The City of Knoxville recently hired two economic development directors, Glenn Lyons and Marilyn Arber. Their immediate focus includes work on the downtown revitalization effort, which was assessed by the Iowa Economic Development Authority earlier this year. Arber says the goal is to get to know the downtown business owners to create an image.

“That would give us a better idea of how to proceed. What is the most important to them, and what do they want to do first? There are opportunities for facade programs, second story housing. We just need to establish what they’re interested in, what they’re willing to contribute, how we would go about developing what they’re interested in, what grants and funding are out there. Deciding what we can do immediately, as opposed to what’s going to take three or four years to accomplish.”

Along with downtown revitalization, the veterans district development is another top priority for this new team. Learn more about Arber, Lyons, and their roles in the City of Knoxville on an upcoming In Depth.