Molly Grover

TH executive editor

Molly Grover arrived as the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce's executive with her engine engaged in high gear.

Her first weeks as the chamber's first female president and chief executive officer have been jammed with official functions, committee meetings and get-acquainted appointments.

Born in Dubuque and the daughter of Bellevue residents, Grover was raised outside the tri-state area but regularly visited the community.

The Telegraph Herald caught up with Grover at the end of her first month at the chamber. Though she confesses to not having the fine-motor skills to do so literally, figuratively she is poised to "cut it" in her new role.

Here are highlights of her conversation with the TH.

Are you the new poster child of the Come Home to Dubuque?

They used that slogan a time or two after I was hired, and I'm proud to wear that banner. I am proud to be home in Dubuque. I think that it's a great slogan and with all the great things going on in Dubuque, named one of the 100 best communities for young people. Then it's also a great place to raise your family, so it has everything going for it. If I am the poster child for Come Home to Dubuque, I'm proud to be the poster child.

The chamber does have a program for young professionals.

Yes, we do.

Do you see that as one of the challenges in the community, the retention of the 20-something, 30-something people in the workplace?

I would say challenge is a good word for it because I think that we are fortunate in Dubuque to have so many activities and resources available for young people, but I don't think that we necessarily do a good job of communicating that. I know that working with GDDC (Greater Dubuque Development Corp.) and the chamber and other organizations throughout town, that that is something we're going to work very hard to communicate. It's definitely one of the goals of the chamber. The Young Professionals group has 128 members currently; it's a very vibrant and growing club of the chamber of commerce and I see that only continuing to grow.

What do the chamber staff people hear about what young professionals are looking for in a community, whether it's in Dubuque or somewhere else?

Again, looking for opportunity, jobs. We have plenty of jobs here, being ranked 22nd in the nation for job growth. I think they look for culture. They look for some sort of recreational activities. We have all those things. We have art studios. We have comedy clubs. We have live music. We have theater. We have ice skating and hockey and skiing. In the summertime, you have the river activities. So I believe Dubuque has all those things that young professionals are looking for. I think we need to aggressively market and communicate those opportunities and those resources that we do have.

When you interviewed for the job, how long had it been since you last visited Dubuque? Had you seen what's gone on in Dubuque over the last few years?

I was pleasantly surprised when I came into Dubuque and looked at it through a new set of eyes. I come back to visit family in Bellevue about a couple of times a year. We come back and visit family and we would always come to the Diamond Jo Casino because that was a fun activity. But when we came to the Diamond Jo, we were very focused. But coming back after the interview and seeing Dubuque and looking at it through a new set of eyes, a set of eyes that, "This is where I'm going to be living, this is where I'm going to be raising my family," I was pleasantly surprised. I was already excited about coming here. I'd already done my research online, but to see - one, the natural beauty is second to none. It's unrivaled. You just can't go anywhere else and get what you have here in Dubuque on the river. The bluffs. The architecture. The history. The quaintness. The neighborhoods. But then to be here and see so much activity and the availability of goods and services here in Dubuque, just the wonderful communi ty that it is, it was very, very exciting and my entire family couldn't wait to get here.

How did you get involved in chamber of commerce activities as a career?

I say that chamber of commerce work found me. And it's been a blessing in my life. Teaching has been in my family for years. That's what my degree is in, it's in elementary education. I was happy to continue doing that, but it was a job. It was a means of being able to have summers off with my kids. It was a family tradition. I was a director of a pre-school and taking my oldest son with me. That's why I chose to do that for a short period of time. I took two years off when I had him to be home with him. Then when I went back to work when he was 2, I was the director of a pre-school and that allowed me to take him with me.

And where was that?

That was in Oregon, Ill. That was only a part-time job and he was going to be going to a formal pre-school that was not necessarily full-time but I was looking for something that was going to be more full-time; the pre-school was part-time. There was an ad in the local paper for executive director: "Outgoing and professional personality, please apply." And that was basically it. I applied for the job, not really knowing what a chamber of commerce did. I knew I needed to find full-time work and that sounded like an opportunity. I met with the people and I got the job. It was a one-person show. I walked in my first day; there was no welcoming committee. There was no training manual. There was no one there to take me by the hand and say, "OK, this is how you do it." It was kind of sink or swim, learn as you go. The more I learned about it, and you had to learn quickly, and the more I did the job, the more I realized how much I loved the job. I couldn't get enough of it. In chamber work, it gets in your bloo d. It's something that you either really love and have a passion for or it's not your thing. I was one of those people that absolutely loved it and decided from that moment that that was the career for me. I had never realized before that I was career-oriented. I went to college and I knew that I was going to have a professional job, but I didn't realize having a career mattered to me until I found chamber work. So I did everything I could in my power to be the best that I could be doing my job, being a one-person show at that first chamber. I can't tell you how much that did for me professionally, because it taught me every aspect of the chamber industry. I had to do it all, from answering the phones to the administration to planning the events to being the spokesperson to starting an Ambassadors Club. All that was a one-person show. I did everything that I could to better myself professionally: taking chamber career development seminars, joining organizations for chamber professionals. Went to institutes.

