informed decisions. Remember that all data is predicated upon the assumptions you employ in formulating the argument.

I feel that the blind reliance on data has resulted in a degree of pseudo-precision and leads me to question indices resulting from data analysis.

Another major change is the number of females employed in the economic development profession. In 1998 there were merely a few females employed; today I would state that the majority of practitioners in Iowa are female.

Economic development organizations have more components in their workplans than they did then. Hence the CCADC becoming engaged in such issues as child care and education (NIACC Career Academy).

Housing is also a primary concern. Therefore, Charles City’s being named a Thriving Community is quite important to us.

For your reference, the 11 Iowa Thriving Communities are Cedar Rapids, Charles City, Creston, Dubuque, Jefferson, Knoxville, Manning, Muscatine, Oskaloosa, Stanton, and West Des Moines.

Benefit is bonus points for the extremely competitive Low Income Housing Tax Credits [federal] and Workforce Housing Tax Credits [state] applications. Only three cities were awarded points under both programs: Charles City, Jefferson, and Oskaloosa.

The developer is the applicant. They receive investment tax credits of 10% on the initial $150,000 of investment per unit. Being in a small community, a developer doing a project in Charles City would get 20% on the first $150,000 based upon population. Awards are limited to $1,000,000 per project.

Theoretically Charles City could have two projects under the separate federal and state programs. The tax credits are fully transferable, rendering them very attractive to developers.

I wish to thank my colleagues Steve Diers and Emily Garden for their industriousness, creativity, and ability to tell the Charles City story.

We were not named a Thriving Community because we had a superior project – although we do in fact have a superior project. It is from the efforts of a great many people that we earned this designation.

The fact that we had five construction projects transpiring helped immensely. Cambrex Charles City Inc., Floyd County Medical Center, NIACC, Pure Prairie Poultry and Zoetis chose to invest heavily in Charles City and these confidences bode well in community evaluation.