Construction, goal setting have been priorities for McGregor economic development lead

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

From construction preparation and community visioning to updating the city website and setting economic development goals, Brandi Crozier has had a busy few months as McGregor’s deputy city clerk and economic development lead.

Crozier said a chance opportunity to create a weekend itinerary as part of McGregor’s recent culture and entertainment district designation reminded her just how passionate she is about this kind of work.

“I really enjoy living here in McGregor and I see a lot of great things that have already happened, but also some potential opportunities,” she said. “McGregor is at a really pivotal point.”

Not only will 2023 and 2024 include extensive Main Street reconstruction, but multiple projects spearheaded by private investors are underway or in the works. That includes the Masonic Block building, riverfront condo development, expansion of the McGregor Historical Museum into the next door Sullivan Opera House/hardware store building and potential redevelopment of the Alexander Hotel.

“There are a lot of things potentially happening. I’m very interested in making those things happen, if that’s what the community wants,” Crozier shared.

Construction has been Crozier’s top focus since she started the position. Goals are to optimize accessibility and improve communication throughout the project, which will include water, sewer and sanitary sewer upgrades as well as a total reconstruction of Main Street. She’s helped develop plans for traffic flow and parking, wayfinding signage and a communications system to keep business owners and residents updated.

“I want businesses to have the ability to survive it. It’s going to be tough, for sure, but it doesn’t have to ruin anyone,” she stressed. “We’ve got a lot of things nailed down, but some things we know are going to be tough and we need to figure out ways to get through that. Remind this community we are resilient. We’ve been through a lot, and we do have to be adaptable. If we learned anything from the pandemic, it’s that we can be adaptable. In construction, we’re going to have to be adaptable again, because we can plan as well as we want, but things are going to come up and we’re going to have to figure it out on the fly.”

Community planning and visioning has also been a big part of Crozier’s job so far. McGregor was well into developing a master plan when she took the position, and it was recently approved by the city council. Residents had a chance to weigh in on the plan through surveys and a public open house.

“That was a good process for the community to go through, and we now have that sacred document to serve us for the next 15 to 30 years as we work through our economic development goals,” she said.

Crozier participated in recent visioning sessions with the McGregor Historical Society board as it works to develop a concept for an expanded museum. Now, she’s playing a key role in the Iowa Living Roadways visioning for which McGregor has been selected.

“We literally wrote the application for that my first day here,” she joked.

McGregor applied for the visioning with neighboring Marquette, and both communities were awarded.

“That is underway and I’m really excited to see what comes out of that. For Marquette, I think that may mean a few things that are different than McGregor, but the overall theme will be enhancing our connectivity to one another and connectivity within our own communities. I also think some marketing and branding work will come out of this, which we need,” Crozier said.

Increased marketing and branding is a goal of Crozier’s. McGregor and Marquette are currently waiting to hear back from Travel Iowa if the communities have been accepted for Travel Iowa’s Soul of Iowa 2.0 program, which Crozier said would bring great visibility to the combined Ports of Discovery area.

Crozier wants to grow work with the McGregor-Marquette Chamber of Commerce on community events as well as business promotions and events.

“The culture and entertainment district is also a great opportunity for us, but we do need a project for that and we need events,” she said. Crozier hopes to incorporate more public art downtown, and is eyeing a potential metal banner project that incorporates the famous Andrew Clemens sand bottles.

To further marketing efforts, Crozier’s recent work on the McGregor city website will make it easier to navigate and draw people to new resources. Commercial building owners can now list their properties for rent or sale. It’s the same for apartments or rental housing.

“We have a huge need for it, but we didn’t previously have a central location where that could be listed,” Crozier said. 

The website also includes a McGregor business listing.

“Those are categorized to try to be easier to find, and within that, each listing has a link to their own website or social media. I’m also trying to list more economic development resources here,” she added.

Another large part of Crozier’s role has been setting economic development goals. She said a recent workshop with the city council pinpointed key areas.

“We haven’t specifically decided as a council what the priorities are, although the takeaways were definitely housing, Main Street, the condos and the Black Swan, Alexander Hotel and Sullivan Opera House [developments],” she said.  

Downtown parking is also on the list. Crozier said the city is working with private business owners to secure some more parking lot leases. Conversations are related to the Main Street project, but could potentially become more long term.

“We’re also going to repaint some of the parking areas, and I think that will generate some more spots,” she said.

Other priorities include an event center for roughly 300 people, a breakfast and lunch restaurant and a full service bank or one that offers more services.

While Interstate Federal Savings and Loan is an important asset, “you can’t cash a check there or get cash. And we have no fully functioning ATM, which is problematic for people,” Crozier said.

Additionally, a clinic has been mentioned. 

“Maybe not expansive services, but we have a growing elderly population and a lot of them are on different state health plans that don’t offer coverage in Wisconsin unless it’s an emergency. When they need basic things like labs and med refills, they have to try to figure out how to get there, and a lot of them don’t drive out of town or shouldn’t drive out of town,” Crozier explained.

Moving forward, Crozier’s biggest wish is people will continue to support McGregor’s small businesses. That will be especially pivotal as Main Street construction gets underway this spring, starting in the city’s downtown.

“Right now, and going into this project, more than anything we need to be reminded that these local businesses are here—and they’re not just here to serve our last-minute need. We need to regularly support them so they can be here for our last-minute needs. And they’re not just here for tourists,” she said. “We have some great shops here. I’m kind of amazed when people haven’t been in our shops. Come downtown.” 

Crozier said it will be equally important for business owners to remain open and functioning as normal as possible during construction.

“One thing that has stood out to me in meetings with other people around the state is people will be very quick to forgive and forget construction, but they won’t remember a community they come to when half the business places aren’t open for them to shop and eat in,” she stated. “I get it’s a two-way street because, in order for them to remain open and available, they have to be supported to make it worth their while. It’s a community effort.”