IMEG pledges support for Keep It QC, doing business locally

A pet peeve of at least one Quad Cities business leader is seeing out-of-town contractors on local roads during his morning commute to work.

“We’ve really got to learn to support one another,” IMEG Corp. President & CEO Paul VanDuyne said at the Quad Cities Chamber 2020 Annual Celebration. “I think if we can bring that point home, where we do support each other and build our tax base up, it will make for a prosperous Quad Cities.”

Dedicated to facilitating business growth and creating a prosperous regional economy where all can thrive, the Chamber recently launched Keep It QC, an initiative designed to bring awareness to the power of doing business locally. Buying local has many tangible economic benefits for the region, in addition to helping area businesses rebound faster from the financial impact of COVID-19.

As VanDuyne pointed out, when individual consumers and organizations buy goods and services from businesses in the Quad Cities, it increases the region’s gross regional product (GRP), an indicator of an area’s economic health. It simultaneously supports local roads, schools, parks, police and fire departments and other community upgrades because local firms pay taxes, employ local workers and help fund local city, county and state coffers. 

When it comes to doing business, VanDuyne said, IMEG prioritizes local companies for a variety of services, including the production of educational and marketing materials. The local team is also committed to using the Quad City International Airport for business travel.

“If we use our airport, it has the opportunity to grow,” VanDuyne said. “It’s not always the most convenient, it’s not always the least expensive, but it’s ours, so we use it, and I think it’s really important that we all embrace that Keep It QC mentality.”

IMEG is just one of the many companies stepping up to support the Keep It QC movement and its overarching goals: To make buying local the first choice every time and increase business for all Quad Cities businesses.

IMEG, a growing engineering consulting firm with 1,500 employees throughout the U.S., has been proudly headquartered in the Quad Cities since 1961. The company has six local buildings and 200 local employees, who make up more than 80% of the organization’s leadership roles. Workers are encouraged to serve on area nonprofit boards, and two IMEG executives, VanDuyne and Pat Eikenberry, Vice President of Civil Engineering, have both previously served as head of the Chamber Board of Directors.