Area business officials hope to capitalize in 2023 on the momentum they’ve gained when it comes to recruiting and keeping more people in the area.
Here’s a look ahead to what the Telegraph Herald predicts will be some of the biggest local business stories this year.
Child care needs
Numerous local organizations and officials have announced projects to expand child care offerings to address a multitude of child care needs in the area.
President and CEO of Greater Dubuque Development Corp. Rick Dickinson said GDDC officials have in-depth conversations with businesses on a regular basis, and childcare-related issues have become a bigger part of those discussions over time.
“The (COVID-19) pandemic changed some things, but it really wasn’t the cause of the child care shortage in Dubuque, the country and Iowa and the Greater Dubuque area,” Dickinson said. “The problem already existed.”
A childcare survey completed in 2022 showed several areas that need to be addressed, Dickinson said — infant care, shift care, drop-in care and sick care.
Several major childcare projects announced in 2022 are expected to add hundreds of places in capacity to address these needs. However, Dickinson said finding ways to recruit and retain child care workers will also be important in the future.
He noted that the Opportunity Dubuque initiative supports scholarships with Northeast Iowa Community College for people training for childcare positions and provides childcare for program participants.
“(The initiative) helps to generate more workers in the market, not only for the new facilities in the market, but also increases the capacity in the facilities,” he said. “Most could take on more children if they could hire more staff.”
Labor recruitment
Business officials throughout 2022 have focused on recruiting and retaining the workforce.
Dickinson said Dubuque County was still down about 1,500 workers in November compared to the number of workers in November 2019. He added that the county also has about 1,500 people identified as unemployed and looking for work, while only 225 of those individuals are receive unemployment benefits.
“It’s a misnomer that the reasons there are challenges in the workforce is that people don’t want to work and are living too much on unemployment benefits,” Dickinson said. “It’s just not true.”
Dickinson said addressing child care needs, housing and transportation have been identified as areas that will help with labor shortages.
Dickinson said housing projects expected to begin construction in 2023 will increase the number of housing units needed.
Starting January 9, free Jule routes will also be available to many area businesses for six months to help address workers’ transportation needs.
“All of these things will be implemented in 2023 and will hopefully make us much more competitive for the workforce,” he said. “Talent retention is critical, so we’re not draining a bucket before we fill the top of the bucket.”
Commercial aviation opportunities
After American Airlines ended service at Dubuque Regional Airport in September, officials with low-cost carrier Avelo Airlines announced in November that they will begin offering twice-weekly flights to Orlando International Airport starting Jan. 11.
Dubuque Regional Airport Director Todd Dalsing said there is a possibility that additional Avelo routes could be added depending on demand for leisure air services. As of early December, at least 24% of tickets for the first four months of flights between Dubuque and Orlando were sold.
Dalsing said efforts continue to restore daily air service to a major hub such as Chicago. The Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce has also hired a consultant, Rasky Partners, to help with strategies to build a statewide coalition of communities like Dubuque that have seen reduced or suspended air service.
In addition, a $775,000 federal grant awarded to Dubuque in February 2020 to add westbound flights to the airport is still available through 2026. Dalsing said the funding is something officials can offer when talking to air carriers.
“We hired a consulting group, too, Global Flight Solutions,” Dalsing said. “It’s been a few weeks, and they’ve picked up and picked up where the previous consultant left off, scheduling meetings with legacy operators and also regional operators.”
Development of the field of dreams
Part of the large-scale developments planned at Field of Dreams in Dyersville are expected to be completed in 2023.
Work began in September on the $80 million development at the iconic property, which is owned by Go the Distance Baseball.
The first part of the work focuses on a 70-hectare sports and recreation complex north of the film site. It will include nine new ball fields, team dorms, a field house and jogging trails. Go the Distance Baseball officials previously shared their plan to have teams playing on the fields by this summer.
The developments also include a 104-room boutique hotel across Lansing Street from Field of Dreams, as well as an RV park and outdoor amphitheater near the film site.
In addition, plans are also in place for a $55 million, 3,000-seat permanent stadium around the Major League Baseball field adjacent to the film site.
Travel Dubuque President and CEO Keith Rahe said the stadium project is in the design process now and officials involved in the project have visited other baseball facilities to get a better idea of what they hope to create.
“We’re in the process right now of selecting a construction manager at risk, which is huge for a project like this,” Rahe said. “Once that group is selected, I think the timeline (of the project) will become even tighter.”
He said the development of Field of Dreams stemmed from the momentum created by the first Major League Baseball game at Field of Dreams played in 2021.
“One of the biggest things is the amount of time and effort and detail that goes into all of this and making sure that everything gets done and continues to evolve,” he said. “As we move into (2023), we hope it will be a very promising year to make significantly more progress with this area.”
Possible impacts on inflation
The effects of inflation on every industry were widespread over the past year, from higher material costs to rising home interest rates, with many across the country wondering if a recession is looming. In November, prices had increased by more than 7% compared to November 2021, according to the US Department of Labor.
“Everything that’s done affects those realities,” Dickinson said. “To some degree, every project expansion, every business, residential development, puts a star next to it.”
However, Dickinson said many factors affecting the biggest economic concerns are beyond local control, such as the economic effects of the war in Ukraine.
“We can’t solve all the problems,” he said. “What we can do is try to solve problems better than our competition and, as a result, be more economically successful than our competition.”
Dickinson said several projects announced by area businesses are expected to add jobs starting in 2023. Also, aside from the closing of Georgia-Pacific’s Dubuque plant and the loss of 85 jobs there, he said there have been no indications at the local level for significant layoffs.
“But there is no guarantee that there will be no such news in 2023,” he said. “We’ll have to wait and see and deal with it as it comes. The drum beat at Greater Dubuque Development is that time doesn’t fix anything. People and investors with courage and initiative change things.”
