Marion economic development group reports progress on $3.5 million capital campaign, touts business recruitment wins

Mark Sequin, president of the Marion Economic Development Corporation, told the Marion City Council at its Dec. 17 work session that MEDCO is close to meeting a $3.5 million capital campaign goal to fund economic development work from January 2025 through December 2029.

Sequin summarized fundraising and program activity in a roughly 15-minute presentation and fielded council questions afterwards. “Im feeling pretty confident that were gonna hit that mark of $3,500,000,” he said. He said private-sector contributions have grown so that the city is now about one-third of MEDCO’s budget, down from roughly 52% in prior years.

The update described 78 secured pledges totaling about $2.241 million and additional requested investments approaching $800,000, putting MEDCO “very closely” to a $3 million total and on track to meet the $3.5 million objective. MEDCO plans annual and quarterly tracking of measurables tied to the campaign, Sequin said.

Sequin reviewed MEDCO programs that staff and private partners say are producing results. Business Voice Calls (a business-retention/expansion outreach program led by staffer Brady Quinn) logged 106 company contacts over the year and helped secure workforce training dollars from Kirkwood Community College through the Iowa Industrial New Jobs Training Program. Sequin said those Kirkwood connections led to 46 new jobs supported by nearly $320,000 in training funds.

He also said MEDCO has engaged Cirrus at Iowa State University on manufacturing 4.0 assessments, and that the Entrepreneurial Development Center from Cedar Rapids is working with Marion companies on scalability assessments. Utility partners named in the presentation included Alliant Energy, Linn County REC and Mediacom.

On business attraction, Sequin said Marion is a finalist on two projects. “Project Flight” is an East Coast company proposing about 14 positions at $150,000–$200,000 salaries in roughly 4,000 square feet, with interest in the uptown area. “Project Compass” would use 2–4 acres, bring roughly 15 employees and about $15 million in capital investment; Sequin said Marion is the only community in the metro area under consideration for that project.

Sequin also reviewed a marketing effort to promote Marions Plaza Project to the Mid-America Economic Development Council; the submission placed second in a 13-state region. He showed Placer-based origin-destination data that MEDCO intends to use to recruit medical providers, arguing Marion draws patients from nearby towns and loses roughly 10,000 patient visits to Cedar Rapids, which he said supports outreach to clinics and specialty physicians.

Councilors responded with general praise for the collaborative approach between MEDCO, the Chamber, Uptown Marion and the city, and asked for quarterly distribution of MEDCOs tracking reports. Sequin offered to provide the quarterly snapshot and the teams project-tracking documents to council.

Why it matters: MEDCOs fundraising and recruitment work influence local job growth, property investment, and demand for infrastructure the city may need to support. Several council members emphasized the value of private-sector investment and cross-agency collaboration in advancing Marions economic goals.

Going forward: MEDCO will continue capital campaign outreach and provide quarterly metrics to the city; staff and councilors said they will remain engaged with finalist business recruitment efforts.