You were 31/2 years, then you went up the road to Rochelle?

Rochelle, Ill., which is the largest town in Ogle County with a whopping population of about 10,000 people. That was the largest chamber in the county. I spent 31/2 years there as well. Again, it was another step up the ladder. It was expanding my professional opportunities. I went from being a one-person show. I actually had a staff person. Again, continued to go to Institute and completed that at the University of Notre Dame. That was a thrill because, ideally, going to the University of Notre Dame would have been my dream college. After 31/2 years, I was again ready to expand my horizons, so to speak, ready to take the next step in my chamber career. So I applied for the president of the Bartow (Ga.) County Chamber of Commerce. In fact, I remember finding the job online, looking at it and thought, "Yeah, right, I'll be moving to Georgia." Be careful what you wish for because that's exactly what happened. Got the job and moved to Georgia. That was a blessing for my family. Again, it made me a better ch amber professional. Every step that I've taken in my chamber career has taught me something new, something different and something that I believe enhances me as a professional.

How did you find out about this particular job in Dubuque?

Found out the same way we found out about the Georgia job. There is an organization called the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. They have a job watch section. I went to it when I was looking for my Georgia job, and my husband, just out of curiosity, went online and looked and he said, "Oh, my gosh, Honey, you're not going to believe this. The Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce is open." Our eyes both got as big as quarters. You're afraid to dream, you're afraid to hope, but we decided to go for it. Applied for it and never looked back. Went for it and did the best that I could do to ensure that I would get the job. And I'm here. Very excited to be here.

You on the periphery of what ended up being a somewhat public situation with Mike Blouin, then the outgoing director of the state Department of Economic Development. He put in for the chamber job. That's pretty heady stuff, actually, to nose out a state director for a job like this. Now, Mike is with Greater Dubuque. Does that create some awkward or uncomfortable situations at all?

Absolutely not. I'm humbled. I was humbled when I learned about the fact that Mike Blouin had applied for the job and who he was and the credentials that he had to bring to the job. It's not awkward. I think it's great for Dubuque. If you're working in a job like the chamber of commerce or Greater Dubuque, you have to do your job wanting to do what's in the best interest of Dubuque. I think having dedicated professionals that are committed to making sure that Dubuque is the best place to live, work and play is only a good thing. It's not awkward. In fact, Mike and I are going to have lunch on Monday and I'm looking forward to that very much. I want to get to know him. I hope that I can rely and use his expertise. He has experience and knowledge that's far beyond what I bring to Dubuque and to the position. He has many contacts. He has far more experience and I hope that I can lean on him and learn just an ounce of what he brings to Dubuque.

He has now, landed with Greater Dubuque Development, so he's also another person coming home to Dubuque. But he also has experience that probably lends itself more to that organization than a chamber anyway.

Ironically, it worked out like it was supposed to work out. I think if you could take a step back and hindsight being 20/20, although it might not have turned out this way. I know that his expertise is economic development. And economic development, although there's some hand-in-hand with chamber of commerce work, it takes a laser focus, economic development and I'm excited that Greater Dubuque has hired him and he's going to be great for Dubuque. I think it's ironic how it worked out and in the long run, it turned out how it should turn out.

Now, a lot of folks aren't exactly clear on what a chamber of commerce does.

You and my mom and dad, too.

You shared this earlier. What did your mom ask you about your job at one time?

She asked me, "Now, what is it that you do? Because when I tell other people, I don't know how to tell other people what you do." And it is a challenge trying to describe in a nutshell because it is not a nice, neat little package because it's many things. A chamber of commerce is a membership organization. We have members that invest in the organization for the betterment of the business community. A chamber of commerce is about business development, about the existing business base and offering goods, services, resources that the business community can use to enhance the existing business base. A chamber of commerce is an information warehouse, an information powerhouse. It is the front door to the community. It is the place that you call when you have a question to ask and you don't know who you're going to call. It is, for visitors, for newcomers, for people opening a business, it is kind of a one-stop shop. You can come to the chamber of commerce and you can get the information or the materials that you need to learn about a community. The chamber of commerce is recognized as the fifth most globally recognized branding in the world. So if I had to sum it up, a membership organization, business development and an information powerhouse, and last but not least, probably one of the most important is an advocate. The chamber of commerce is the voice of the business community and they advocate for issues that affect the business community. That is one of our most important functions.

The chamber really does have a different mission than what goes on downstairs at Greater Dubuque Development.

Yes.

