The aim of the Marshalltown region’s chamber of commerce is to support existing businesses while looking for ways to stimulate industry and improve the quality of life in Marshalltown. The results of his survey on the detention and expansion of companies in 2024 show a sustained need for more housing, additional quality of life and good workers for the right positions.
The chairman / chief executive officer of the Chamber, John Hall, said that nine companies based in Marshalltown had responded to the investigation – of the 16 entities on his target list to participate. About 30 questions have been asked, some open while others have been structured to provide specific data -based answers. The state of Iowa has also suggested some of the questions.
Room
“The investigation into business retention and expansion is something we are trying to conduct on an annual basis. This is the work of economic development 101 type. It is an opportunity for self-reflection for us, while giving us an overview of the problems we may need to work to approach, with companies, with the city, the State, which must be mixed in these Conversations to meet challenges and needs and also start working on how expansion and growth will look like, “he said.
Hall noted that 5,041 employees in total work for these entities.
“Having more than 5,000 employees represented in these companies means that we hit most of the largest employers,” he said.
The answers remain confidential, so Hall could not provide the names of the nine participating companies.
“We focus on companies that are engaged in interstate trade, so people like hospital and clinic, Iowa Veterans Home and School District are not captured in these data, because it is really for Companies that could operate in any other community – indeed to the community of the same – where they bring a kind of external resource, transforming it into something new and then sells it largely outside our community ”, he explained.
Results watch:
• 89% of commercial respondents indicate stable or growing sales until 2024
• 78% have a primary product in a growth cycle
• 78% will provide new products over the next two years
• 89% use new technological solutions to improve companies
Five companies plan to develop over the next three years.
“We have great opportunities for expansion on the horizon for us,” he said. “With a three -year window, different companies are in different places in their planning process. Of the five who expressed expansion, three are to the point where they have cost estimates. This is how we arrive at the $ 21.5 million in potential investment. »»
Two identified job creation estimates around 45 new positions.
Five companies have identified that Marshalltown may not be taken into account for future growth or expansion. Three entities noted that there is no room on the current site or the availability of buildings, while the other two have cited labor problems. It was noted in the results that a company faces “major infrastructure problems with an impact on their ability to develop (sewer sewer)”.
The survey explored the long -term viability of business in Marshalltown. Participants were invited to identify up to three choices of concentration.
• 41.2% wished to increase the accommodation possibilities
• 25.3 percent said that talent attraction initiatives were important, as if to fill the positions of people with diplomas / certifications and appropriate skills
• 17.6% said that revitalization of the city center was important
• 17.6% said that the implementation of the workforce was a priority
“The implementation of the workforce takes people who have the meaning and the behavior to progress in their careers, but who require more training such as certificates, diplomas, etc.”, he declared. “The biggest challenge they have linked to how to set up labor is to maintain current labor levels while investing in these individuals to reduce individuals-not So much availability of programs. “
Among those questioned, 78% of employers are actively engaged with the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) and Iowa Valley Community College (IVCC) to fill the gaps in the skills of the workforce.
The obstacles to growth included not only housing, the availability of labor and real estate options, but also the lack of childcare resources.
Employment candidates have told these companies that they would consider a career in Marshalltown if the housing options improved, more restaurants opened and there were additional purchases / shops.
He said the Chamber added the workforce development position, occupied by Kate Bowermaster, to work on the issue of jobs. He was also part of the Marshalltown Mall’s recent sales process.
In total, 89% of employers have set up succession plans. This means that there is a clear idea of who would take over in the event of changes in leadership, death of the CEO, etc.
“So, the more employers who have succession plans in place, the more we can have confidence that if something happens to high -level leaders, that there is stability within this company at The next day, “he added.
When asked to identify the forces of Marshalltown as a place to do business, the city’s location / central access to other metropolitric areas came to the number one, followed by access to The workforce, community support, commercial climate, local / regional equipment, then proximity to customers.
“The workforce is the number one problem, but it is also our number one strength,” he said.
Although the results may seem contradictory, he says that rupture shows that local businesses are able to attract labor, but that they do not support them in the long term.
The results of the survey will be sent to the state of Iowa and published in the next edition of the Chamber Digest.
“We will be interested in seeing how our data feeds and corresponds to state data, which we plan to go out later this year,” said Hall.