The Business Record recently held the in-person conclusion to its Envision Iowa event series. The event focused specifically on analyzing the results of the second annual Envision Iowa Statewide Leaders Economic Outlook Survey. The survey is a research collaboration between Business Publications Corp. and Bâton Global and is designed to provide forward-looking data, analysis and actionable insights to a broad spectrum of decision-makers across Iowa. To digest the findings, the Business Record assembled a panel of speakers to provide their insights, along with a keynote address from Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Iowa Finance Authority, and Kavilash Chawla, partner at Bâton Global. Business Record staff writers shared their key takeaways from the event.

Here are the key takeaways from the event:

Create more targeted goals

Iowa is doing a good job of improving its infrastructure, Durham said, citing the groundbreaking ceremony for a new terminal at the Des Moines International Airport. But to continue to reach the state’s goals, “we have to get more targeted,” she said. “We have opened up thousands of new child care slots around the state, exposing our newest challenge: before- and after-school care,” Durham said. In Iowa, in 75% of households with children under the age of 6, both parents work outside the home, recent studies have shown. The percentage is the highest in the country. In addition, the state in recent years has lost one-third of its child care businesses. Iowa has hundreds of schools, “and the question should be, ‘Why aren’t we offering this service – before- and after-school care – there?’” In addition, the creation of more residences still remains a need. “New data shows we need 25,000 housing units to meet our goals by 2030,” Durham said. “That’s down from 42,000, which is great news, but it exposes a different challenge – a bulk of those 25,000 [residential units] need to be single-family houses.”

— Kathy A. Bolten

Iowa becoming more diverse

Iowa is becoming a more diverse state, Durham said. In the past decade, the number of minorities who live in the state has increased by 42%, she said. By 2026, Buena Vista County is expected to become the first county in Iowa where the majority of residents are not white. “Illinois is the only Midwestern state that has diversified faster than Iowa in recent years.” Durham said she frequently visits several communities each month during her travels throughout Iowa. “I see success stories everywhere I go,” she said. “But I also tend to see the same people and decision-makers sitting around the table that I saw 20 years ago. If we want to grow … our communities must understand not just what they want but who they are.”

— Kathy A. Bolten

Henry said he was surprised by the rural/urban divide on perceptions on diversity, equity and inclusion and whether work being done to achieve those goals was adequate. “I don’t claim to be an expert on DEI initiatives, so it was intriguing to observe that a majority of the leaders in the rural areas felt that the current strategies and practices were adequate. But our colleagues in the suburban and urban areas felt that we needed change and needed to work on it – that we didn’t have an adequate strategy.” Henry said the Mercy College of Health Sciences tries to mirror the Des Moines community. While it has achieved that on the student level, “on our staff and faculty, we have work to do, so we have to be intentional in our practices.”

— Michael Crumb

Workforce challenges

In June, the U.S. had 600,000 manufacturing jobs that were unfilled, Burt said. By 2030, it is estimated that there will be 2 million vacant manufacturing jobs. “That’s a serious issue when we look at how crucial it is to focus on industries that serve so many,” she said. A silver lining exists, though. Thanks to the pandemic, “manufacturing and global supply chain procurement was top of mind for everyone, as we waited for our Amazon packages and [items] from the grocery store,” she said. “People started to know how they received their products or packages. … That’s an opportunity to seize upon.” New data shows that an increasing number of students in high school, college and trade schools are registering for classes in manufacturing and supply chain procurement. “Companies like Kemin have an opportunity to bring people in to learn [about jobs through apprenticeships]. There’s a 90% chance that somebody who does an apprenticeship at a company will stay. That’s a huge opportunity.” 

— Kathy A. Bolten

Energy, transportation infrastructure need attention

Business leaders have noticed the money that is being put into expanding broadband in Iowa, Chawla said. The Bâton Global survey data indicates that leaders are generally pleased with the nearly $800 million committed toward that infrastructure goal in recent years. However, leaders have more worries about the energy and transportation segments of physical infrastructure, he said. “For a thriving Iowa in the future, more investment, more change needs to be made,” he said.

— Nicole Grundmeier

Nurse shortage is important to Iowa’s future

Iowa’s need for medical professionals will continue to grow throughout this decade, a trend deepened by the state’s older demographics, said Henry. Shortages of registered nurses are among the most acute evidence of a need for new strategies. State officials said there were more than 4,500 ads in the state for registered nurses in 2022, and the need is expanding, in all parts of the state, Henry said. Mercy College of Health Sciences has the state’s largest nursing program. He noted that conscious care is necessary to ensure access in underserved and rural parts of Iowa. Doing so will make it more likely for the state to prosper and attract and retain residents, he said: “If we can’t grow Iowa’s population over time, it’s going to become increasingly challenging to be able to build a thriving Iowa.”

— Nicole Grundmeier

Key takeaways from the report:

1. Leaders are cautiously optimistic about business opportunities, driven by a strong belief in the economic power of the state’s key industries.

2. Leaders are growing more concerned about population growth and meeting workforce needs across the state of Iowa, impacting their outlook and driving concerns on potential future declines to quality of life for Iowans.

3. Heavy investments in communications infrastructure in 2021 and 2022 are reflected in leaders’ optimistic outlook, also reflecting their concern for the need for heavy investment across social, energy and transportation infrastructure.

To download the full Envision Iowa report, go to businessrecord.com/envisioniowa.