Inclusion still a priority in the Cedar Valley, leaders say
“Our diversity is our strength, on so many levels,” Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart says.
This story was written by the author for the March 15, 2025 Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and is reprinted with permission.
WATERLOO — The mayors of Waterloo and Cedar Falls feel the metro area has improved opportunities since the website 24/7 Wall Street report in 2018 that named the Cedar Valley the worst place for Blacks to live in the U.S.
A 2024 update had Waterloo-Cedar Falls eighth on the list, they noted, heading in a positive direction and hopefully off of the list altogether.
The mayors plan to continue promoting inclusion of the Cedar Valley’s diverse racial, ethnic and cultural groups in the community’s economic progress — and touting that inclusion as an asset.
“We are a great community. Our diversity is our strength, on so many levels,” Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart said. “There may be time of uncertainty right now, but we will never allow that to shape who we are as a community. We are a great place because of it.”
Waterloo is 17 percent Black American, the largest percentage Black population of any major city in Iowa. It also has sizable Latino, Bosnian, Congolese, Burmese and Asian populations.
Part of the city’s strategic plan, Hart said, is “to continue to eliminate barriers, things that keep people from being successful,” with services such as internet access, transportation and housing opportunities available communitywide.
Cedar Falls Mayor Danny Laudick said his community, too, has a role in making sure the Cedar Valley is welcoming.
“We can actually talk to our neighbors. The national conversation around this, honestly, has always missed the point,” Laudick said. “The goal always is that anybody, regardless of their background, should have the same opportunities.
“No matter what the national conversation is, it’s our job here to make sure we build our narrative, not let the national conversation become our narrative,” Laudick said. “Every community has to set its own course.”
The Grow Cedar Valley economic development organization shares that perspective, said President Katy Susong.
“We really believe that the best outcomes are the result of diverse perspectives,” said Susong, former CEO of Cardinal Construction in Waterloo. “If you get a whole bunch of people around a table that feel the same way about something, you’re not going to push boundaries. You’re not going to change. So we really believe inclusion is important.”
Grow Cedar Valley has hosted an Inclusion Summit and will do so in the future. “Beyond that, we also see one of our roles is to help our businesses understand the benefits of inclusion, the benefits of diversity within their organization,” Susong said. “We really believe that our businesses thrive when they’re comprised of a variety of different people from different backgrounds.”
“The equity piece to me is one of the most important pieces,” Hart added. “There’s been disinvestment in certain parts of the community, where there’s not trails, there’s not proper play equipment, decent housing, where the investment hasn’t been the same historically. ... Different communities need different things.”
“I will never apologize for trying to create an equitable model of leadership versus what Washington, D.C. is saying or the state is saying,” Hart said.
Regarding answering some of 24/7 Wall Street findings, “We’re making continued investment in that,” Laudick said, “These are the kinds of things where change is not going to come overnight,” but there needs to be continued improvement.
“It was a challenge,” Laudick said. “A challenge gives you chance to admit, ‘Hey there’s something we need to look at. Let’s do something about it.’ ”
He said the Cedar Valley has responded through organizations like the 24/7 Black Leadership Advancement Consortium, or “24/ BLAC,’ which promotes Black entrepreneurship, financial acumen and creating generational wealth, among other initiatives.
“As someone who grew up in this area, I’ve seen changes,” Hart said. “I’ve always had questions about certain things in my own neighborhood when it comes to the lack of housing, the lack of economic investment into certain parts of this community. So I wasn’t surprised by the article. It’s been a conversation for many years. But what it did do was it opened the eyes to a lot of other people who were here, to say, ‘Okay, it’s documented. These concerns need to be addressed.’
“To me it wasn’t a surprise. It was something that we knew and it’s part of the reason I ran for office,” said Hart, the city’s first Black mayor.
Major employers like Deere and Co. have helped. Deere and other companies reviewed their employment practices with the help of Grow Cedar Valley. The education system also offered more opportunities such as the Waterloo Schools Career Center and through Hawkeye Community College.
“It was John Deere, and it was a number of other businesses that decided to come forward, along with Grow Cedar Valley,” Hart said. “But one of the biggest changes was the creation of 24/7 BLAC. Their work in employment, housing, entrepreneurship, that helped to launch more minority entrepreneurs in the city than any other initiative at the time. It was a game changer here.”
The numbers for Waterloo have been trending favorably, “but it’s still not good enough,” Hart said. “Our tag line, our motto, is ‘A Community of Opportunity.’ We’re looking at a number of areas,” including child care, education and reinvestment in disadvantaged areas.”
Laudick agreed. “The fact that we’re taking steps to address the core issues and not just surface-level concerns is the thing that makes the difference. And it will take diligence. “That’s 20, 30 years. We didn’t get here overnight. You’re not going to fix it overnight,” Laudick said.
Pat Kinney is a freelance writer and former longtime news staffer with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and, prior to that, several years at the Ames Tribune. He is currently an oral historian with the Grout Museum District in Waterloo. His “View from the Cedar Valley” column is part of “Iowa Writers Collaborative,” a collection of news and opinion writers from around the state who previously and currently work with a host of Iowa newspapers, news organizations and other publications. They are listed here. Clink on their individual links to check them out, subscribe for free - and, if you believe in the value of quality journalism, support this column and/or any of theirs with a paid subscription. Thank you.