I'm sure there are people who think it's your job to bring in the new factory or a new warehousing operation.

I'm glad that you say that, because what I like to say is it's service after the sale. Economic development is responsible for creating jobs and creating wealth for our community. A chamber of commerce, although sometimes they do economic development and there are programs that we can do in economic development, our specialty is service after the sale. Once that business says they're going to expand, once that business says they're going to move here, once they say they're creating a thousand jobs here, the chamber of commerce's job is to make sure that we provide the resources necessary for that business for them to be successful as a business here in Dubuque. I think for a lot of people they can understand the service after the sale concept.

Another possible misconception is with the recruitment of outside businesses. In some respects, it's at cross-purposes for a chamber of commerce to actually go out and try to bring in new business, whether it's retailers or whatever, because in a way, you're inviting in competition for your existing members. How does a chamber walk that tightrope?

That's a good point. Tightrope is a good way to put it. I think one, communication and awareness. But second, business breeds business. One business on its own, sure, would have a corner on the market if there was one business in Dubuque and we didn't try to bring in anymore because that business liked it that way. But businesses are going to come to an area where things are happening, where there's economic activity. It's kind of like do you want to go visit a town if you're going on vacation that has one antique shop or do you want to visit a town that has 20 antique shops? If you have a choice, you're going to go to the town that has 20 antique shops. So competition is good. Bringing in business helps bring in more business. It's a ripple effect. It's not uncommon that you hear some of those arguments that you were just talking about before that I think if the chamber continues to communicate that competition is good, that the more jobs that we have in our area is good, that business bleeds business i s a good thing as opposed to a bad thing I think that we can overcome some of those arguments. In Cartersville, we had an industry that was an icon in that community, a family-owned industry. Back in the '50s, when that community was aggressively recruiting industry to come to the area, that particular company was upset with the chamber - mad at the chamber if you will, because they were bringing in industry that was going to compete with their industry. They dropped their membership and they were not members for 50 years with the chamber of commerce. During my tenure, they did rejoin. But again, you need to educate the community.

By the time this interview runs we'll have some news out about some transition about workforce recruitment and development. What's going to happen? How's that going to play out between chamber and Greater Dubuque and other parties?

We're real excited about what's going to transpire with Workforce. We think it's a good thing for Dubuque. It's good for GDDC. It's good for the chamber. Workforce takes a united effort. Workforce is a very large, broad subject, and for one entity of its own, on its own, to do everything surrounding workforce is not realistic. Nor is it effective. So we are working with the GDDC and we're working with the Telegraph Herald, and the chamber, our key volunteers and leadership are working together to come up with a best plan for the future for workforce for our community. What makes the most sense? What fits where best? What programs belong where so that we can have a really dynamic effort in the name of work force for our community? Because that's what it's going to take. Rick Dickinson often refers to the survey that they just completed with 67 area businesses. Workforce was identified as our greatest strength and our greatest weakness at the same time. Knowing that, I think making sure that it's on the to p of everyone's mind and having that united effort and making sure that we're not necessarily duplicating services, but enhancing each other's services. We are excited to support GDDC in their efforts. I know that they're excited to support our efforts. We have the young professionals group. We have the trailing family, the trailing spouses. There are programs yet and waiting to be developed in the name of workforce. I think it's exciting for Dubuque and it's only going to enhance our work force here in Dubuque.

You've been here a month. What were your marching orders from your board of directors? What do they want you to concentrate on in your first 90 days, 180 days?

They want me to concentrate on membership and governmental affairs. Tourism is going fantastic, and not that we don't concentrate on that - we do - but that is going very, very well. The areas that we want to focus on, again, are membership. We have outstanding membership. We have over 1,000 members. We want to grow on that success and build our membership numbers because there's strength in numbers. The more members that we have, the greater opportunity we have for doing programs, having more clout with our legislators. We also want to repay our membership base. We want to show to our existing members that they're important, that we need them, that we care about them and that the chamber is here for them. So we're going to work on that well. Then governmental affairs. Working on relationships with our legislators. One of the things that's great about Dubuque is all the fantastic relationships. Everyone gets along - the city, the county, the GDDC, the chamber. All the entities get along. That's fantastic .

You're sounding like a chamber executive.

I'm sounding like a chamber executive.

Everybody just gets along and everything's great.

