Annual Meeting celebrates successes of FY24

The Quad Cities Chamber celebrated major accomplishments over the last year including business expansion projects totaling $122.7 million in economic impact, launching the Generation Next program to inspire board and community service in the QC, and successfully advocating for introduction of the ONSHORE Act in the U.S. House.

Outgoing FY24 Board Chair, Mara Downing, Global Brand Management and Corporate Communications, Deere & Company said, “At the beginning of my tenure as Board Chair, I shared a bold future for our region – one where we collaborated and maximized our partnerships to drive results for our region. I challenged us to anchor our work in economic growth and regionalism. I’m proud to say we made great progress and have wins to celebrate.”

“The Chamber saw a number of successes throughout the last year. From development and expansion projects coming to fruition throughout the region – like our Amazon Fulfilment Center becoming fully operational - to the quality of place initiatives that continue to build and support our vibrant downtowns, the Quad Cities is poised for its next phase of growth,” said Chamber President and CEO, Peter Tokar III.

Highlights from FY24 (July 2023-June 2024) included:

Business & Economic Growth  

• Achieved 5 major economic development wins, representing a total economic impact of $122.7M with 120 new jobs and 92 retained jobs.
  • Provided project management and financial incentive support to Astro America resulting in a business expansion.
  • Supported Cadorath Uniflyte’s expansion project, bringing new jobs to Henry County.
  • Assisted Parr Instrument Company with their expansion project marking their 125^th anniversary.
  • Celebrated Ranews’ expansion in the Quad Cities, with an investment of machinery and equipment at their new Davenport location.
  • Marked River Cities Engineering’s expansion to a new location in Davenport, adding 10,000 square feet to its production space, a new training facility and new jobs.
• Marked the full launch of the Amazon Robotics Fulfillment Center.
• Contracted with Hickey Global, an international site selection firm, to conduct a Regional Site Readiness Study addressing the need for development ready Sites in our 6-county region. This study looks at the current inventory of sites in the region as well as outlines an action plan to move the needle forward. 
• Participated in 235 out-of-market outreach connections for business attraction and 519 business resource assists.
• Celebrated 74 business ribbon cuttings.

Workplace & Talent Development

• Launched Generation Next, a fourth-month program helping individuals become involved in the QC community through board and committee service.
• Hosted the first Student Success Symposium, connecting 160+ local high school students and nearly 30 Quad Cities employers for future career paths.
• Continued the momentum with High School Apprenticeship Signing Day, where 66 Quad Cities students signed letters of intent to launch careers in the QC at 20 employers.

Quality of Place

• Grew Alternating Currents to over 200 performances across 30 venues in Davenport, Bettendorf and Rock Island.
• Downtown Bettendorf Organization (DBO)
  • Awarded $51.8K in grant dollars to four businesses leveraging $362.2K in private investment for the year.
  • Celebrated new businesses: The Beauty Vault, Evolution Martial Arts, Organic Ends and Siam Thai Café.
• Downtown Davenport Partnership
  • Celebrated $42.4M invested in 8 projects, among them: Bowstring Lofts, Federal Pointe Apartments, The Garrison, Great River Brewery, The Last Picture House and MLK Park.
  • Recognized 26 new or expanded businesses with $160K awarded in commercial infrastructure grants, leveraging $1.5M of additional private investment. 
• Rock Island Downtown Alliance (RIDA)
  • Celebrated the groundbreaking of the City of Rock Island’s $8.7M downtown public infrastructure project.
  • Launched the downtown Ambassador program and partnered with the Rock Island Police Department to help keep downtown clean, safe and welcoming.  
  • Tracked boots-on-the-ground activities through a mobile app:
    • 1,885 visitor greetings, 507 public safety logs, 89 street outreach encounters, 73 street outreach referrals and 66 calls for service
    • 721 bags of litter collected (31,724 gallons); 177 pet waste bags collected; 329 block faces of weed and snow/ice abatement

Strong Chamber  

• Launched a new Membership & Events department, adding sales people and an engagement team to better serve our members.
• Welcomed 132 new members bringing the total number of members to 1,148.
• Hosted 48 events with 3,532 attendees.
• Successfully led a bi-partisan effort to introduce to the U.S. House the ONSHORE Act with help from Congress Members Miller-Meeks and Sorenson to support economic development through the creation of a new critical supply chain site development grant.
• Advocated to get Illinois legislation introduced to create the Middle Income Housing Tax Credit and enhance the Brownfield program, as well as defeated the elimination of the tip credit for restaurants.
• Supported efforts to reduce Iowa State income tax, improve work-based learning funding and create the Major Economic Growth and Attraction (MEGA) program.
• Held 403 individual conversations with legislators and tracked 96 pieces of legislation relevant to business.
• Hosted two successful and well-attended trips with business leaders to our Illinois and Iowa state capitols, and to Washington DC, to advocate for state and federal legislative priorities.
• Supported RIADA (Rock Island Arsenal Defense Alliance) successes.