Statewide Iowa — The Iowa Business Council is releasing its Competitive Dashboard for 2022, perspectives from executives at Iowa’s 22 largest companies on how the state is competing in the national marketplace.
Council chairman Tim Yaggi, president and CEO of Pella Corporation, applauds state lawmakers and the governor for the latest tax reforms, as he says Iowa has not been competitive as a state from a tax perspective.
On Tuesday, Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill which will flatten Iowa’s personal income tax rate to 3.9% by 2026. While Iowa’s population growth has consistently trailed behind the national average, Yaggi notes Iowa is also 45th out of the 50 states in ethnic diversity. He says it’s vital that Iowa work harder to recruit people to move here — and to recruit younger people to move here.
One of the state’s biggest shortcomings, he says, is a familiar refrain — the difficulty of finding and hiring qualified workers to fill the wide array of open positions.
Iowa has much to offer newcomers, he says, including great schools, affordable housing and short commute times.
Leaders of the non-partisan, non-profit council say the Competitive Dashboard was created to serve as a guide to both lawmakers and business leaders in determining policies that will elevate Iowa’s economy.
