TUESDAY, FEB. 5, 2019  |  IN THIS ISSUE  
 
A bird's-eye view of the new Sinclair Levee in NewBo. CREDIT CITY OF CR
Cedar Rapids city leaders on Monday offered a comprehensive update on the city's flood protection system, including a look at new components set to come online in 2019 and details on the city's bonding strategy.
 
Speaking to Cedar Rapids' Downtown Rotary club, Council Members Tyler Olson and Scott Overland and Flood Control Manager Rob Davis offered insights on the $750 million, 7.5-mile-long project that promises to protect both sides of the river from a flood with the same intensity as 2008's. The system will now stretch past Cedar Lake on the east side of the river, according to Mr. Davis, protecting the city's J Avenue Water Plant and more than 80 additional properties on its way to I-380.
 
Coming in 2019 will be the opening of the Steve Emerson-led Ellis Landings development on Ellis Boulevard, which incorporates flood protection, a new levy in Czech Village that will help protect all of the businesses in the Czech Village/NewBo area, and a $20 million floodwall at Quaker Oats, Mr. Davis said. He also showed a drawing of a design for a new plaza at the end of Fourth Avenue SE as an example of the subtle protection the city is hoping to install; this one would feature attractive architectural pillars made to hold removable flood panels in the event of rising waters.
 
"Those will be done in such a way to match the buildings, and so that you don't really see the system," he said. "What you see is the concert stage and things like that, which are really what the focal point will be."
 
Mr. Davis noted that improvements on the east side of the river are moving on a "very aggressive schedule," due to a January 2023 completion date set by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is helping fund the project. Improvements on the west side of the river will likely move more slowly, due to a 20-year funding horizon set by state bonding rules.

Describing the project as the "largest single construction project in Cedar Rapids history, and a huge undertaking for a city of our size," Mr. Olson said that city leaders are hoping to complete the project within 10-15 years, around 2033. If possible, it would allow the city to shave millions of dollars off the $750 million pricetag, which assumes 3.5 percent construction inflation each year through the next 20.
 
Mr. Olson said the budget the city council will consider in March includes a plan to bond $20 million a year for the next 10 years to help pay for the cost. He noted that the city's current levy of $15.21 has remained stable over the past decade, and that the increase, an estimated 22 cents per $1,000 in property value, will keep the city in the middle of the pack, relative to its peers in the state.
 
He added that council members are talking with "legislators from across the state" to see if they can change the state's statutory limit on bond lengths, now set at 20 years, lifted for major projects like this one.
 
"One [reason] is the project is going to be around for 100 years, so it seems a bit unfair to us that the residents of Cedar Rapids right now, or for the next 15-20 years, are paying the whole freight," Mr. Olson said. "The other is that the longer we can sell bonds for, the lower the increase in the levy rate has to be."
 
Mr. Olson said council members are pushing for a limit increase to 30 years, which he projected would lower the levy rate's increase from 22 cents to 15 cents.
 
He also responded to a concern from the audience that some residents with properties in downtown TIF districts would benefit disproportionately from the new flood protection system without paying taxes toward it. Mr. Olson noted that the city is only proposing to increase the city's debt service levy rate - not the general service levy rate - which applies to all properties in the city.
 
"So all of those properties are going to pay the increase on their full assessed value, not the TIF rate, which I think is important," he noted.
 
[This is the first in a new six-part series on the region's workforce challenges, available first to CBJ subscribers.] 
 
Workforce shortages were something Iowans had heard about during North Dakota's oil boom, or as Hawaii struggled to staff its soaring tourism industry, but it never seemed to be an "Iowa problem."
 
Indeed, the state's steadily expanding economy has long been cushioned from the highs and lows of economic cycles by its economic diversity, including agriculture, manufacturing and services. Yet without anything resembling a boom, Iowa has ridden a nine-year stretch of economic growth straight into the tightest labor supply in 18 years and one of the tightest job markets in the country.
 
