Hickey Global to help Chamber tackle site readiness

Hickey Global Economic Development Consulting, a full-service economic development consulting firm, has been chosen by the Chamber to develop a regional site readiness strategy and implementation plan for economic development in our region. David Hickey, Managing Director of Hickey & Associates, and Barry Matherly, President & CEO of Hickey Global, toured sites in both Iowa and Illinois. They also conducted a site readiness workshop for the Chamber and its economic development partners. 

Hickey Global's first impressions of the Chamber's tour were positive. “I thought it was one of the most well-organized, well-thought-out site tours that I've done to date," said David Hickey. "The incredible amount of knowledge and preparation of everyone that we met along the way - it just shows the passion that is here." Hickey was also pleased to see County, City and representatives from local utilities present at the workshop. “We heard today that regionalism and community is important. The question is how can we work together? How can we develop this together and see that from a partner perspective?"

“We spent a great day out yesterday," said Barry Matherly. "And we saw a lot of success in your speculative sites. You have an incredible shell-building process in the area. This shows you have real faith in your community." 

Peter Tokar III, Chamber President and CEO, said that the decision to utilize Hickey Global is an important step in the process. "We are bringing in certified professionals who can help us build our plan for the future. It's important to the Board and to our investors and stakeholders that we remain as competitive as we can as a region." Tokar emphasized that many factors go into the competitiveness of a region. "Site readiness is high on the list as a priority. We have to have developable sites to win projects. Taking an inventory of what we have in the region and knowing what the constraints are for development is a very important part of the process."