News

Giving next generation a voice (Corridor Business Journal)

CEDAR RAPIDS
Giving next generation a voice
Reporter: John Kenyon
johnk@corridorbiznews.com

A group with the goal of strengthening the Corridor’s workforce and engaging young professionals in civic endeavors seeks public and private funding as it moves from an informal to a formal structure.

The Next Generation Commission began as an informal eight-member group in Cedar Rapids. Convened by Christian Fong, who is in charge of Aegon’s real estate capital markets division, the group sought to quickly advise the city council and other organizations about specific steps needed post-flood to make the area more attractive for young professionals.

Now, it hopes to become a permanent part of the city’s plan to address these issues.

The group began informally, but, Mr. Fong said, very deliberately.

“The informality was a necessity because of how fast things were happening,” he said. “The urgency of it was that all of these decisions of rebuilding and prioritization, it’s all real time. To get a group in place, even at that point, it was understood that this was leading to something that will be more formal.”

The group seeks funding to hire an executive director and create a formal structure to carry out a long list of planned initiatives. It accomplished a lot in a short time with volunteers, but Mr. Fong said the agenda from here requires something more.

“It’s very difficult to juggle getting things done, yet there is so much to get done,” he said. “We need to have an executive director that will do the day-to-day of communication and programming.”

The group proposes “a private/public Next Generation organization that is dedicated to working with government, civic and business community partners to attract, retain and engage Cedar Rapids’ next generation.” Beyond that, organizers have expressed an interest in making the group’s efforts Corridorwide.

The proposed structure in a draft proposal includes an advisory board, a board of directors and an executive director. It seeks $75,000 in funding annually from the city of Cedar Rapids, with the hope of that being matched by private funds and organizational revenue. Staff salary and benefits, marketing, administrative and overhead costs would be covered by these funds.

The group began with the intention to become a city commission, and some city councilors still are leaning that direction, said Jessica Palmer, another member and director of marketing and research at Cedar Rapids Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

But as the group readied its preliminary report to the city, it determined that independence was more valuable. It has shifted focus to create a proposal to explain what it wants to do and why it would be most successful doing so independently.

Ms. Palmer said there is a gap that is not being filled in meeting the needs of young professionals in terms of workforce, flood rebuilding and the economy.

“We see the need for an independent organization with full-time staff and resources,” she said. “This is a non-threatening voice that could have a very positive impact on the community.”

The group has asked the city for a three-year commitment, after which time, Mr. Fong said, “If this doesn’t work, don’t fund us anymore.”

He likened it to the support Corridor cities give to economic development groups Priority One and the Iowa City Area Development (ICAD) Group.

“But what good is it to recruit businesses if we don’t have the workforce to fill those jobs?” he said. “We see this as a hand-in-glove activity with economic development.”

Joe Raso, president of the ICAD Group, said more than half of the employers in the Iowa City market are looking for workers with some experience.

“Would more organizations or more people pushing for those types of programs and policies help?” he said. “I don’t know if another organization is needed, I don’t know if they are not. I’d have to see what their metrics are, what they want to accomplish.”

He said his organization plans to do everything it can to create and maintain the environment for young professionals, but as part of a larger strategy.

“So maybe that’s a reason why it could important, for a group like that to keep this particular issue out in front of people,” he said.

Mr. Fong said that is exactly what the Next Generation Commission would tackle.

“How do you make Cedar Rapids and Iowa City so attractive to 30 to 35 year olds that (University of Iowa) grads never want to leave and there is a workforce here that is skilled and ready to take on those challenges?” he said.

One key appeal for the city of Cedar Rapids, he said, is to save money. The city has several projects already under way that will require hiring consultants to conduct various tasks. The Next Generation Commission, through its executive director and other potential staff, could serve as a built-in mechanism to complete these tasks at no cost, and which also gets the next generation involved, he said.

These include a quality-of-life study, the recently launched neighborhood planning effort, an upcoming sustainability study and a revamp of the city’s web site.

City Manager Jim Prosser said an advantage the group would offer is in providing a link to issues the city council has identified as important, such as workforce development and communicating with residents.

“We have a chamber of commerce that represents businesses, and Priority One that represents economic development. The idea of having Next Gen is very consistent with that,” he said. “And we really do see the next frontier for development being workforce.”

Priority One receives $140,000 annually from the city, Mr. Prosser said, adding that the Next Generation funding request is in line with that.

“I can see how it fits in, in a similar manner, like other economic development groups do, but not in the traditional sense,” he said. “But probably because it’s not in the traditional sense, that is its benefit. I think this would be the first one of its kind in the country, and I see that as a competitive advantage.”

Mr. Fong said the group will have a final proposal to present to the city council soon, and hopes the council makes a funding decision soon so a director can be hired and ready to go this spring.

People already have approached the group expressing a desire to fill that role, but the group will conduct a full search to ensure the person with the best fit is hired, he said.

Ms. Palmer said the time is right for a group like this to fill unmet needs in the community.

“People talk about duplication of efforts, but there is a huge gap, and these things are not getting done regardless,” she said. “There is a group of people who want to get involved, and we need to figure out how to harness that.” CBJ