By last December, even with a chill hitting the ag economy, Iowa's unemployment rate of 2.4 percent was the nation's lowest. The percentage of the state's adult residents who are employed, at 68.4 percent that month, ranked in the top 10.
 
The Corridor's job market has been even tighter, with the November unemployment rate in the Iowa City metro ranking as the second lowest in the country, at 1.5 percent, and the Cedar Rapids metro unemployment rate of 2.2 percent tied for 23rd-lowest.
 
Rather than reflecting a North Dakota-style boom in one sector or a Hawaii-style imbalance of pay and living costs, state officials say Iowa is struggling with a convergence of education, population, migration and economic trends.
 
One of the largest is a misalignment between the changing skill needs of employers and the patterns of educational attainment in the state. It's something Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend doesn't see changing even if the next economic downturn reduces the pressure to find workers.
 
"Almost three quarters of our jobs by 2025 will require some kind of postsecondary education," Ms. Townsend noted. "Even though there are fewer jobs when there is a recession, it doesn't mean those jobs will be low-skilled."
 
Couple the state's skill gap with tepid population growth and a slow pace of new workers moving into the state, and the labor force challenges begin to mount. Iowa's economic output lagged the nation last year as measured by Gross State Product, according to Nationwide Mutual Chief Economist David Berson.
 
"It's hard to find workers and it's hard to expand if you can't find workers," Mr. Berson said at the CBJ's recent 2019 Economic Forecast Luncheon. "Unless you can get more people here, it's going to be hard for the Iowa economy to expand as fast as the U.S. as a whole."
 
Read the full series launch in this week's print and digital editions of the CBJ, and look for the next installment on March 11. 
 
Waiting is inevitable, but a new study from the University of Iowa finds that people perceive their wait to be shorter if they think about things in more concrete detail while they're stuck in line.

The study, which suggests strategies  business managers can use to reduce customer aggravation while waiting in line,  found that thinking in more detailed and concrete terms causes people to perceive wait times to be shorter than those who think in more general, abstract ways. 
 
Study co-author Alice Wang , a marketing professor in the UI's Tippie College of Business, says the study suggests this is because those who think more abstractly have fewer things to think about and start to feel bored, then infer they must have waited a long time. P eople who think more concretely, by contrast, are more easily distracted by thoughts unrelated to their wait and feel like time passes by quickly.
 
The researchers conducted a series of experiments to see how people perceive wait times based on their way of thinking, and if that way of thinking can be changed to influence their perception of how much time passed during their wait. In one experiment, researchers randomly surveyed diners as they entered a restaurant. One group of patrons was asked a line of questions designed to make them think in more universal, abstract terms ("tell us what comes to mind when you think about this coffee shop: taste, convenience, or environment"). The other line of questions made them think in more concrete details ("tell us what comes to mind when you think about the coffee shop: it has tasty sandwiches; it is located close to classrooms and labs; or the tables and chairs are clean and the decorations are nice").
 
After eating, surveyors asked the diners to estimate how much time they'd been waiting. Ms. Wang says those who were prompted to think in more concrete terms consistently estimated the wait to have taken less time than those who were thinking more abstractly.

Ms. Wang says managers can reduce customer aggravation by distracting them from their wait and encouraging them to think about concrete details. They could decorate the premises with photos or tchotchkes, or use the color red, which previous studies suggest leads people to focus on concrete details rather than global stimuli.

Ms. Wang's study, "How Long Did I Wait? The Effect of Construal Levels on Consumers' Wait Duration Judgments," was published in the Journal of Consumer Research. Her co-authors are Jiewen Hong and Rongrong Zhou of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
 
Brad Hart
Cedar Rapids Mayor Brad Hart will present the annual State of the City address on Feb. 20 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Cedar Rapids Convention Complex.
 
