Iowa City Area Development Group Hires Austin Korns as Director of Business Development
February 4, 2021 | News & Press Releases
Today, the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD) announces the hiring of Austin Korns as the Director of Business Development. In this position, Korns will assist in the implementation of annual existing industry programming, provide leadership for expansion, attraction and retention projects, support the execution of the Iowa EdTech Collaborative strategy and provide leadership to support the region’s targeted industry clusters.
Austin received his Bachelor of Social Work and Master’s of Public Administration from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and stayed in the St. Louis region to begin his career in economic development. Most recently, he served as a major project manager for St. Louis Development Corporation for the last four years handling various business development and industry cluster focused work.
“Austin’s past experiences and skill sets are a perfect fit for both the organization and the community. His leadership and experience paired with his passion for community development will be invaluable as ICAD continues executing on the Designing Our Future vision.” – Todd Means, Chair, ICAD Board.
Austin and his wife, Mariah, are outdoors enthusiasts and enjoy road cycling, hiking with their dog, and working in their garden. Along with the exciting work to be done, he is looking forward to becoming a part of the welcoming Iowa City community and being closer to his family and hometown of Aledo, IL.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled to make the move to Iowa City and join what is clearly a thriving community with unlimited potential. This has been a goal of ours for some time now and ICAD is the right fit for the work I love to do. The Director of Business Development for a region like this one has the unique opportunity to work with a diverse set of businesses and entire sectors all poised for exponential growth. Ultimately, I am most excited to meet people with big ideas and work to see those ideas become a reality,” said Korns.
“As we got to know Austin, we saw many synergies between his interests and experiences and our team’s vision for the future. Our team is committed to being bold and innovative to build a new, agile economy that can withstand whatever the future holds. Like our current team, Austin is fueled by the challenges our economies and communities are facing and is ready to dig in to make the Iowa City area a place where both people and companies can thrive.” – Kate Moreland, President, Iowa City Area Development Group.
ICAD will be hosting several small group meet and greet sessions on Tuesday, February 23rd and Thursday, February 25th for ICAD investors and community members to meet Austin. If you are interested in joining a meet and greet, you can sign up for a time slot here.
