Public Policy Update: Meet the Candidates & Help Shape 2027 Priorities
August 18, 2026 | Public Policy
This Month’s Policy Update
- Meet the Candidates for Three Open-Seats
- Shape the 2027 Collective Voice Agenda
- Eastern Iowa Employers in the Federal Spotlight
Your Chance to Meet the Candidates
This year’s election brings three open-seat races with major implications for Iowa and our region. The Economic Alliance is bringing candidates for Governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House, Iowa’s 2nd District directly to our business community.
We’ve invited candidates from both major parties to participate, creating an opportunity for our members to hear different perspectives, ask questions and better understand where the candidates stand on issues that matter to employers and the future of our region.
These are private forums for our investors, closed to media, designed to give participants an opportunity to hear directly from the candidates and ask the questions that matter to their businesses, employees and communities. Each of them takes place at the Economic Alliance, with registration required and limited space.
Candidate for Iowa Governor
Candidate for U.S. Senate
- Ashley Hinson (R) – accepted; date pending
- Josh Turek (D) – accepted; date pending
Candidate for U.S. House, Iowa’s 2nd District
Registration is required. Space is limited. Light lunch provided.
A special thank-you to our Candidate Forum Series Presenting Sponsors, Cedar Rapids Area Association of REALTORS® and ImOn, and Supporting Sponsor, Transamerica Companies, for making these conversations possible.
Help Shape Our 2027 Collective Voice Agenda
Tell us what matters to your business and our region. Your input will help shape the 2027 Collective Voice public policy agenda.
Last year, more than 200 business and community leaders across 8 counties helped shape the 2026 Collective Voice legislative priorities and agenda. We want to build on that momentum, and we need your voice in the conversation as we begin building our 2027 Collective Voice agenda.
What issues are affecting your business? What opportunities should policymakers be thinking about? And where should the Economic Alliance focus its voice and influence in 2027?
Our Collective Voice is strongest when it reflects what businesses and communities across our region are seeing, experiencing and prioritizing. It takes less than 5 minutes to share your thoughts.
SHARE YOUR INPUT ON OUR 2027 POLICY PRIORITIES →
Eastern Iowa Employers Take Center Stage in National Workforce Conversation
Eastern Iowa employers recently took center stage in a national conversation about one of the issues most critical to our region’s economic future: workforce.
The Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance brought regional business and workforce leaders together with the U.S. Secretaries of Labor and Education for a candid discussion about the challenges employers are facing, the skills businesses need and how we can strengthen connections between employers, education and workforce systems. We also had a chance to highlight some of the innovative solutions our region is known for.
The conversation offered something especially valuable: a direct opportunity for Eastern Iowa employers to share their experiences and perspectives with the federal leaders shaping workforce policy.
What do workforce challenges look like from the perspective of an Eastern Iowa employer? What partnerships are working? And what can policymakers do to help businesses build the workforce they need for the future?
Those were among the questions at the center of a recent Workforce Development Roundtable hosted by the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance with U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling.
The conversation brought together regional employers, education leaders, workforce partners and community leaders for a candid discussion about the workforce issues shaping businesses across Eastern Iowa.
Also participating were Beth Townsend, Director of Iowa Workforce Development, and McKenzie Snow, Director of the Iowa Department of Education, along with leaders from a diverse cross-section of the regional business and education community.
Economic Alliance members were invited to share firsthand experiences, challenges they are facing, partnerships that are producing results and opportunities to improve how employers, educators and policymakers work together.
Growing the Workforce We Need
The conversation began with a look at regional efforts to attract and retain talent through the Collaborative Growth Initiative, a partnership among the Economic Alliance and the Cities of Cedar Rapids, Marion and Hiawatha.
Talent attraction is only one part of the equation. Retaining people and creating pathways that connect individuals to careers in the region are equally important.
That led naturally into one of the region’s most significant growth opportunities: aviation and aerospace.
Building the Aviation Workforce Pipeline
With Eastern Iowa positioned for continued growth in aviation and aerospace, the roundtable highlighted the collaboration already underway between industry and education to build the talent pipeline.
The discussion explored how partnerships between the Eastern Iowa Airport – CID, Coe Colleges and Kirkwood Community College are partnering to prepare workers for opportunities in a growing industry while also strengthening the region’s ability to attract additional aerospace investment.
Workforce Development in Action
The conversation also highlighted other workforce partnerships producing results in Eastern Iowa.
Leaders from Kirkwood Community College and Coe College shared examples of how education and employers are working together through employer partnerships, apprenticeships, continuing education and workforce training.
These partnerships help close the gap between what students and workers are learning and what businesses actually need.
They also create more opportunities for people to enter the workforce, develop new skills and build careers without necessarily following a traditional four-year educational path.
Employers at the Table
The heart of the roundtable was an open discussion among regional employers representing a wide range of industries and business sizes.
Participants shared workforce challenges, opportunities and success stories from their own experiences.
The issues raised reflected the complexity of today’s workforce environment, including:
- Workforce shortages and hiring challenges
- Talent attraction and retention
- Credentialing and alternative pathways to careers
- The impact of artificial intelligence and changing skill requirements
- Barriers that can make it more difficult to hire
- Youth employment
- Immigration and the role it plays in meeting workforce needs
The diversity of employers around the table was intentional. Workforce challenges don’t look the same for a manufacturer, an airport, a small business, a farm, or a professional services company.
But there are also common threads.
Employers need access to talent. Workers need opportunities to develop skills and connect to careers. Education and training providers need to understand where the jobs are heading. And policymakers need to understand how their decisions affect all three.
A Direct Conversation with Federal Leaders
Having the U.S. Secretaries of Labor and Education in the room created an opportunity to connect those local experiences with the national policy conversation.
The roundtable gave federal leaders a firsthand look at the workforce opportunities and challenges facing employers in Eastern Iowa and gave regional employers an opportunity to hear directly from the officials responsible for federal workforce and education policy.
The discussion reinforced the importance of collaboration.
No single employer, educational institution, workforce organization, or government agency can solve today’s workforce challenges alone. Progress depends on building stronger connections among all of them.
The roundtable provided an opportunity to showcase those partnerships, identify the challenges that remain and continue the conversation about how policy can better support employers, workers and talent development.