Ottumwa-IA

6 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 6 “We’re also carrying the same approach downtown,” he continues. “We put together a five-year strategic plan for retail recruitment downtown. We’ve got a beautiful downtown; we completed a streetscape project for Main Street that’s just stunning and we’ve got great buildings. We’ve done everything to make it a great space to be, and now that it’s not what it was when I was growing up, it’s the time to start aggressively trying to get folks to rent and occupy those spaces. We still have vacancies and we’re looking to fill those by recruiting local entrepreneurs and also making an aggressive pitch to regional and national businesses that downtown Ottumwa is open.” In its pursuit of those local developers, Main Street Ottumwa, designated an Iowa Main Street Program in 2006, created the Business Builder Academy, an eight-week, intensive business training class for nascent entrepreneurs. “We had eight or ten participants in that class, and we already have three that are looking for brick and mortar spaces, including downtown,” Simonson notes. “It’s neat to try and grow that local talent.” Some other conduits for growing local talent in Ottumwa exist at Indian Hills Community College, which has programs in the health sciences and advanced technologies, the Iowa Workforce Development Center, and the Ottumwa Jobs Corps Center. create a big enough incentive to get a couple of projects done, so that those that are successful, the next developer down the road can point to that success when they get financing.” Simonson adds that a positive aspect of in-fill housing is that the streets, utilities, and sewer lines already exist. “That cuts down on the expense as opposed to a new subdivision,” he avers. “But also, those vacant lots are a draw on the neighborhood. We call it a ‘Swiss cheese neighborhood,’ where, over the years, there are a lot of holes in the fabric. Filling those holes brings the value up for everybody.” Simonson adds that the strategy of in-fill also works for commercial development, especially in the current economic climate. “First of all, interest rates, being what they are – the national retailers are looking, as much as possible, for second-generation spaces,” he explains. “So, we’ve been really successful working with Retail Strategies out of Birmingham, Alabama as our retail retention/recruitment consultants. We’re looking at how to fill vacancies. And just last week, we were able to announce a new lease for a T.J. Maxx in a former K-Mart space. We’ve got some other pending leases and developments that we’re working on in that area and we’re excited about that partnership.”