How Strategic Branding Helped a Rural Iowa Economic Development Agency Attract Top Talent and Drive Regional Growth
- Vanessa M
- Oct 30
- 7 min read
In August 2023, Curt Strouth accepted the role of President and CEO at the Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation. For an organization serving a four-county region in rural Northwest Iowa, landing an executive with over a decade of economic development experience was significant. But what made his decision particularly telling was this: the organization's brand transformation, launched the year before, had been part of what attracted him to the opportunity.
This is how strategic branding became more than a visual refresh—it became a catalyst for organizational transformation.
The Challenge: When Your Brand Can't Keep Up with Your Impact
After the pandemic, by 2021, the Iowa Lakes Corridor faced a familiar paradox. They were doing exceptional work—supporting businesses, driving investment, championing their region—but their brand didn't reflect it fully.
The problems were clear: brand inconsistency across platforms, limited digital presence, few professional materials online, and a visual identity that paled beside peer organizations like Greater Sioux Falls and Sioux City's economic development agencies.
Most critically, the brand failed to answer the fundamental question:
Why would anyone choose rural Northwest Iowa of all places to start or build a business?
For an organization competing against urban centers and coastal regions for businesses and talent, this wasn't just a marketing problem—it was existential.
The Solution: A Phased Brand Transformation
In 2021 the Corridor partnered with Vertical Marketing + Design for a comprehensive brand transformation that rolled out strategically in early 2022.
Phase 1: Visual Identity Foundation
The process began with a complete logo redesign and brand system. The refresh modernized the visual identity with contemporary colors—bright turquoise and yellows, plus gradients—deliberately chosen to differentiate the Corridor from peer organizations' traditional (aka - boring and flat) blue-and-green palettes. Typography shifted to simplified sans serif fonts for improved readability across digital and print applications.
The outdated logo below (Prior 2021)
The refreshed logo below
The comprehensive system included logo variations for every use case: centered and left-justified layouts, full-color and grayscale versions, transparent backgrounds, and reversed treatments for dark surfaces. This wasn't aesthetic preference—it was strategic infrastructure ensuring consistent brand application regardless of medium or designer.
At Vertical, we call this phase, "Building the launch platform."
Phase 2: Digital Channel Rollout AKA "Lift-Off"
With the visual foundation set, the team launched cohesive social media strategy and digital presence. Professional content creation and consistent visual standards ensured that anyone researching the region would find a polished, credible organization.
Phase 3: Print and Digital Communications
The brand system extended to print materials and a newly branded digital enewsletter, creating consistent touchpoints with the organization's 80+ investor organizations. The enhanced enewsletter saw increased viewership and provided a consistent messaging pipeline—content was refined in email format before being adapted for social channels. We also created a hierarchy of information dissemination during this timeframe.
Vertical calls this a "Brand Boost."
Phase 4: Strategic Storytelling
Rather than leading with statistics, the mature brand strategy has been centered on human stories. Why do business owners stay? Why do workers build careers here? The messaging showcased real people who love living and working in the region—authentic voices that resonated beyond economic data. I meet with their team every month to ensure our social media approach is focused on that storytelling strategy.
You know we have a name for this too, right? We sure do - it's called "Maximizing Orbit."
And yes, there's a reason for all the space terminology. Read the story behind why I named my brand phases after space missions >>
That's why the work with organizations like the Iowa Lakes Corridor matters—because when they can tell their story well, they can help more businesses, owners and employees across our region thrive.
The Collaborative Approach
The Corridor took a strategic approach to agency partnerships, working with Vertical Marketing + Design alongside specialized marketing firms. Rather than expecting one agency to be expert in every channel, their collaborative model brought together complementary strengths—ensuring the brand system worked seamlessly across all touchpoints.
The methodical approach created sustainable brand systems that continue evolving today, including the organization's new podcast (that was JUST released!) and we are now moving A/B testing capabilities with their in-house team, with the latest extension of their staff.
The Results: Three Years Later
The transformation delivered measurable impact across multiple dimensions:
Expanded Reach + Engagement Social Media Growth: 22.3% (January 2022 - May 2025)
Facebook: 4,478 → 5,357 (+19.6% growth)
Instagram: 860 → 1,087 (+26.4% growth)
LinkedIn: 293 → 732 (+149% growth/new channel)
Twitter/X: 1,172 → 1,141 (-2.6% loss)*
*Note: The Corridor maintained near-stable Twitter/X following despite platform-wide challenges resulting in significant user exodus following the 2022 ownership change and their 2023 rebrand.
Geographic diversity
Content consistently reaches audiences from local communities like Spencer, Spirit Lake, Storm Lake, and Estherville to major metros including Chicago and St. Louis
Professional content output averaging 150+ posts monthly across platforms
Enhanced enewsletter (sign up to check it out) performance with increased viewership and consistent messaging pipeline to social channels
Talent Attraction Success
When searching for a new President and CEO in 2023, the brand became an unexpected recruitment advantage. Curt Strouth joined that August, bringing over a decade of experience.
