The Iowa Chamber Alliance has released the results of its 2023 Talent Poll, with their findings pointing to several areas of need, including those related to the state’s workforce and expanding its entertainment opportunities.
The Chamber Alliance, a Des Moines-based, non-partisan coalition representing various chambers of commerce and economic development organizations throughout Iowa, is a statewide organization focused primarily on the promotion of economic growth. According to its website, its mission is “to drive a policy agenda to grow the state of Iowa,” work that “includes developing a policy structure where communities can build attractive places for employers to invest and for employees to find opportunities to thrive in those investments.”
In 2022, the coalition began conducting an annual Talent Poll, in hopes of identifying and better understanding the state’s strengths and weaknesses. Since 2019, the Chamber Alliance has made the attraction of talent to Iowa the top priority of its agenda, according to its website.
“Iowa is the only state in the union that has not doubled in population since 1900,” the Alliance’s website explains. “This slow population growth has created an acute talent problem for economic growth as the labor shortage inhibits attraction and expansion opportunities.”
In conducting its poll for 2023, the Chamber Alliance surveyed 826 registered Iowa voters between the ages of 18 and 65 regarding their views, in an effort to identify “what working age Iowans find attractive about living here,” the poll’s summary states. The data gathered reflected a total of 1,212 respondents who were interviewed during the period Dec. 1 – Dec. 11, 2022.
On the positive side, nearly 70% of respondents stated their belief that Iowa was “on the right track,” while singling out the state’s relatively low cost of living and “small town feel” as prominent reasons why they enjoy living here. The quality of the people, the state’s numerous opportunities for outdoor recreation, and the overall safe environment were also mentioned by more than 10% of those polled. “The majority of Iowans continue to believe that Iowa is on the right track overall,” the summary reported, “however, 2023 did see an 11 point decrease compared to 2022.”
Among Iowans’ most urgent priorities, halting inflation along with the rising cost of living topped the list, as this pairing was mentioned by more than one-third of respondents; in the 2022 poll, by comparison, it was not identified as a priority at all.
Improving public education and reducing taxes were also prioritized, while economic growth, along with access to more affordable healthcare, both declined as priorities relative to 2022. In the realm of taxes, 68% said property taxes, specifically, were too high, a sentiment expressed most frequently by self-identified conservative and older respondents.
In addition to lofty property taxes, other areas of dissatisfaction highlighted by the survey were the availability of job opportunities, as well as the state’s entertainment options, with nearly half (45%) feeling as though available entertainment is inferior to the options present in other states, reflecting a 4% increase over the 2022 results. The same held true in the case of dissatisfaction with career opportunities, which also showed an increase of 4% (35% in 2022 compared to 39% in 2023) since the previous poll.
Also of note, the survey indicated that 39% of respondents support school choice, with 36% opposing it, and another 25% feeling unsure or neutral on the matter. The question regarding school choice was not posed in the 2022 poll.
Elsewhere, the percentage of those in need of childcare who feel their access to such has decreased rose 7% over the previous year, while 37% foresee a “lower standard of living and less economic stability” ahead, marking a significant rise over 2022, when just 22% felt that way. Among those who considered leaving the state or who left for a period of time, the lack of employment opportunities was overwhelmingly the main reason given, followed by participation in military service.
“Overall, the majority of Iowans feel joy and trust about living in the state of Iowa but have an overall dissatisfaction with the state’s career opportunities,” the survey concluded. “To attract new Iowans, we need to better promote our low cost of living, ‘Iowa Nice’, and outdoor recreation opportunities while focusing on expanding the state’s entertainment options and promoting the economy.”
