Grow Cedar Valley outlines business-attraction wins, workforce programs and a regional population study

Grow Cedar Valley representatives gave the City of Cedar Falls Committee of the Whole an update on economic development activity, including recent business-attraction leads, continued business retention visits and new workforce and population initiatives.

Grow Cedar Valley representative Lisa Scoble said the organization has engaged 17 new prospects for Cedar Falls since December, representing “over $274,000,000 in potential capital investment.” She described lead-generation trips to the West and East coasts that began with lists of more than 1,000 companies and produced several cultivated prospects and, in one instance, a new local location.

“Getting companies to commit to spend millions of dollars is a big undertaking,” Scoble said. She described a May lead-generation trip that ultimately helped land ABCO, a rubber-parts distribution center that purchased a former industrial campus in the Cedar Falls Industrial Park and closed in January.

Adrienne Miller, director of business services and advocacy for Grow Cedar Valley, said the organization has completed or scheduled 55 business visits this fiscal year, 22 of which were in Cedar Falls. Miller said trends observed include a slowdown in the agricultural economy that some manufacturers are feeling but that many firms reported a “very positive outlook” and continued steady workforces. She also said staff are tracking tariff impacts and forwarding findings to the Iowa Economic Development Authority as part of a statewide business-visits initiative.

“Some of them [businesses] seeing as much as a 40% rise in some of their goods and costs for their services,” Miller said when describing tariff effects reported by local firms.

Stephanie Detweiler, director of talent and workforce for Grow Cedar Valley, highlighted several workforce programs. She said Cedar Valley Intern Connect grew from 30 participants last year to 32 signed up for 2025 and that the city was represented among participating employers. Detweiler said Grow Cedar Valley has taken over administration of Cedar Valley Young Professionals and will launch membership options July 1, with individual membership priced at $90 or $75 for Grow Cedar Valley investors.

Detweiler also described a regionwide population study commissioned by Grow Cedar Valley after Lightcast data projected population declines for the Cedar Valley over the next five years. She said the steering committee selected Civic Soul, a consulting firm based in Austin, Texas, to conduct the study; Civic Soul’s first site visit is scheduled June 24–25 and will include about a dozen stakeholder roundtables.

Grow Cedar Valley staff asked council members to consider attending the Civic Soul roundtables. They also said the organization plans to increase emphasis on foreign direct investment in the 2026 fiscal year and to host site selectors and international lead-generation trips once the organization’s board finalizes its budget.

Council members thanked Grow Cedar Valley for “looping in” city staff on ribbon cuttings and other community events, and asked for meeting invitations for upcoming advocacy forums and visits with site selectors. There was no formal council action on the presentation; Grow Cedar Valley staff closed by answering member questions and offering to send further invitation details via email.

The presentation combined recent business-attraction activity, continued business retention and advocacy work, and workforce and demographic research as a single update to the committee.

Looking ahead, Grow Cedar Valley said it will finalize its 2026 lead-generation itinerary after its board approves the budget and will return with additional details and invitations to city officials.