Q2030 Forms New Non-Profit Organization
April 08, 2021
Quad Cities – Based upon feedback gained during its mid-course review, Q2030 co-chairs today announced the creation of a new 501(c)3 stand-alone organization that provides a new sustainable model for Q2030 governance and funding. The new organization includes a diverse board representing the business, government, nonprofit and education sectors within the Quad Cities. In addition, the first four champion organizations – Quad Cities Chamber, Quad Cities Community Foundation, United Way Quad Cities and Visit Quad Cities – have strengthened their partnership with Q2030 by committing to align their work with the vision and support the initiative. A search for an executive director to lead the Q2030 organization is now underway.
“The coronavirus pandemic has brought significant challenges for our region. Now is the time for the Quad Cities to re-invest and re-invigorate our support for Q2030,” said Kent Pilcher, Q2030 Co-Chair and Estes Construction President.
“There is so much good work happening here, but to truly transform our region, we need both sustainability and breadth of engagement,” said Joe Slavens, Q2030 Co-Chair and Northwest Bank & Trust President & CEO. “Q2030 is collective impact in action, working with people across sectors, race and geography. Evolving from a business-led model to community governance supported by a team of championing organizations is both natural and necessary.”
The Q2030 vision remains the same: The Quad Cities is recognized globally in 2030 for growing and attracting talent and businesses, is energized by a diverse and culturally rich community, inspires innovation and embraces lifelong learning.
However, Q2030’s mission outlines the role and expectations of this new organization: To lead intensified and focused regional collaboration that ignites the transformational change in the Quad Cities region that is necessary to realize our vision.
Organizations will serve as “champions” of the Q2030 initiative with higher-level responsibilities for aligning behind strategic goals and engaging partners in the implementation of Q2030’s four pillars. Champions have broadly committed to being regionally focused, supporting and aligning their work with Q2030 plans that are consistent with their organization’s mission, vision and programs of work.
Four organizations have stepped up to serve as Q2030 champions:
- Quad Cities Chamber
- Quad Cities Community Foundation
- United Way Quad Cities
- Visit Quad Cities
Visit Quad Cities is proud to serve and champion the essence and culture of Q2030. Being a member of the team and organization with values and a mission that we believe in is important. When the private and public sector align for the betterment of a unified regional vision, it creates value. Value for residents and visitors that will simply make us a better place to live, visit, work, invest, and experience.
Every community has a story and the Quad Cities’ unique story of the family of communities that make up the QC should attract young explorers and dreamers, investors, and entrepreneurs. We offer homegrown imagination and innovation—an eclectic music, art, culinary, sports, and entertainment scene, an original and authentic experience of one of the world’s great rivers, and an open-minded midwestern spirit that brings success within reach for all. We can do so much together in how we strategically design the Quad Cities of the future.
The Quad Cities Destination Vision and Strategic Plan and long-range Tourism Master Plan is Visit Quad Cities’ guide for how we need to compete for world-wide attention. Q2030’s ability to successfully convene conversations that are connected to this plan is exciting and can assist in community accountability for realizing the many recommendations in the master plan. Big Table discussions on how to improve our destination have been critically valuable to our organization as we need more robust conversations concerning our destination’s assets, challenges, and future opportunities.
We look forward to Q2030’s continued efforts to advance a regional vision and the initiatives to help shape the regional destination, not only from a tourism perspective, and help solve some of our region’s most pressing issues. Identifying the right leader as Q2030’s first Executive Director is an important next step to the organization’s foundation.
Dave Herrell
President and CEO and Proud Quad Citizen
Visit Quad Cities
Who serves on the Q2030 board of directors?
The Q2030 Board of Directors includes:
- Kent Pilcher - Co-Chair, Estes Construction
- Joe Slavens - Co-Chair, Northwest Bank & Trust Company
- Rev. Dwight Ford - Vice Chair, Project NOW Community Action Agency
- Dr. Monica Smith – Secretary, Augustana College
- Rene Gellerman, United Way Quad Cities
- Dave Herrell, Visit Quad Cities
- Daniel Joiner, UnityPoint Health - Trinity
- Alvaro Macias, Ascentra Credit Union
- Jazmin Newton-Butt, Newton Law, PLC
- Jerred Pauwels, Deere & Company
- Sherry Ristau, Quad Cities Community Foundation
- Paul Rumler, Quad Cities Chamber
- Corri Spiegel, City of Davenport
What’s the history of Q2030?
In 2015, more than 4,000 Quad Citizens provided feedback for a strategic process that became Q2030, a regional vision and action plan that brought together business, government,
nonprofit, academic sectors and the trades for the shared purpose of moving the region forward economically and to improve quality of life. The plan embraced the collective spirit of the Quad Cities region and the unique characteristics and strengths that make it a dynamic place with rich resources and high potential. Strategic efforts were focused on four priority themes for action: cool places, creative people, connected region and prosperous economy. Significant milestones included a public community survey, the Big Table conversations and endorsement from 243 organizations.
During its first five years, the Quad Cities Chamber served as the coordinating body to help bring together diverse stakeholders and help lead a synchronized effort for Q2030 to nurture the movement, gain supporters, develop the action plan, host conversations like the Big Table and raise funds to support the effort.
“The complete history of Q2030 will not be written for years to come, but today we can be certain of one thing; whatever we accomplish, it will be overwhelmingly determined by effort, creativity, collaboration and investment of Quad Citizens, and no one else,” said Slavens. “To become what we are capable of becoming is entirely up to us.”
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MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Smith, Manager, Q2030 Projects, [email protected] or 563.823.2691