An Agreement Establishing a Communication Protocol for Economic

Development Activity in the Three Jurisdictions of Iowa City, Coralville, and

North Liberty
Purpose

The cities of Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty (hereinafter "communities" or "participating
communities") join in the prospect of encouraging economic development within their own jurisdictions
and throughout the region.

Working together, these communities seek to highlight the region's

strengths and focus on maintaining an attractive environment for business growth and expansion. The
communities seek to expand business opportunities within their own boundaries, but do not wish to do
so at the expense of those participating in this Communication Plan Agreement. Inevitably, for various
reasons, businesses may seek to migrate from one jurisdiction to another. In such cases, this agreement
outlines a process that seeks to enhance communication and promote equity between the communities.
With the exception of a business on its own initiating with another community a discussion about
relocating, the communities agree that actively pursuing businesses to migrate from one participating
community to another shall be prohibited and practices of performing such actions restricted. The
purpose of this agreement is to:

1.

Establish

and

facilitate

interaction

between

communities

to

promote

economic

development in the region;

2.

Express commitment from communities that they will not actively pursue the relocation of a
business that has not independently indicated an interest in moving from one participating
community to another and further not propose or offer incentives to a business in support
of its relocation until the actions set forth in the Economic Development Communication
Plan have been fully satisfied;

3.

Establish a process that balances the interests of the business' home community and other
participating communities; and

4.

Establish a point of contact within each jurisdiction for communication about economic
development matters.

Definitions

For the purposes of this agreement, "relocation" means the closure or substantial reduction of an
enterprise's existing operations in one participating community and the initiation of substantially the
same operation in another participating community. This agreement does not prohibit an enterprise
from expanding its operations in another participating community provided that existing operations of a
similar nature are not closed or substantially reduced.
For the purposes of this agreement, "expansion" and "consolidation" shall be defined in a manner
consistent with state law.

Economic Development Principles

In the interest of promoting economic well-being and growth of our cities, we, the undersigned, agree to
the following principles:
Business Attraction and Retention. The regional economy will grow stronger and be more attractive for

business growth if communities work together on economic development, rather than against one
another. The communities in this agreement seek to grow the regional economy knowing that regional
growth will translate into jurisdictional growth. The communities in this agreement are committed to
attracting new businesses, retaining or expanding existing businesses, and promoting their cities as good
places for business. While business migration will occur, the communities are dedicated to refraining
from actively encouraging business migration from one city to another.
Active Pursuit. The communities agree that when a business has not taken the initiative to express an

interest in moving from one city to another, the communities will not actively pursue that business to
encourage it to relocate. "Actively pursue" means to initiate contact with the business directly, with the
intent of luring the business through cold calls, visits, mail solicitations, marketing, or through a third
party. This does not preclude the communities from marketing themselves as a good place to do
business, generally promoting the benefits of starting, expanding, or locating a business in their city, or
responding to questions and requests for information posed by a business.
If a community provides incentives for a speculative building or infrastructure, the community agrees to
discourage developers, realtors and others involved with the project from recruiting businesses from the
other participating communities. Moreover, in these cases, each participating community shall develop
an agreement which each community would use with developers, realtors, and others involved with the
project in their respective communities that specifically disallows this type of recruitment. The
communities agree that businesses located in an incubator (designated space for business incubation) or
other similar facilities supported in whole or in part by the Iowa City Area Development Group or the
University of Iowa are not subject to the rules of this agreement when it relates to the relocation of a
business from one ofthe above described facilities in one participating community to another
participating community.
Economic Development Communication Plan

In the event a business residing in a different community ("the home community") contacts another
community ("the contacted community") to discuss possible relocation

or in the event a business

desires to consolidate its operations (already established in two or more of the participating
communities) to the contacted community, whether that contact be directly or through a
representative, the following communication plan will be implemented:

1.

The contacted community or its third party representative will advise the business that it
wants to assist the business so that it is successful.

2.

The contacted community or its third party representative will ask the business whether it
has advised the home community that it is considering relocation, and if not, whether it
objects to the contacted community advising the home community of the inquiry.
2

3.

If the home community has not been advised and the business does not object, the
contacted community or its third party representative will promptly notify the point of
contact from the home community in writing of the inquiry.

4.

If the home community has not been advised and the business does object, the contacted
community or its third party representative will inform the company of the general terms of
this agreement and applicable state law, and that no further discussions regarding
relocation will take place until the home community is notified.

5.

The communities or their third party representatives will not propose or offer incentives to
the business in support of its relocation until the home community has approved in writing
that incentives can be used.

6.

In the event that participating communities learn of a business considering relocation or

consolidating operations from a participating community to a non-participating community,
it will be the responsibility of those participating communities to inform each other of such.

Priority of this Agreement

The provisions of this agreement cannot be superseded by agreements for confidentiality or other
contracts between a local government or nonprofit economic development organizations and a
business. Local business will be made aware ofthis agreement immediately upon contacting a local
government about relocating within the participating communities.
Addition of Participants

The communities strongly encourage other communities within the region to join this agreement. Upon
request, the communities will consider the addition of other participating communities.
Point of Contact

For the purposes of this agreement, the points of contacts for the participating communities are as
follows:

1.

Iowa City: City Manager.

2.

Coralville: City Administrator.

3.

North Liberty: City Administrator.

Term

The agreement shall be effective when the agreement is signed by all communities and shall remain in
effect until terminated in accordance with subparagraph 1 of the General Provisions below.

Non-Substitution

This agreement shall not constitute a "written agreement concerning the general use of economic
incentives to attract commercial or industrial development" for purposes of Iowa Code Section
403.19(9)(a)(1).

General Provisions
Termination: Any community can end its participation in this agreement by providing at

1.

least 180 days notice to the other communities. Such termination shall be effective as of
the date stated on such a notice. In the event only one participating community remains,
the agreement shall no longer be in effect.

Amendment or Modification: This agreement may be amended or modified by the

2.

participating communities, provided that any such modification or amendment shall only be
effective upon written agreement of all participating communities.

Capacity to Execute: The undersigned hereby certifies that all actions necessary to execute

3.

this agreement were taken, and the person executing this agreement is authorized to do so
and has the power to bind the jurisdiction to the terms and conditions herein.

No Third-party Beneficiaries. This agreement is not intended to benefit any person or

4.

entity not a party to this agreement and shall not be construed to do so.

5.

No Agency Relationship. Nothing herein creates an agency relationship between the

participants and nothing herein authorizes one participant to act as an agent of another
participant or participants.

CITY OF IOWA CITY

Dated this

day of ----------------~20____ .

By:
MAYOR
ATIEST:
CITY CLERK

CITY OF CORALVILLE
Dated this

day of ---------------~ 20____ .

By:
MAYOR
ATIEST:. _____________________
CITY CLERK

CITY OF NORTH LIBERTY

Dated this ______ day of---------------~ 20_ _ .
By: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ___
MAYOR
ATIEST: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
CITY CLERK