A group of national site consultants observed that our region boasts a strong and skilled labor pool, extensive experience in metals manufacturing, a wealth of legacy businesses and crucial access to raw materials during a recent Familiarization “Fam” Tour conducted by the Quad Cities Chamber. The group also said they were impressed with the cooperation between the two states for the betterment of our region.

Sydney August, CBRE, Los Angeles, CA; Andrew Ratchford, Site Selection Group, Greenville, SC; Monty Turner, Colliers, Atlanta, GA and Shelby Zaricor, Global Location Strategies, Greenville, SC, represent companies in the manufacturing, logistics and corporate office sectors. During the two-day tour, the group received an intimate look at what it’s like to do business in the Quad Cities by meeting with industry CEOs, community leaders and economic development partners. Also included in the tour were activities and experiences that make the Quad Cities a great place to live – including visits to local restaurants, recreational activities and a taste of the Alternating Currents Festival.

Turner said, “I’ve been impressed with the fact that local leaders wanted to talk to us, tell us about the communities here and what it’s like to do business here. It was evident that business leaders want to see the region grow.” He said that for most of his clients, quality of place becomes more and more important the further along they get in the site selection process. Once a site has ‘checked all the boxes,’ it comes down to understanding his clients’ company culture. “And that’s a hard metric to define. Can they see themselves in this community? Can they see themselves executing with this leadership team?”

When it comes to that abundant labor pool, Zaricor said that having workforce programs in place that companies can plug into is also a big benefit. She mentioned that John Deere has such programs in place. “If you’re looking for federal grant money, this is especially important.”

Other observations from the group included the type of land in the region, “Ag land is typically flatland,” said Zaricor. “I think that’s something that is really an advantage for you all.” She added, “Your history in manufacturing is also a huge selling point. Most manufacturers like to cluster around other manufacturers, so having that strong presence is a plus. And the low hanging fruit is logistics; your proximity to transportation is great.”

August mentioned her surprise at the longevity of the many large operations here, “Understanding the long-standing success of companies that you have here like John Deere, Sterilite and Oscar Meyer and all of these large employers is surprising – not to mention the specialty of the workforce.”

Ratchford commented about additional advantages, “Your several bridges, three Interstate crossings and proximity in terms of drivetime access to major markets. But really, access to the raw material is a huge benefit from minerals processing to cultivated meat products – things that are maybe a little outside of the norm.”

Turner said, “The fact that you are sitting in two states – that’s been really interesting to see. We’ve crossed the bridge a handful of times over the past 48 hours and I haven’t gotten a real feel for ‘now we’re in Illinois, now we’re in Iowa.’ It’s a very unique situation here. You don’t feel like you are separated by that state line. There are a lot of border cities nationally, and in a lot of those metros you definitely know when you’re across that state line, so this is really eye-opening.”

“The goal of the visit was to have the consultants walk away with a newfound knowledge and appreciation for the Quad Cities,” said Tami Petsche, Vice President, Business Attraction for the Chamber. “So when they have a client looking for a Midwest location, we are top of mind and first on their list of locations to investigate.”

Chris Caves, Vice President, Business Retention and Expansion, Workforce, at the Chamber added, “We were thrilled to hear from the site consultants that the Quad Cities is unique in the fact that we’ve been able to bring the right players to the table during the visit – CEOs and community leaders – in a completely organic and unscripted way.”

Petsche said that she felt the tour was a success, noting that one of the consultants even stayed through the weekend to attend the Alternating Currents festival. “When our four site consultants arrived, they had little previous knowledge of the area. They left with a very positive impression, which is exactly what we set out to do.”