Plus, Greater Iowa City CEO shares update on ICAD, ICABP merger
Greater Iowa City Inc. recently completed renovations on Merge, a coworking space in downtown Iowa City, and has updated its mission to help meet the needs of Johnson County’s businesses after COVID.
Since opening in 2017, Merge has centered on serving early-stage entrepreneurs and connecting them to resources to help launch their businesses.
But following the 2023 merger of Iowa City Area Development and Iowa City Area Business Partnership that formed Greater IC, the new public-private organization saw the space with “fresh eyes,” President and CEO Nancy Bird told the Business Record.
The organization surveyed its business investors last spring asking what they needed from the new entity. She said some of the feedback raised awareness that existing smaller businesses that are working to scale need better access to resources.
“We looked at what we had at Merge and how we could really build out the space and add programming to it with business resources,” Bird said. “We have such great resources [in] Johnson County, we just really need to celebrate them and then let people know that you can actually walk in and talk to someone with a specific expertise and get served.”
A new Business Resource Center located inside Merge will provide free support in core business areas like human resources, IT, accounting and legal in addition to its entrepreneurial services.
Greater IC staff as well as local nonprofit and private sector partners will be available to provide walk-in support for businesses at any stage.
Bird said part of the goal is to be a “one-stop shop” and help reduce confusion around what organizations provide which resources to businesses.
“Sometimes it’s helpful to walk in, see, talk to people and feel like you don’t have to have an appointment and you could actually get service right in that stop,” she said. “We’re trying to make things a little bit easier for businesses to understand how to work through a number of different systems and different programs and work with different partners in our county.”
Greater IC is finalizing partnerships that will support the Business Resource Center, but an opening date has not been set.
As a multiuse space, the renovations to Merge focused on improving wayfinding, Bird said.
There is now a formal lobby (pictured above) that will help visitors see where to go for an event or to connect with business services. Merge will house Greater IC’s staff offices as part of the Business Resource Center’s operations.
Other renovations have restructured the space and added seating so coworking guests can still navigate the building well during public events. Also new are more private spaces to have virtual meetings.
“When you have prime space in downtown Iowa City, you want to use every single inch of it you can. This really allows for us to bring in more programming and really activate the hub,” Bird said.
From Merge to merger
Apart from the updates to Merge, focuses for Greater IC recently are on finalizing the logistics of its merger and setting its priorities for 2025, Bird said.
Previously, Iowa City Area Business Partnership (ICABP) served as the chamber of commerce supporting smaller businesses, and Iowa City Area Development (ICAD) had focused on economic development since it spun off of the chamber in 1984.
Last year’s merger is now “pulling them all back together” to use their networks to benefit Johnson County’s entire business community, Bird said.
She said becoming one organization again has clarified its role in the county and how it communicates its mission and direction.
“There was a lot of overlap in boards before. When you have boards with the same people on it doing slightly different things, it’s not as helpful as if you’re bringing all those people together under a really targeted direction,” she said. “We’ve heard … that it’s a little less muddy, a little clearer on what path we’re taking.”
Although ICABP and ICAD did similar work, Bird said integrating the operations and services of both organizations needed focus over the last year.
“This is the stuff we don’t talk about a lot, but both the organizations had different fiscal years, all of our systems behind the scenes [are] trying to go from two systems to one,” she said.
Greater IC is preparing to share more details on its course for 2025 this fall, but Bird said she sees opportunities for the organization to get the county “growing in the same direction,” which means working closer with community stakeholders and investors.
Part of the merger has been strengthening Greater IC’s partnership with Better Together 2030 by adding Better Together’s Executive Director Cady Gerlach to Greater IC’s leadership team.
Better Together is a community development corporation that has developed a strategic plan and vision for the future of the Johnson County region. It can receive charitable funding and federal, state and local grants that complement Greater IC’s nonprofit structure, Bird said.
is a community development corporation, which can receive charitable funding and federal, state and local grant opportunities that complement Greater IC’s nonprofit structure, Bird said.
She said Greater IC’s network has also expressed support for targeted private investment to increase the county’s resiliency as a region.
“We are looking at very specific areas of Johnson County that we believe that we can bring private investment to to help support emerging commercial neighborhoods get off the ground, and some of them that are struggling or need some support, we can shine a light on those areas with some of the tools we now have,” she said.
Greater IC’s annual meeting is set for Nov. 21 in Coralville.