As he explains:
"One thing that initially drew me to the role was the organization's clear and consistent branding across its marketing channels.
Its strong social media presence and cohesive messaging reflected a level of professionalism, vision and regional momentum that made me eager to contribute to its ongoing mission."
Business Development Impact
The brand transformation delivered tangible economic outcomes. According to the Corridor's 2024 Business Retention and Expansion Report , 36% of regional businesses plan to expand within the next three to five years, representing $230 million in projected capital investment. The organization's credibility contributed to placing first in Iowa for SBA 504 loans approved in 2024, earning a $10,000 grant from Dakota Business Finance.
With this momentum, the Corridor launched innovative programs including the Homegrown Talent Initiative and Big IDEA entrepreneurial challenge, serving their base of 80+ investor organizations with increasingly sophisticated programming.
Recognition + Sustained Growth The brand's impact extended beyond metrics. Just weeks ago, the Corridor was named IASourceLink Resource Partner of the Year—the inaugural recipient of this statewide award recognizing partners who go above and beyond to support Iowa's entrepreneurial ecosystem. The recognition cited their promotion of resources across social media and their work personally connecting entrepreneurs with programs and support.
Earlier this year, when an international economic development organization invited the Corridor to submit branded materials for a prestigious competition, it validated the visual system's professional caliber. While they haven't taken home a prize yet, the recognition of being asked to compete internationally speaks to how far the organization's brand has evolved.
Perhaps the strongest proof of the brand system's success came from an unexpected place: Jenny, the Corridor's newly hired team member, began creating content that was indistinguishable from Vertical Marketing's work. Even Jenny's own mother couldn't identify which posts came from the agency versus her daughter. This wasn't accidental—the comprehensive visual and voice guidelines created a system so clear that even someone new to the position could execute it flawlessly. The brand had transitioned from agency-dependent to self-sustaining infrastructure, with the team now managing A/B testing internally and launching their own vlog to expand reach methodically.
As part our "Launch Pad," we try to make brand set up simple, yet effective with training tools for clients - like the brand board resource below. Clients are able to post these in common areas so that all staff have the foundational tools to create branded collateral themselves.
The value of the partnership extends beyond the brand system itself.
According to Alyssa Peterson, Coordinator of Administration and Communication:
"The branding is used consistently across these new initiatives, helping us give a cohesive look at all of our programs. It also has helped tremendously having Vertical on call to support our marketing efforts on a daily basis, expanding the capabilities from our 4 (now 5) person team and helping us to be more proactive in our social media efforts.
Having their team on call for additional materials as we create reports—BRE, Strategic Plans, and others—is extremely beneficial, supporting us with additional expertise and experience in branding and design."
Vertical Marketing's goal in creating effective brand systems is empowerment, not dependency. When clients can execute at the same level as their agency partners, the brand has succeeded.
The Bigger Picture: Building Regional Brand Architecture
The Corridor's success demonstrates the potential for umbrella brand architecture in regional economic development. When organizations across a region adopt unified visual language while preserving individual missions, the entire area benefits from consistent professional presence that creates regional recognition individual organizations couldn't achieve alone.
Vertical Marketing has applied this umbrella brand philosophy with Spirit of Okoboji and their endeavors including the Lakes Area Museum Alliance (where we contributed to the successful 'Night at the Museum with Lucy Llama' branded series), as well as maintaining brand consistency for Freedom Boat Club's Iowa franchises in coordination with their corporate offices in Florida and launching the refreshed brand umbrella, McCreary's Hospitality, back in 2023.
Key Lessons for Economic Development Organizations
The Corridor's success offers three critical insights:
Brand is Infrastructure - In a competitive landscape, professional branding determines whether you're even considered. It's not a "nice to have"—it's essential infrastructure.
Consistency Compounds - The results came from disciplined execution over three years, not a single campaign. Each month of consistent brand application made the organization stronger.
Storytelling Scales - Human stories about why people stay and work in a region create emotional connections that statistics cannot match.
The Takeaway
The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation proves that strategic branding can transform economic development organizations, regardless of size or location. Three years later, the investment continues delivering value: sustained growth, successful recruitment, enhanced outcomes, and regional recognition.
For economic development professionals competing against larger metros, the lesson is clear: you don't need the biggest budget.
You need a clear story, consistent execution, and the commitment to invest in how you show up.
Because in economic development, perception shapes reality. The Iowa Lakes Corridor chose to shape theirs intentionally.
Our team at Vertical Marketing counts ourselves lucky to be able to work with such a collaborative team locally. Big thank you to them for trusting us to walk along side them and allowing us to share their "marketing story" publicly.
About Vertical Marketing + Design
Vertical specializes in strategic branding for economic development organizations and multi-brand companies, helping leaders tell compelling stories that attract investment, businesses, and talent. To learn more about transforming your brand, contact our team.
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