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strategic communications
PURPOSE
Integrated Communications Strategies was hired by the Linn County Board of Supervisors to facilitate a public input
process regarding the future, long-term location of Linn County’s Administrative Office Building. The purpose of this
process was to rank the preferences of Linn County Residents for the evaluation criteria identified for the new facility
and using that criteria, their preferred location of the Linn County Administrative Office Building.
strategic communications 2
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
RESULTS SUMMARY
Three hundred twenty-eight (328) residents of Linn County completed online surveys regarding the five AOB options.
Two hundred and eighty three residents (283) attended the open houses—most of which fully completed a survey.
(Surveys only partially completed were not considered.).
The first thing asked of the public was to give their opinion on how much importance the Linn County Board of
Supervisors should give specific criteria in evaluating the building options. The table below displays their answers.
Environmental (sustainability,
energy efficiency, flood protection) 48.2% 33.1% 13.9% 2.8% 2%
Customer service is the criterion they believe should be given the greatest importance, followed by environmental.
Cost and technical are given less importance, but as shown in the chart below, all the criteria have at least some
importance. Few believe any of the criteria is of little or no importance.
Importance
70
60 Very High
50 High
40 Some
% 30 Little or No
20 Importance
10 No Answer
0
Customer Environmental Cost Technical
Service
strategic communications 3
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
Next, residents were asked to rate the different choices for Linn County offices. Below are their answers
for each of the five options.
OPTION #1
Option #1 Total
Repair 2008 Flood Damage to
Administrative Office Building Outstanding choice 14.7%
(Estimated net cost—$0)
Good choice 10.8%
Acceptable choice 19.4%
Poor choice 22.9%
Unacceptable choice 29.5%
No answer 2.7%
Sample Size 564
2.7%
14.7%
Outstanding
29.5% Good
10.8%
Acceptable
Poor
Unacceptable
19.4% No Answer
22.99%
Option 1 is considered at least acceptable by 45% of those who rated it. It is rated unacceptable by 30%.
strategic communications 4
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
OPTION #2
Renovate and Expand Existing
Administrative Office Building Option #2 Total
(Estimated net cost—$186,099
Outstanding choice 18.7%
to $8,987,446 dependent upon
I-JOBS funding.) Good choice 13.7%
Acceptable choice 13.2%
Poor choice 24.2%
Unacceptable choice 27.2%
No answer 3%
Sample Size 564
3%
18.7%
Outstanding
27.2%
Good
Acceptable
13.7% Poor
Unacceptable
No Answer
24.2% 13.2%
This option, to renovate and expand the current Administrative Office Building is at least acceptable to 46% of
those who answered and considered unacceptable to 27%
strategic communications 5
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
OPTION #3
Purchase and Renovate
Former Steve and Barry’s Option #3 Total
Retail Space at Westdale Mall
Outstanding choice 19.9%
(Estimated net cost of $14,563,350)
Good choice 16.5%
Acceptable choice 19.0%
Poor choice 23.6%
Unacceptable choice 19.2%
No answer 1.8%
Sample Size 564
1.8%
19.2% 19.9%
Outstanding
Good
Acceptable
16.5% Poor
23.6% Unacceptable
No Answer
19%
Option 3, to renovate and stay in the current Steve and Barry’s location, is at least acceptable to 55% of those
answering. It is unacceptable to 19%.
strategic communications 6
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
OPTION #4
Purchase and Renovate Former
EconoFoods Grocery Space Option #4 Total
(Estimated net cost of $13,388,297)
Outstanding choice 18.9%
Good choice 17.6%
Acceptable choice 20.1%
Poor choice 22.6%
Unacceptable choice 18.9%
No answer 2%
Sample Size 564
2%
18.9% 18.9%
Outstanding
Good
Acceptable
17.6% Poor
22.6% Unacceptable
No Answer
20.1%
strategic communications 7
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
OPTION #5
Co-Location with City of
Cedar Rapids and/or Cedar Rapids Option #5 Total
School District (Estimated net cost
Outstanding choice 10.7%
of $13,023,250)
Good choice 11.9%
Acceptable choice 21.7%
Poor choice 22.2%
Unacceptable choice 29.7%
No answer 3.8%
Sample Size 564
3.8%
10.7%
11.9% Outstanding
29.7% Good
Acceptable
Poor
Unacceptable
21.7%
No Answer
22.2%
44% of residents answering the survey said this option is at least acceptable to them. It is unacceptable to 30%.
strategic communications 8
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
The table below summarizes the ratings given to the five options. The graph visualizes the findings.
