IADG Awarded Grant for U.S. 20 Corridor Development Strategy
IADG received an award from the USDA RD Rural Business Development Grant program to conduct site assessment and marketing study for business parks and sites along U.S. Highway 20. The four locations to be studied include sites in Grundy, Hamilton, Calhoun and Sac Counties.
The US 20 Corridor Analysis and Strategy will evaluate at a minimum, 4 locations adjacent to US Hwy 20 across northcentral Iowa. Each of these sites has been identified by the local rural electric cooperative and telecommunication providers including:
- Corn Belt Power Cooperative
- Grundy County REC
- Webster City Municipal Utilities
- Calhoun County Electric Cooperative Association
- Raccoon Valley Electric Cooperative
- Platinum Connect, LLC
- Stratford Mutual Telephone Company
- Corn Belt Telephone Company
- Webster Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association
The focus of the project will be to develop a Marketing Strategy for the US 20 sites that will consist of a Research, Planning, and Marketing strategy for each site and aggregated into one document.
The Research focus will incorporate a review of:
- Location, zoning and land use
- Existing and planned utilities
- Infrastructure consideration, investment, and optimal locations
- Transportation, including traffic counts, modes, investments (current and future)
- Evaluation of current tenants and their industry (NAICS Codes)
- Complementary businesses
- Site expansion opportunities
Marketing Strategy
- Location details and specifications
- Strategic advantages
- Targeted industry clusters (NAICS Codes)
- Digital Marketing Efforts
- Potential Spec Facilities
- Incentives Overview
The overall goal of this Strategy is to develop a consistent plan along the US
Hwy 20 Corridor to market existing sites and promote opportunities for new or emerging business within the locations identified and researched. This effort will allow development professionals’ critical information and tools to promote the active sites. Initial meetings are underway with an expected completion date of the assessment mid-year 2025.