Storm Lake economy report highlights local employers, workforce needs

Storm Lake growth is real, but it is running into labor and housing limits

Storm Lake’s economic outlook is being shaped by two numbers at once: 31 local businesses in the city are planning $20.4 million or more in investment, while employers across the region still reported 180 unfilled jobs. That mix means the next phase of growth will be judged not by optimism alone, but by whether local companies can hire, expand and keep more paychecks circulating through storefronts, schools and the city’s tax base.

The Iowa Lakes Corridor Development Corporation brought that picture to the Storm Lake City Council as part of its annual Business Retention and Expansion report, a review designed to find where employers are growing, where they are struggling and what could push them over the edge. Corridor senior vice president Trevor Smith said the organization’s work is rooted in Storm Lake and Buena Vista County, and the update tied that local focus to a visible sign of business strength: Buena Vista Regional Medical Center won Large Business Excellence, while Veso Coffee won Small Business Excellence at the Corridor’s 15th annual business recognition luncheon on Jan. 29, 2026.

What the Corridor found across northwest Iowa

The Corridor’s 2025 BRE, or Business Retention and Expansion, report covered 117 business and industry visits across Buena Vista, Clay, Dickinson and Emmet counties. The GROWTH program behind that effort stands for Gathering, Relationships, Opportunities, Wins, Trends and Hometown, and the Corridor said it works in conjunction with the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Last year, the Corridor accounted for 13% of BRE reports statewide, a sign that its check-ins with employers are a meaningful slice of Iowa’s broader business retention effort.

The regional numbers point to a workforce market that is still holding together, but only with strain. The Corridor said 86% of businesses reported stable or increasing sales, and 27% of the companies visited said they plan to expand in the next three to five years. Those expansion plans translate into more than $110 million in projected capital investment and over 218 new jobs, which would ripple beyond plant floors and office parks into local construction, retail spending and property tax receipts.

At the same time, the report makes clear that the region’s growth is constrained by labor shortages. Businesses reported 180 unfilled positions, and half said recruitment remains difficult. That is the sort of bottleneck that can slow down a factory line, delay a service expansion or force a local employer to turn away work even when sales are steady.

What the Buena Vista County numbers say about Storm Lake

Buena Vista County accounted for 35 of the Corridor’s business visits, and 31 of those were in Storm Lake. That concentration matters because it shows where the Corridor sees the county’s biggest concentration of employers, opportunity and risk. The local report estimated more than $20.4 million in capital investment and found that 21% of visited businesses were preparing to expand.

The county numbers also show that Storm Lake’s economy is not only local, it is connected. Fifteen percent of businesses reported international sales activity, and among those firms, 96% said sales were stable or increasing. Another 15% said they have facilities outside the United States. That matters for jobs in Storm Lake because companies tied to export markets or global operations often bring in broader supply chains, more specialized positions and more demand for skilled workers who can keep those operations moving.

The report’s strengths section was equally telling. The Corridor said local business support, diversity, education, workforce quality, cost of living and location and amenities ranked among the region’s top strengths. Those are not abstract advantages. In Storm Lake, they shape whether a young worker stays after high school, whether a family can afford to live near work and whether an owner decides to add shifts, buy equipment or open another location.

Why housing and childcare remain the pressure points

If the sales picture is steady, the sustainability picture is more complicated. The Corridor said the biggest priorities for keeping growth on track are housing opportunities, childcare initiatives, workforce upskilling and talent attraction. Those are the barriers that can turn a healthy business climate into a stalled one if they are not addressed.

For Storm Lake, that means economic development is not just about finding more employers. It is also about making sure workers can live nearby, find reliable childcare and build the skills needed for better-paying jobs. Without those pieces, local companies may still invest, but they could do so more slowly or with fewer workers than they need. That would limit the broader payoff for the community, from new storefront activity to the sales and property taxes that help fund city services.

The report also shows why the Corridor’s retention work matters beyond headline expansions. Its business-visits program is meant to identify opportunities, forecast investment and job creation, flag businesses at risk of downsizing or closing, and connect employers to succession planning and other resources. In a place like Storm Lake, that kind of early warning system can matter as much as a ribbon cutting because the closure or slowdown of even one major employer can be felt quickly in payrolls, lunch counters and local sales tax collections.

How the workforce pipeline is supposed to grow

The Corridor is also trying to widen the pipeline before employers hit their next hiring wall. Trevor Smith previewed Build My Future, scheduled for April 23, 2026, at the Clay County Fair and Events Center in Spencer. The event is expected to feature 52 businesses from the four-county Corridor area and draw more than 800 students from area high schools.

That kind of hands-on exposure is aimed at showing students real career paths in building trades, automotive, law enforcement, manufacturing and other fields. The Corridor said the goal is to keep northwest Iowa talent from drifting away, and the timing matters for Storm Lake because today’s high school students are tomorrow’s workforce for manufacturers, health care providers, contractors and service businesses.

Joanne Follon, who leads the Corridor’s business retention and expansion efforts, walked council members through the county and regional data and underscored how closely expansion, recruitment and workforce development are now linked. Her presentation suggested that growth is available, but only if the region can match employer ambition with housing, childcare and skills training that keep people in the labor market.

For Storm Lake, the bottom line is straightforward: the economy is still moving forward, with real investment and expansion plans on the table, but the city’s long-term gains will depend on whether residents can find the jobs, housing and support systems needed to keep that momentum in town.