case study_

Coon Rapids, Iowa

project overview

Coon Rapids, an “Iowa Great Places Community,” is a rural western Iowa town of 1,200 people, historically centered around agriculture. In 2015, Coon Rapids underwent a community visioning session and had an extensive list of requests that the residents desired for the community. The City enlisted Emerge to help revitalize and re-focus the the community’s development efforts.

problem_

Coon Rapids had completed a visioning session, but the recommendations were so broad, city officials were not sure which area to focus on first. Various community groups had different ideas of what the future would look like, but they knew they needed to come together with a common, cohesive vision for the future of the community to succeed and engage the next generation. It was also time to renew the Iowa Great Places designation which required a 5-year community strategic plan.

solution _

Coon Rapids was the first community to work with Emerge in creating a community strategic plan. Over the course of two years, community leaders met with Emerge to determine the greatest needs and highest priorities in the community. We facilitated huddle up sessions and focus groups that reinvigorated community members and leaders. From those conversations, a strategic plan was developed that ultimately prepared the community to reapply for the Iowa Great Places designation. Emerge helped write several grant applications in the early stages of community development. Then in May of 2018, the city council approved the hiring of a community coordinator who continues to lead the organization to this day. Emerge later facilitated an RFP process to design and launch a new website. Eventually Coon Rapids became a Main Street Iowa community. Since the initial years of working with Coon Rapids, we have since implemented a series of training sessions for their business community to help them in reaching their target customer.

impact _

More than five years has passed since the initial strategic plan was created and they have accomplished all of the goals they originally set out to achieve and updated the next strategic plan on their own.

what we do _

scope of work

Details

Location: Coon Rapids, Iowa
Industry: Community
Services provided: Business Consulting, Strategic Planning, Digital Marketing, Graphic Design, Public Relations, Social Media Management, Training

Presentations

[Shelly] has provided excitement again in our town and we are so grateful we were able to hire them for all of our needs.

Jesica Leighty - Coon Rapids City Clerk - City of Coon Rapids

Shelly and her team have a keen eye for identifying your community’s or business’s assets and providing you the means to promote them. We have used Emerge Marketing to assist our community in multiple ways since 2017. Not only do they provide high quality results, but they are so fun to work with.

Katie Mason, Main Street Coon Rapids Executive Director & Coon Rapids Community Coordinator

I am so grateful for the opportunity to work with you…. You are an asset to rural communities.