OPTION 3: Steve and Barry’s 19.6% 16.5% 19.0% 23.6% 19.2% 1.8%
Ratings
30
25
20 Outstanding
Good
% 15 Acceptable
Poor
10 Unacceptable
No Answer
5
0
Option #1 Option #2 Option #3 Option #4 Option #5
Repair AOB Expand AOB Steve and EconoFoods Co-Locate
Barry’s
Options 2, 3, and 4 have the highest ratings with no clear-cut concensus. Option 1, repairing the existing AOB, is
next best, with Option 5, co-location, clearly the least well rated option.
strategic communications 9
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
strategic communications 10
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
Rankings
30
25
20
First Choice
% 15 Second Choice
Third Choice
10
5
0 Option #3 Option #2 Option #4 Option #1 Option #5
Steve and Expand AOB EconoFoods Repair AOB Co-Locate
Barry’s
It is apparent from the graph that Options 3, 2 and 4 stand out. Option 1 is less well ranked and Option 5 is
clearly the also ran among the five.
In evaluating this data, it is apparent that while there is some differentiation between the building options, they
all have their champions and detractors. There is no clear-cut concensus.
strategic communications 11
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
Below are some representative comments from supporters of the various options in explaining why they made
their rankings.
strategic communications
• Because the possibility of still getting I-Jobs. So no new taxes. Don’t have to bring it up to a vote.
12
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
strategic communications
• Good location. Plenty of parking. Utilizes an empty building.
13
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
strategic communications 14
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
FOCUS GROUPS
Focus groups are utilized to delve deeper into participants’ top-of-mind thoughts about a subject. For example,
magazine publisher’s and editors might hold focus groups about colors, content and even a potential magazine’s
name, prior to launching a new publication. Retailers utilize focus groups to identify product displays that draw
shoppers. Hospitals utilize focus groups to find out what patients found unique about their services.
In this case, our goal was twofold: 1) ensure participants were fully informed about the five potential options for
the new AOB and 2) record their final preferences when they had applied the same evaluation criteria that the
Board of Supervisors will utilize in making its final decision.
Participants were randomly selected from voter registration, business and employee lists, respectively.
strategic communications 15
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
As they proceeded in their discussions, individuals in this group began admitting strong interest in Option #5—
Co-Location w/the CR School District and/or the City of Cedar Rapids. Each hesitated to bring it up and quickly
concluded it might be a challenge to get participating organizations to agree. (This discussion started with an
impromptu discussion about the potential merger of city/county governments in Linn County.)
Out of the discussion about Option #5, however, came an “Option #6.” In short, this group explored the idea of
Linn County constructing a new building based on the square footage identified in Option #2 and the industry
standards used to estimate the cost of this square footage in a co-location situation. Two people adhered to this
idea when considering both customer service and cost important.
strategic communications 16
Sondy Daggett
909 Rosedale Road Southeast
Cedar Rapids, IA 52403
SKDaggett@aol.com
319.310.4359
As these issues were put to rest…maybe…the conversation turned to the evaluation criteria used for the five
options. Many said they had never seen it, and many were concerned that the information had not been shared
with the engineers doing the feasibility studies on the various sites.
Again, once issues were put to rest, thoughtful, in-depth discussion ensued. Everyone in this group was convinced
that customer service was the most important of the evaluation criteria. They encourage the supervisors to listen
to employee needs, but especially pointed out that what Linn County residents like about the temporary location
are customer service oriented and should be considered with any option that is chosen—close-in parking, wide
hallways, and what is perceived as faster service in these more open areas.
As they were walked through the criteria and encouraged to overlay them against the five options, four thought
Option #4 provided the best customer service potential for both them and their customers; two thought these
could be accomplished with Option #2, two favored co-location and one said, “I don’t think we’ve evaluated all
options yet.”
The employee who said this was again, thoughtful and insightful. Her/his concerns were long-term in nature,
wondering who was evaluating all Linn County space needs for 25-30 years into the future, as the new or
rejuvenated AOB is planned.
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