Entrepreneurial Development Center

By Lee Clancey, President & CEO of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce

The Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Corridor is a fabulous place to live and work. But how can we sustain the activity that's going on here? How can the Corridor get and keep a competitive edge in this ever-changing world? It seems to me that, as a Corridor, there are a few things we ought to be doing better:

• The first is leadership. Fast-growing communities have leaders who make their communities better places than they currently are. These leaders bring people together in multiple collaborative efforts and are "the voice" of the community. The new leader is not the traditional gray-headed, good ol' boy of yesterday, but those who are best able to articulate visions and form partnerships and collaborations.


• Secondly, is the ability to respond. We need to more rapidly make decisions that focus resources on our biggest threats and most wonderful opportunities. There should be a sharply defined, clear, crisp community decision-making process. The process needs to be very transparent, with communication a key ingredient.


• Finally, the Corridor must be more innovative and entrepreneurial. To the extent that we put ourselves in a position to fail, we can success to an even greater degree. It is our responsibility as "Corridoreans" to look at the big picture and try new things. Let's take some risks, it's important to put our toes over the edge of the cliff!

And more importantly, it's time to stop talking about all this stuff and time to start doing it! So, I've got some questions for you to think about:

• What would greatness look like for us here in the Corridor?


• If we are ideally successful, how would we know it?


• How should the Corridor express itself to our constituency groups?


• How do we demonstrate our vision, culture and plan?


• Once we have articulated our results, how will we know if it's what we expected?


• And last, what have you done to move the Corridor forward? If you haven't done anything, what's stopping you? If there are barriers that need moving, how do we accomplish that?

There was recently an article in FORBES magazine by publisher Rich Karlgaard commenting on what constitutes a successful community. Karlgaard suggests that we start with this proposition: The most valuable natural resource in the 21st century is brains. Smart people tend to be mobile. Watch where they go! Because where they go, robust economic activity will follow.

If you agree with this proposition, then our region needs to focus on ways that attract smart people, provide low-cost resources that incubate, support and sustain our local businesses and provide a high quality of life so that folks want to live here.

How we do that is up to you. Leadership in any sector, either public, private, or non-profit, is essential if organizations are to move beyond survival. Let's all strive to have the vitality, energy and talents that will allow us to step off that cliff and soar!