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Initiatives

NEW TEACHER LUNCHEON: August 10

Our annual New Teacher Luncheon welcomes all the teachers who are new to the Iowa City area, or newly hired at a Johnson County school. We believe education is critical to our mission of making Johnson County the best place to live, work, and learn. If we want to continue to grow and strengthen our community, we need a strong, innovative education system to develop our homegrown talent. On behalf of the Iowa City area business community, thank you for all you do!

innovation in education

The Innovation in Education Awards are jointly presented by the Iowa City Area Business Partnership and the Iowa City Area Development Group. The annual awards ceremony honors the educators, students, and classroom programs that model the future of K-12 education.

The awards were presented on Wednesday, April 27th at The Englert Theatre.

 

This event is sponsored by the following:

shop the block - coralville

Join us for our first ever Shop the Block event in Coralville! Shop local with us from 4:30 to 6:30 pm, and visit our members on the block! Participating member businesses include: West Music, Images Salon, Dwell Home Furnishings, Elegance on 5th, Radiant Boutique by Rhi, Pat & Fran’s Irish Pub, and The Mansion. 

Grab a passport and visit all businesses to be entered to win door prizes at the end of the event. (Must be present to win).

project better together

Project Better Together aims to build a transformed future for our community with greater economic diversity, growth, inclusivity, resilience, and well-being for all. Led by The Iowa City Area Business Partnership, Iowa City Area Development Group, Think Iowa City, and the Iowa City Downtown District, this community-wide recovery effort includes leaders from the four partner organizations, all three hospitals, the school district, area non-profits, social services, private business, and elected officials from all levels of government.

Affordable Child Care

Currently, Iowa has one of the worst rates of accessibility to quality child care with a shortfall of 361,677 child care spaces throughout the state. In Johnson County, that shortfall is almost 13,000 spaces, and about 50-70 children are on a waitlist at the Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County at any one time. It is clear to see that there is a crisis occurring, and that is why we have partnered with the Iowa Women’s Foundation to help solve this problem. In September 2019, we hosted the IWF for a Child Care Solutions Summit. From that summit, several teams of Johnson County stakeholders, including members of the Business Partnership & ICAD Group staffs, formed around the areas of Building & Expanding Childcare Centers, Child Care Entrepreneurs, Businesses & Child Care, and Before & After School Programs. These teams are working to address these issues, and are reporting back to the Iowa Women’s Foundation on a regular basis.

Read our Op-ed piece published in the Iowa City Press-Citizen on July 16, 2020.

Buy Here

Buy Here is a local economic development initiative of the Iowa City Area Business Partnership to strengthen our local economy through increased business-to-business purchasing. If every business in Johnson County shifted just 5% of their out-of-area spending, the change would result in approximately $95 million for our community. The program has brought over $6 million into the Johnson County area. 

2017 One District. One Bond. Campaign to Pass the ICCSD General Obligation Bond

The Business Partnership, then known as the Chamber of Commerce, lead the charge to pass the 2017 General Obligation Bond for the Iowa City Community School District. We supported the passage of this bond because it aligns with our mission of fostering a better business environment. Many employers in our area cite recruiting and retaining talent as their number one challenge. Improvements to our schools’ infrastructure is necessary to attract the skilled workforce needed today and train the workforce of tomorrow.

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