The annual luncheon, which gives the mayor a platform to outline the goals and challenges ahead, is hosted by the League of Women Voters Linn County.  
 
Last year's event paid early tribute to  the 10th annive rsary of the 2008  flood that reshaped the city; touched on the need for  economic development, infrastructure improvemen ts, workforce housing and flood protection; and underlined the city's commitment  to supporting local employers.
   
A table for 10 is available for $400 and individual tickets are available for $40. Sponsorship opportunities are also available, with options beginning at $500. 
 
For more information or to reserve a table, visit  www.lwvlinncounty.org. 

[Correction: We mistakenly published the names of last year's All Stars of ICR honorees in yesterday's Business Daily newsletter. We are rerunning the story this morning with the correct information, and apologize for any confusion caused.]
 
Kirkwood Community College has announced the winners of its 2019 All Stars of ICR awards, all of whom will be honored at a luncheon in May.

The program honors young people making an impact in Eastern Iowa's key industries and brings occupations with shortages to the forefront in an effort to grow the region's talent pipelines.

Since 2011 the college has been part of Iowa's sector partnership initiative, which brings together educational institutions, community partners, workforce developers and businesses within the same industry to overcome workforce challenges. Kirkwood belongs to the six partnerships from key industries in Eastern Iowa: advanced manufacturing; architecture, construction and engineering; financial service, insurance and customer service; health care; information technology; and transportation and logistics.

This year's honorees include:
  • Advanced Manufacturing: Sandra Hawes, Clickstop
  • Transportation: Nicholas Fisher, Thompson Truck & Trailer
  • ACE: Matt Doubet, Woodruff Construction
  • ACE: Duncan MacDougall, Price Electric
  • Advanced Manufacturing: Katie Wagner, World Class Industries
  • Health care: Jared Murphy, UnityPoint Health - St.Luke's Hospital
  • IT: Randall Pugh, Collabrance LLC
  • Financial Services/Customer Service: Kyla Pfeiler, City of Hiawatha
  • Transportation: Lewis Minehart, Don Hummer Trucking
  • Health care: Teresa Young, UnityPoint Health - St.Luke's Hospital
  • IT: Alex McCaslin, ProCircular Inc.
  • Financial Services/Customer Service: Kayla Crawford, UFG Insurance
  • All Star Junior: Elisah Sir-Louis, Kirkwood Regional Center at the University of Iowa, Advanced Manufacturing Academy
  • All Star Junior: Jake Nietfeldt, ACE Student Built House Project
  • All Star Junior: Cullen Klebe, ACE Student Built House Project
  • All Star Junior: Lia Weiner, ACE Student Built House Project
  • All Star Junior: George Marcy, ACE Student Built House Project
  • All Star Junior: Pallavi Gopalakrishna, ACE Student Built House Project
 
Feb. 5
Business Startup Basics, by SCORE of East Central Iowa and Kirkwood Community College, 6-8 p.m., Kirkwood Linn County Regional Center, 1770 Boyson Road, Hiawatha. This three-night series will explore the basic steps in starting a business. The first night will cover entrepreneurship, financing and marketing. Cost: $59, covers all three nights. To register, visit scorecr.org.

Feb. 6
1 Million Cups, by 1MC Cedar Rapids, 8:15-9:15 a.m., Geonetric, 415 12th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids. Join for community connections, free coffee, and presentations by entrepreneurs, established companies, experts and more. Free. For more information, visit facebook.com/1MCICR.

1 Million Cups, by 1MC Iowa City, 9-10 a.m., MERGE, 136 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. Join for community connections, free coffee, and presentations by entrepreneurs, established companies, experts and more. Free. For more information, visit facebook.com/1MillionCupsIC/.

Siren Wednesday, by ImpactCR, 5-7 p.m., Fong's Pizza, 1006 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids. Meet other young professionals at this casual, after-work social at Economic Alliance-member bars and restaurants. Held the first Wednesday of each month. Free.

