Charles City Community Revitalization, Chamber of Commerce work toward the same goal while separate

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

Charles City Chamber of Commerce has very similar goals as Charles City Revitalization, but they are very different entities.

They both work for the betterment of Charles City, but one is business-based and has business membership, and the other is more of a non-profit working toward benefiting the Main Street area of Charles City.

Both can be found at the Community Development office, and have Mark Wicks as their director.

The programs are often confused, but retail promotion events, like Chickfest, Witchfest, and Elf Fest are Chamber of Commerce events, Wicks said.

The best way to find out whether an event is Community Revitalization event or Chamber of Commerce event is to ask, Wicks said.

The office is located at 401 N. Main St. owned by the city of Charles City and is rented by the Chamber, CCADC and Community Revitalization, with shared staff.

“Our main goal is the betterment of the community so that everyone sees that coming out of 401 N. Main,” Wicks said.

“We have half the building. The other half of the building is held by the Charles City Area Development Corporation,” Wicks said. “The whole point is being a one-stop shop for economic development in Floyd County.”

The main focus of the Chamber of Commerce is the business community and business promotion. The Chamber also wants to focus on the community of Charles City and tourism, which is why the Chamber has a full-time marketing coordinator, Ginger Williams, Wick said.

All of the organizations in 401 N. Main St. are different, with different mission statements, and at one time they’ve had their own different physical offices as well, Wicks said.

Tourism has become an increasingly important part of the Chamber with the whitewater course.

The Charles City Chamber has its highest membership in more than 10 years at 276 members, Wicks said.

“Everything we do is driven by serving that membership, and because promotion of the community serves that membership that’s a big part of what we do,” Wicks said. “We’ve helped communities throughout the county.”

Community Revitalization

The Charles City Community Revitalization has been around as a Main Street Iowa program for over 20 years.

“There are some communities that have merged their Main Street program with the Chamber. Ours is not a merger. Ours is a shared relationship,” Wicks said. “I report to two different boards of directors, so I have 18 bosses.”

Both the Chamber and Community Revitalization have similar goals.

“They have a lot of things in common. They both have the ultimate goal of improving and promoting our community. They have two different organizational ways of going about that,” Wicks said.

Community Revitalization is a Main Street Iowa program, of which there are 52 communities.

“Main Street Iowa focuses on the core of the community, so Main Street Iowa is restricted to the downtown district,” Wicks said. “The Chamber is not. The chamber encompasses all of Charles City.”

The program has successfully applied for a $4,500 Main Street Iowa Technical Assistance Grant for wayfinding, Wicks said.

A lot of Main Street programs have Main Street in the name, but Charles City had a different idea.

“We want (the name) Community Revitalization because we wanted it to benefit the entire community as much as possible, even through we’re restricted to the downtown core,” Wicks said. “Our hope is that this radiates out and benefits the entire community.

“Charles City and Floyd County have a lot to offer,” Wicks said.