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The Big Muddy Cup 2018 Top Metros_Greater Dubuque Development Corporation Copyrighted March 18, 2019 City of Dubuque Presentation(s) # 3. ITEM TITLE: The Big Muddy Cup 2018 Top Metros SUMMARY: Greater Dubuque Development Corporation PresidenUCE) Rick Dickinson will present on the Big Muddy Cup 2018 Top Metros from the March 2019 Site Selection Magazine. SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: ATTACHMENTS: Description Type Muddy Cup Supporting Documentation From Site Selection magazine,March 1079 �"�. ' } .,n��; �. qi` �d,:�i� 8 "''i., p�.,�+ ti �s '�� " �W c., �� =v � r+j ��i�i � '�� 'S Steady As She Goes � � -�a� , ,r � �, �' �- �""`� „ � �, >., , ? ' « s by ADAM BRUNS �` ��rv-� �� a � x�'�.;? � ,X .' Earning the trophy it last won five years ago is a tribute to �t� �,,��, ?� '� "F"� . � x Dubuque'senduringallure. *� �` �� � r'��` �"` �be , !. You knowa project is nearlycompletewhen iYstimeto hang �•„ j, '"��' your shingle outside. �'� � . �S;'� �-�� . . . ThaYs what happened in November 2018 at the new . manufacturing plant that Dubuque,lowa-based furniture � . manufacturer Flexsteel Industries had been building since _ �, October 2017 in the town it moved to from Minnesota in the t�i � � �'� � 1930s.The project meant the retention of 200jobs. � At t he October 20ll g rou nd brea ki ng for the 525-m i I I ion The Mrssrssrppr Rruer Flows rnto the GulfofMexrco. facility,company leaders remarked on the move from the Photo assemblage usrng NASA rmagery.Getty Imagas place theyd called home for 80 years.But they also made a point of not abandoning that past. In addition to constructing the new facility,Flexsteel donated nearly 52J million and � � acresoflandthatencompassesthecurrentJackson5treetfacilitytoDubuquelnitiatives, _= a non-profit corporation dedicated to the revitalization of downtown Dubuque. _ �f 4 , "Most companies, most communities,would turn their backon what is left behind;'said Rick Dickinson, president and CEO of Greater Dubuque Development Corporation,"but notFlexsteelandnotDubuque.ThiscommitmenttoleavetheJackson5treetsitebetter -.� thantheyfounditisagifttofuturegenerations" � � �� , - ;:�� Thisyear's Big Muddy Cup,awarded tothe leading metro area along the entire --� , Mississippi Rivercorridor in per-capita corporatefacility investments like Flexsteel's, ' goes to Greater Dubuque,which tallied 12 projects qualifying for our Conway Projects Databaseoverthel8-monthperiodthatendedinDecember2018.Mostofthose � i- projectsarefromcompaniesthatidentifywiththecommunityafteralongtimegetting � to know it. New Digs, Same Roots � Dickinson says the former Flexsteel site goes back some 120 years. � "Brunswick made pool tables and back bars and pianos,and it used to be a RrckDrckrnson,Prasrdent&CEO, roundhouse;'hesays."Thatprojectwasanovernightsuccessthatbeganabouttwo- GreaterDubuqueDeuelopmentCorp and-a-halfyears ago,with our InfoAction business retention and expansion program. We sit down with around 300 employers everyyear and usethe Synchronist software from Blane,Canada to address problems orjump on opportunities.The principals shared that theywere going to have to make some changes,that their production facility was aging out and inefficient.So they had to make some hard choices.That began a conversation:' The city,county,company and state were able to assemble a deal that moved Flexsteel into a smaller, more efficientfacility,while pooling some 56 million to clean up and repurposethe old site. Flexsteel is domiciled in Dubuque,and 10 years ago also built a home office as an anchor for the refurbished waterfront.The redeveloped site on Jackson Street"will open up 43 acres on the north side,not far from our largest employer John Deere Dubuque Works;'he says. Another growing Dubuque presencewith a slightlyshorter history in town is Medline Industries,the 59.3-billion medical device and equipment distribution company based in the Chicago area that is adding just over 100jobs and investing nearly 520 million in a 130,000-sq.-ft. (12,077-sq.-m.)customer support center in the city-owned Dubuque Industrial Center West. Medline already employed more than 480 at its other Dubuque facility,which it will vacate for the new space that more than doubles TH E B I G MU D DY CU P its footprint,while adding employee amenities.Medline's first office 2018 TO P METRO S in the area opened in 2000 with 25 employees,after one of the principals in the company was driving by Dubuque on the way to visit BY PROJECTS PER CAPITA family nearby and liked what he saw. METRO AREA PROJE(TS PER MILLION "Theyare a true success story;'says Dickinson."The operations INHABITANTS(projecttotal) manager Renee Poppe is a star.Customer service centers in this day � Dubuque,lowa 124(12) and age are tough to staff—some have over 100-percent turnover 2 glytheville,Ark. 113(5) yeartoyear.Thisfacilityhaslessthan10-percentturnover.Theculture 3 Union(ity,Tenn.