Recruitment and worker retention will be the name of the business game in the new year, according to a wide variety of local entrepreneurial experts.
Across the tri-state area, efforts are underway to expand business opportunities and overall population as well as bolster offerings and amenities available to those already here. Here’s a look ahead at what the Telegraph Herald anticipates will be some of the biggest local business stories to watch of 2024.
Officials seeking additional local air service
The restoration of daily air service between Dubuque Regional Airport and a major hub location will remain a top priority for local leaders in 2024.
The city has been without daily service since September 2022 when American Airlines discontinued its Dubuque flights. Dubuque Regional Airport Director Todd Dalsing said “near constant” communication has taken place since with other legacy and regional providers to restore full-time service.
He said members of Dubuque’s Commercial Air Service Task Force (CAST) in 2024 hope to leverage a $1.5 million federal air service grant the city received this September to move those conversations forward.
“Daily service is an ongoing demand not only from businesses, but also from the public sector,” Dalsing said. “We’re really working to give people what they want.”
The airport also will continue to work with Avelo Airlines to support its twice weekly flight to and from Orlando, Fla., Dalsing said, while still searching for additional leisure destinations.
In January, Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce will host an air service forum to provide further updates on task force efforts and review results from a 2023 survey that collected citizen feedback on the community’s demands and desires for expanded air service.
Investments in child care will advance
Ongoing and planned child care projects are expected to add hundreds of child care spots to the tri-state area in the coming year.
The push is a result of ongoing and growing demand from working families to increase the availability and accessibility of child care across the area. In Dubuque, several notable projects to address that need will get underway in 2024.
Construction will begin this spring, for example, on a two-story child care building at the intersection of Locust and Eighth streets. The multi-million dollar project is an effort from insurance broker Cottingham & Butler to add 182 local child care spots with priority enrollment for company employees.
“We hire a younger workforce who either have young children or will soon, so having this great facility right downtown will be huge for us in terms of recruiting new workers,” said project leader and executive chairman of Cottingham & Butler Andy Butler.
Similar efforts continue across the tri-state area to expand access in rural areas.
In Lancaster, Wis., for example, a new child care center is expected to open in 2024 with an eventual capacity for up to 200 children. In Dyersville, Iowa, work also is underway to build the Michael and Jean Knepper Child Care Center that will have capacity for up to 250 children.
Artificial intelligence becomes more prominent
Public interest in artificial intelligence exploded in 2023, but area experts attest use of the technology has been around in the tri-state business arena for much longer — but expect it only to grow in 2024.
“As (artificial intelligence) gets built into everything we use, it’s going to be something we naturally turn to more and more,” said Rafic Sinno, head of University of Dubuque’s business and accounting department. “It’s like spell check: It was new at first, but now everyone uses it.”
Entrepreneurial uses for AI are as myriad as they are evolving, Sinno said, with potential impacts for practically every field. Area hospitals already implement robotic assisted surgeries, for example, and local banks utilize AI for fraud detection.
Already, Sinno has seen an uptick in students at University of Dubuque interested in AI technology, and many of them already use it. Educators similarly are learning how to teach students about responsible use of new AI programs that are also evolving in their uses and implementation.
“I like to think of it as an iterative technology that can help you grow your own ideas,” Sinno said. “But (AI) should never be a replacement (for the human mind), just an enhancement.”
Worker recruitment, retention efforts will continue
Nic Hockenberry, director of workforce programming at Greater Dubuque Development Corp., said recruitment and retention efforts will remain a key priority for area businesses in the year to come.
The upcoming year marks the halfway mark for GDDC’s “You Can Be Great Here” campaign, which aims to grow non-farm employment in Dubuque County to 64,000 by 2027. Currently, the county sits at around 60,500 such workers.
Collaborations continue between GDDC, area schools and local businesses to grow that number and offer skill- and wage-growth opportunities for area workers. Hockenberry added that a particular focus moving forward will be on the retention of younger workers.
Officials say a survey recently completed by area young adults will help identify the amenities and programs that Dubuque lacks.
Once reviewed, Hockenberry said that data can be used in conversations with public and private partners about which projects would best appeal to younger residents.
“We know anecdotally what people want, but having the data can really help rally efforts to address those needs,” he said.
Public-private partnerships grow
Building on 2023 efforts, work will continue into the new year to bolster the strength and ease of private-public partnerships in Dubuque.
Prompted by an April letter from developers, the city this past year restarted monthly roundtable meetings between municipal representatives, developers and other area business leaders to foster stronger relationships between public and private entities.
Dubuque City Manager Mike Van Milligen said he expects this collaboration to continue in 2024, with a focus on transparency and growth. Already, the city has engaged with area engineering firms to help inform future development discussions.
“I anticipate having a few more of those (roundtables), but there won’t be any more private meetings,” Van Milligen said. “Anyone who wants to be engaged in this conversation is more than welcome to attend.”
Ali Fuller, founder of Driftless Consulting Group and director of Dubuque Forward, has been engaged in the city’s discussions with developers from the start and also expressed optimism for continued relationship building in the year to come.
She also wants to broaden the conversation to include all individuals and groups in the Dubuque area who could contribute to further growth.
“In 2024, I’d like to see the community develop a shared vision for where we want to go and how we get there,” Fuller said. “It’s about finding how we can be more effective as a community and identifying what’s working and what’s not.”