Chamber advocates for legislative action to enhance placemaking across Iowa

On a mission to continue leading the State of Iowa on a path of economic recovery, Gov. Kim Reynolds met with Quad Cities business and community leaders Friday in downtown Davenport to learn more about the ongoing placemaking efforts across the region and how her team can scale them in the coming years.

“Next year, we want to come back really strong and take placemaking and that concept and really look at opportunities to roll that out across the state,” Reynolds said during a roundtable discussion at Hotel Blackhawk. “And you guys are hitting it out of the park. You’re already so far down that path.”

During the meeting, Quad Cities Chamber leaders shared past successes and advocated for the following legislative actions to enhance placemaking throughout the state.

• Revise Vision Iowa or create a similar placemaking program with significant funding
• Provide additional Enhance Iowa/Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) funding
• New bills that leverage placemaking funding matches with cities, counties and/or Self-Supporting Municipal Improvement Districts (SSMIDs)

In partnership with local municipalities, the Chamber provides place management services for downtown Davenport and downtown Bettendorf in Iowa and recently made a deal to provide similar services for downtown Rock Island in Illinois. Creating a sense of place people can identify with and be proud of, Chamber leaders told Reynolds, doubles as a workforce development tool – one that can give communities across the state a competitive edge.

“The game has changed in our world,” Chamber President & CEO Paul Rumler said. “It’s no longer about attracting jobs and then people will follow. We first have to create a great place where people want to invest their lives and then jobs are following.”

Reynolds’ visit to downtown Davenport also included stops at the Adler Theatre, Chocolate Manor, Major Art & Hobby Center, Cookies & Dreams and Theo & Co.

Downtown Davenport has benefitted from placemaking efforts since the establishment of Iowa’s first SSMID in 1977, said Kyle Carter, Executive Director of the Downtown Davenport Partnership, an affiliate of the Chamber.

“As a result of that, we’ve seen people who have invested over and over again to make this a place that is both recognizable and one that they’re proud to live in,” Carter said.

Thanks to a series of public-private partnerships involving numerous investors and entities, including Rhythm City Casino, more than $625 million have been pumped into downtown Davenport over the last two decades. A large chunk of that sum, $113 million, was inspired in the early 2000s by Vision Iowa, a state program that helped communities form public-private partnerships and pay for large projects. The investment led to the creation of the Figge Art Museum, River Music Experience, Davenport Skybridge, two parking ramps and NewVentures Building as well as the expansion of the Adler Theatre stage.

“That showed me that this is a community that cared, that actually wanted to be something more than it was at the time,” said Carter, who was a student at St. Ambrose University at the time. “I think you can repeat that all over the state, and we can use placemaking to launch out of COVID-19 and see a major investment in Iowa.”

Downtown Bettendorf is also experiencing growth as construction of the new Interstate 74 Mississippi River Bridge nears completion. Jeff Reiter, Economic Development Director for the City of Bettendorf, called for continued collaboration.

“We need to take what we have done and make it that much better because as we move into the future, this eastern gateway into Iowa is not going to be done by Davenport or Bettendorf alone but as a regional initiative together,” he said. “And it will take the State’s support to do that.”

Reynolds, energized by the morning meeting, applauded Quad Cities leaders for their passion and thanked them for leading the way in placemaking.

“You’re doing something really right here,” she said.