-Ky. 108(4) is phenomenal:' 4 Hannibal,Mo. 102(4) Asked aboutthe location decision,Dmitry Dukhan,vice president TS NatcheZ,Miss.-�a. 51(3) of real estate for Medline Industries,tells Site Selection that"after a TS Baton Rouge,�a. 51(47) national search we decided to expand in Dubuque,as our team is T7 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island,lowa-III. 44(17) superior and the city and region are great:' T7 St.�ouis,Mo.-III. 44(122) 9 New Orleans-Metairie,�a. 43(54) Support for the new investment includes training funds through �0 (linton,lowa 42(2) Northeast lowa Community College(NICC),which has a campus in Peosta, lowa (part of the Greater Dubuque area),as well as satellite Sourre:(onwayProjertsDatabase facilities in Dubuque proper.That institution is expanding its facilities as well as the range of its apprenticeship programs. TheFrenchConnection THE BIG MUDDY CUP As it happens,a Peosta neighborto NICC is also growing.Camso—a 2018 TOP METRO S makerof tracked agricultural and off-road equipment formerly known BY TOTAL PROJECTS as Camoplast Solideal and,since late 2018,a part of Michelin— announced it would relocate from its old Peosta site to a new facility METROAREA PROJE(TS all the way across the street. 1 St.Louis,Mo:III. 122 Camsos original location happened around the time Dickinson � Minneapolis-St.Paul-Bloomington,Minn.-Wis. 13 first came to Dubuque in 1995,and originally was focused on work 3 New Orleans-Metairie,�a. 54 for fellow Quebec company Bombardier making tracks for Skidoo 4 Baton Rouge,�a. 47 snowmobiles.TheplacetheylandedinPeostaisveryclosetothe 5 Memphis,Tenn.-Miss.-Ark. 43 hometown of the founder of Dubuque,French-Canadian Julien 6 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island,lowa-III. 17 Dubuque,whose original home was not far from the original 7 Dubuque,lowa 12 Camoplast home base in Trois-Rivieres,Quebec. 8 Blytheville,Ark. 5 T9 Hannibal,Mo. 4 Asked if that connection was part of choosing Dubuque,Dickinson T9 St.Cloud,Minn. 4 says,"We kidded about it a lot.It certainlydidn't hurt.There was great chemistry between the culture of Dubuque and the company. It just T9 Union(ity,Tenn.-Ky. 4 seemed to be right from the beginning:' Sourre:(onwayDrojertsDatabase Small Town, Big Plans Dickinson says the pillars of Greater Dubuque Development Corporation's success include such things as business retention and expansion;recruitment and marketing; Startup Dubuque and sustainable innovations, but"the most importantthing we do right now is workforce solutions;'including an upskilling program called Opportunity Dubuque. The Greater Dubuque area's population is around 98,000.Reaching 100,000 by 2022 is one of the goals for one of the fastest-growing areas in lowa,where Dickinson says median income is rising dramatically compared to the rest of the state.He wants to see the workforce grow from 60,800 today to over 64,000. But he also recognizes how far the area has come from its low point in 1984,when there was 23 percent unemployment and only around 37,000 were working in the metro area. The differenw wastalented leadership,says Dickinson as `� .:_ �y� �, ,� ���: � r ��_''� Iocalsintheearly1990stiredofcitycouncilmeetingsthat " � �" �� {4 - F � � +.� °IookedlikeaprecursortotheJerrySpringer5how. People ��` r� -'tl�i�,� ��g�' �' ;�""' °�� � " stepped up and said,'We need to bring civilityto the table.' " �,� q '-� � 1� In1993theyhiredMikeVanMilligentohisfirstjobasacity ���' i E I + � manager. He's been selected by his peers as the finest city ���;',(���"�y� �� ��. � r a_ �� manager in the world,and in 2018 he wlebrated his 25th �� 99 ��� �p1� anniversary. " �9 � ' I ° 6 - °Ibejust been hereforthe ride;says Dickinson, noting his :�� offiw's location in the city's historic millworkdistrict,part � -_ � . ofa rejwenated downtown notfarfrom a rejwenated C �/� riverfront.°And 85 perwnt of the growth has been from ��' existing business. IYs really an excitingtimeto be in this community.' �� � .� Camso and town offidalsgathered forsome BBQandsomespeechesat Camsos r'rbbon-cutt'mg 'rn 6reaterDubuque 'rn October Photo courteryofCamso Adam Bruns Managing Editor ofSite Selection magazine Adam Bruns has served as managing editor of Site Selection magazine since February 2002. In the course of reporting hundreds of stories for Site Selection,Adam has visited companies and communities around the globe.A St. Louis native who grew up in the Kansas City suburbs, Adam is a 1986 alumnus of Knox College,and resided in Chicago; Midcoast Maine;Savannah, Georgia;and Lexington, Kentucky, before settling in the Greater Atlanta community of Peachtree Corners,where he liveswith his wife and daughter.