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IOWA CITY-CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA - Today, the Cedar Rapids Iowa City Corridor Development Corporation (Joint Venture) announced their new name, ICR IOWA. The name represents a new brand for the organization and also for the seven county region. "We are excited to share ICR IOWA, a new brand imagined by a team of 17 creatives who live and work in our region," said Jennifer Daly, President and CEO for ICR IOWA. "The ICR stands for Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, shortened to share that central 'C.' The team believes this brand will resonate both within and outside our region, allowing us to develop a stronger presence nationally and internationally for business and talent attraction." ICR IOWA will serve not only as the name of the economic development organization, but also as a brand used to promote the region. A new website and marketing campaign focused on business and talent attraction will be launched this summer. "We will be encouraging businesses, organizations, and our cities and counties to help us amplify ICR IOWA by using the brand in their own marketing," said Daly. "A toolkit with graphics and guidance on usage will be available shortly, but everyone can do something really simple to help us right away...they can use #ICRIOWA on social media posts that showcase our amazing region." ICR IOWA is also working with Raygun to develop merchandise for citizens who are passionate about the region and clients being introduced to ICR. "Raygun has already created a really fun notebook design that we are handing out to clients," said Daly. "We are excited to see the additional ideas they and others generate around ICR. We know a simple idea can really take off and we have seen that happen in other regions including MSP, NYC, KC, DFW, DSM, and others." The creative team that developed the initial concept for ICR IOWA includes: Nick Bergus, City of North Liberty; Nancy Bird, Downtown Iowa City; Bill Bollman, FUEL; Katy Brown, Meld; Reid Wilson, Vast Iowa; Robyn Hepker, Benson & Hepker Design; Nate Kaeding, Build to Suit, Inc; Clarissa Koch, Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance; Laura Kome, ICAD and Carpool; Dana Larson, University of Iowa Center for Advancement; Kevin Mellen, Creative Mellen; Mallory Mohwinkle, True North; Akwi Nji, The Hook and the Cedar Rapids Community School District; Casey Prince, UFG Insurance; Amanda West, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; and Michael Zydzik, Fusion Farm. The final designs for the brand were created by Jen Neumann, Robyn Hepker, and Nate Kaeding. "We are so thankful for the ICR creatives who were willing to share their time and talent to create this new brand," said Daly. "When the idea was generated, it struck an immediate cord with the entire group. I hope it will resonate just as strongly with our friends and neighbors living in ICR and also those who we hope will join us in the future."