The primary purpose of the Eagle Grove Community Development Corporation (EGCDC), which will co-host an annual banquet with the Eagle Grove Chamber of Commerce on Monday the 19th at Rails, is “to improve, develop, promote, and expand new and existing industrial, commercial, and professional enterprises,” according to their membership flier.
“The CDC works to promote and grow business, commercial and industrial projects within the city,” Said EGCDC Chairman Jess Tolliver in an email exchange. “We act as a contact for economic development and work with businesses, who are looking to grow or relocate to the area.”
Financed “by voluntary investments from business and community members”, the EGCDC’s “membership investment schedule”, or annual dues, is broken into seven categories:
– Associates, or individual members, who pay $50.
– Non-profits (such as churches and social groups) pay $60.
– Part-time home based or owner operated (single employee) businesses, or out of town businesses (excluding media) pay $100.
– Seasonal businesses pay $150.
– Financial institutions such as banks and credit unions pay between $500 to $1,500.
– All other businesses pay $200 plus $25 per full time shift (40 hour work week) in an average week, or a maximum of $2,000.
– Utilities pay $0.46 (46 cents) per customer, to a maximum of $2,000.
According to the membership flier, this funding is used to finance “clean-up efforts, business and workforce recruitment and retention” and the creation of “new housing” in the city. The group also arranges low interest loans “to businesses looking to start, or to expand their business,” Tolliver explained.
The group has an established partnership with Wright County Economic Development, with the City of Eagle Grove, and with financial institutions, and is backed by the local business community. Which puts them in an excellent position to shepherd new investment, and low interest loans, grant funding, etc. Which can be crucial in getting a business off the ground, or helping businesses expand.
The EGCDC also works “to recruit and retain skilled workforce” to support the local business community, the flier said. Which is a big part of helping businesses to establish themselves in Eagle Grove and to grow and flourish here.
In many cases, the biggest barrier to having the workforce to support local business is local housing. In order to provide the kind of quality housing that attracts workers and their families to the community the EGCDC “has also been instrumental in helping the city with dilapidated houses, either getting them demolished or refurbished for use,” Tolliver said.
The group hasn’t operated entirely without controversy. In 2017 the Iowa Supreme Court decided in the EGCDC’s favor in the case CITY OF EAGLE GROVE v. CAHALAN INVESTMENTS LLC (2017). The Supreme Court’s controversial decision overturned the district court decision which held that the City’s taking of two properties owned by Cahalan was an unconstitutional taking without just compensation; over-ruling that decision to say that the city’s taking of the property under nuisance complaints was not unconstitutional.
Tolliver points out that the EGCDC, “has no authority to take peoples’ houses. They can only buy properties or sell properties.” Which is true, although the city has the power to take properties in extreme disrepair under local nuisance codes, and the city can then partner with the EGCDC to rehabilitate, demolish, and/or replace the properties.
By partnering with the city government on rehabilitating or demolishing and replacing such abandoned, dilapidated and dangerous properties, the EGCDC creates the kinds of housing workers and their families need, while improving neighborhoods and making the city as a whole more attractive. And by working with Homes for Iowa, the group has even brought new homes to town. So far, the EGCDC has brought two new homes into the city, one of which has already been sold. And that, Tolliver said, can benefit the citizens of the city as a whole. “With new and refurbished houses, your tax base goes up, which helps both the city and the school with infrastructure and amenities,” Tolliver explained.
“Acquiring property for commercial redevelopment,” not only brings business and cash into the community, it also brings amenities to the residents, Tolliver said. “The First State Bank and Subway would be examples of that,” he explained. “Those were two properties that the CDC helped facilitate so they could be acquired and commercial properties could be built.
These are the kinds of wins for the community which the group plans to celebrate at their annual banquet later this month, which will be shared with the Eagle Grove Chamber of Commerce. “The banquet is an annual event where membership gathers in a social setting,” Tolliver said. “Speakers are invited to talk on a variety of topics, including the accomplishments and challenges they are seeing with their business or industry. Projects associated with the CDC are also highlighted during this meeting.”
This year’s Allbaugh Award will be presented at the banquet. The annual award is given yearly to honor someone who has demonstrated a personal caring and concern for the growth of Eagle Grove as a city and a community. Historically the award is given to someone who has a record of freely giving their time, using their talents, and their own resources to serve the needs of the Eagle Grove area.
Tha Allbaugh Award is a gift from the Roy and Cornelia Allbaugh family, to pay forward their own opportunity to live and grow within the community of Eagle Grove. It was funded by the Allbaughs with two $10,000 gifts to Our Foundation for the future. Recipients also get a $500 donation in their name to a local charity. And their names are added to a plaque listing the names of the honorees from 1985 onward, which is on display at the Eagle Grove historical museum, in the old Memorial Library building (a Carnegie Library on the national register of historic places).
The banquet will be held at the Rails Bar & Grill Depot, at 220 Railroad Ave in Eagle Grove, on Monday, February 19th. Events start at 5:30 PM with a social, followed by the presentation of the Allbaugh Award at 6:00, and the serving of dinner at 6:30 PM. The meal will be catered by the Nine & Dine restaurant, prepared in part using meats donated by Prestage. The cost is $20 per ticket, and the event is open to the public. Attendees are asked to RSVP by Monday, February 12.
