Explore Okoboji
Listen Now! music notes icon
Listen! music notes icon 77° sun icon
  • Home
  • News
  • Iowa Lakes Corridor Dev. Corporation Releases Findings Of Latest BEST Of Iowa Survey

Iowa Lakes Corridor Dev. Corporation Releases Findings Of Latest BEST Of Iowa Survey

April 19, 2022 Steve Schwaller

(Spencer)– The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation is out with the findings of it’s “BEST of Iowa” report. BEST stands for Business Expansion and Strategic Trends. Corridor representative Joanne Follon said the report involved 29 business visits in the Corridor region of Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson, and Emmet counties…

“63 of those businesses were working regular hours and 24 percent of those were working additional hours. 38 percent of the businesses had top leadership changes which is extremely high from prior years. And almost 60 percent of the businesses have a succession plan in place.”

Follon said 14 of the businesses in the BEST report were moving forward with their expansion plans…

“When we talk about expansion we talk about a new facility or an expansion of an existing facility, we talk about workforce, or equipment would also classify as expansion plans. And also 15 businesses said they would consider an acquisition or a merger, and I think part of that comes from the lack of workforce in the state of Iowa and also the cost of building is extremely high right now.”

Follon said almost three-fourths of businesses in the four-county region said they are having difficulty recruiting workers. Positives from businesses in the report included increased sales, money spent on recreation, opportunities with market demand, and increased efficiency with technology usage.

(Courtesy Community First Broadcasting station KAYL in Storm Lake)

Back to News