Feb. 7
Wake Up Marion, by Marion Chamber of Commerce, 8-9 a.m., Anderson-Bogert Engineers & Surveyors, 1138 Seventh Ave., Ste. A, Marion. Get to know the team at Anderson-Bogert while enjoying casual conversation with other Marion chamber members. Free. To register, visit bit.ly/2GJPLhW.

Six Keys to a Winning Team, by SCORE of East Central Iowa, 6:30-8 p.m., Linn Area Credit Union, 3375 Seventh Ave., Marion. Explore strategies for building and fostering teamwork at your business. Free. To register, visit scorecr.org.

Feb. 8
Health Care Summit, by the Corridor Business Journal, 7:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Cedar Rapids Marriott, 1200 Collins Road NE. This event will examine national health policy issues and refocus them to the regional level through speakers and panel discussions. Topics include total worker health, the opioid epidemic and insurance plan design. Tickets: $65, or $585 for a table of 10. For more information, visit corridorbusiness.com/events.  
Word on the street

Forward the FREE CBJ Business Daily newsletter to your friends and colleagues, and share the feeling of being informed! Use our fast, one-minute subscription to the CBJ's newsletters here, or check out our other subscription options here.

See something we missed? Send tips, leads, corrections, etc. to [email protected].
Headlines from CBS2/FOX 28
These news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28  
 
More than two years after a crippling police shooting, Jerime Mitchell and his attorneys are demanding to see more records kept confidential by Cedar Rapids Police - and the Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments on it today.  Mr. Mitchell was shot during a traffic stop by Officer Lucas Jones in November 2016. Police dash cam footage shows Officer Jones trying to detain Mr. Mitchell when the two men scuffled and Mr. Mitchell tried to get away. As he began to speed away from the scene, Officer Jones, still clinging to Mr. Mitchell, opened fire, paralyzing him from the neck down. Mr. Mitchell's pickup crashed a short time later near Coe College.  An investigation, including a review of the evidence by a grand jury, found that Officer Jones acted appropriately and no charges were filed. Since then, Mr. Mitchell has filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Cedar Rapids and Officer Jones. The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments today over confidential records a lower court ruled police must hand over to Mr. Mitchell's attorneys. Iowa law allows certain police records to remain under seal, but Mr. Mitchell's attorneys argue that without seeing all of the evidence, a cloud will continue to hang over the night in question.

A state senator from Iowa City announced he will propose legislation that would legalize and regulate recreational marijuana.  State Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, introduced his Ending Iowa Marijuana Prohibition bill in a press conference on Monday.  Under the proposal, marijuana would be regulated and taxed like alcohol and could only be purchased by adults 21 and over.  "The 80 million Americans living in the states that already regulate marijuana like alcohol live just like we do here in Iowa," Mr. Bolkcom said in a release. "The only difference is that adults in those states can legally purchase and consume marijuana, a product that is less addictive and lethal than alcohol." Mr. B olkcom pointed out that border states Minnesota and Illinois are moving toward legal marijuana, and Iowa could leave jobs and tax dollars on the table if it doesn't follow suit.

T hese news items are provided by CBS2/FOX 28 
CBS2 Chief Meteorologist Terry Swails' Weather First Forecast

A few systems will move through Eastern Iowa this week and lead to a mixed bag of precipitation. Then it will be cooler and calmer to start the weekend.  Clouds build back in this morning ahead of the next system. Temperatures will be below freezing at the surface, but up above us - in the mid-levels of the atmosphere - temperatures will be warmer and above freezing. As a result, a wintry mix of freezing rain/sleet will develop in the afternoon for much of the area. Ice accumulations are possible, which would lead to some travel impacts especially for the evening commute. Further north and near of Highway 20, snow may mix in with accumulations up to an inch possible. High temperatures will generally be in the 20s to 30. The wintry mix will move out by 9-10 p.m.