But you have to have partnerships. You have to have open communication. I believe that exists here. You can't say that that exists everywhere. I think that our community is testament to the fact that the organizations get along. The good things that are happening here. That's not going to happen if you have turf wars and that's not going to happen if you have territorialness. It's just not going to happen. I think that the success that's going on in Dubuque speaks for itself in terms of the relationships here. However, with that said, we need to work on having great relationships with our legislators. We do have great relationships with our legislators but they need to know what our issues are. They need to know when they run into someone from Dubuque exactly what's on our radar screen. They need to know what our needs are, what we want for funding. They need to know that Dubuque has a voice, a very strong voice, and we are going to work on that diligently in the upcoming months. We're going to Washingto n, D.C., (Feb. 7-9) and we are looking at new ways to promote our legislative agenda, ways that we can be more effective. In order to be effective, in order to have a voice, in order to truly know what the issues are, we have to meet more than once a month while the state legislature is in session. One of the very first things that we implemented in the past month was moving those government committee meetings from monthly to weekly. We're having speakers every week. We are getting informed as a committee about what's going on. We are learning more about the legislation for this session and how it affects Dubuque. So we're looking forward to developing our government division as well.

Now, one of the governmental issues that just passed is the increase in the minimum wage. Traditionally, chambers of commerce aren't excited about minimum wage going up. That's asked and answered in Iowa; it is going up. Another issue, however, is right-to-work legislation. What is the chamber's position on interest among the Democratic majority to change right-to-work laws so even non-union members would end up paying the equivalent of union dues?

The Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce supports Iowa as a right-to-work state. That's very important on our legislative agenda. The Iowa Chamber Alliance, which is a 16-chamber alliance, also supports the right-to-work. There is, you're right, right now at the state level, a push for a change in the right to work - the fair share that they're talking about. There are people that would argue, "Well, you don't want to take away right to work. We want to have fair share." But the problem is that, the US Department of Labor, if you add fair share to the right to work, that eliminates you as a right-to-work state. The Dubuque Area Chamber of commerce supports the right-to-work. We know that there is a push to change it to fair share. That's one of those things that we're going to be talking about at the government committee.

Are there any other major issues on the governmental front?

Property tax continues to be a big issue. Commercial businesses pay the lion's share of property tax in Iowa and there needs to be some reformulation of how businesses and residents pay taxes. It's almost too big to get your arms around, the issue is so big. We need to do something about property taxes, especially if Iowa is going to attract businesses to the state. We need to maintain a competitive advantage. That's a really big issue for us.

I wanted to ask a few questions about outside the office and outside the chamber. You've mentioned family several times. I'm assuming you enjoy time with family and activities. What do you like to do in your spare time?

I love to cook and I can't wait to be in our house so I can cook again. Our home at the Julien Inn has been, we have a gorgeous view and they have been wonderful to us, but the close quarters of the kitchen don't make it very easy to whip up gourmet meals. We enjoy, of course, spending time with family. We love traveling. I love the beach. In my short time in the South, I discovered the beach. In Georgia, when people go on vacation, they go to the ocean somewhere. I love the beach. People say, "Well, why don't you live there if you love it so much?" There's something about a palm tree that just screams vacation. I could not work somewhere where there's palm trees. Would not happen. Love movies. I love music. You're more likely to find music on in my home than the TV, although Cartoon Network is usually on for my 6-year-old quite a bit. I love oldies '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s. I definitely was influenced by my parents' tastes. I love live music. I play piano, badly. I play a mean game of ping pong. And I ca n't wait to be in my first euchre tournament. I learned how to play euchre, I don't know how long ago, while I was in Georgia. I was real bad at it for a while, but I can hold my own now.

You learned euchre in Georgia?

I did.

A lot of people think euchre was invented in Dubuque. That's an urban legend, I think, that Dubuque was the birthplace of euchre.

Well, I can't say a lot of people played euchre in Georgia. It was family coming down spending time with us taught me euchre. But I just love it and it really brings out the competitive side of me. We're having that winter outing on Feb. 15 and I am torn between bowling and the euchre tournament. I don't know which one I'm going to choose.

What fact about you might some people reading this article find surprising or interesting about you?

(Pause) Oh, that's a hard one.

Euchre's a good start.

Euchre's a good start? I play a mean game of ping pong. I don't know if I should tell this story or not. Something that people would find surprising about me. That I almost was held back in kindergarten. I was in kindergarten and my fine motor skills were not up to standard. So they decided rather than holding me back, they were going to try and send me to summer school because I couldn't cut. I went to summer school to learn how to cut. Needless to say, 35 years later, 36 years later, I still can't cut. I think people find that surprising when I tell them. My mom said wait until after you get the job before you tell that.

That must scissors-cutting, because you couldn't be a cook without being able to cut.

Well, by sou-chef is my husband.

I guess that works out.

It does. My last attempt at some serious cutting, I almost cut off my finger this past summer. I had to go get stitches at the emergency room. I'm not allowed around sharp knives yet.

I'm sure there's probably some bad pun about well, we hope you can "cut" it in this new job. TH photographer: What about the ribbon cutting? What are you going to do then?

Those big scissors are dangerous. I told them, don't let me hold them because I would hurt somebody, probably myself first.

Maybe they could get you some scissors with those rounded rubber edges.

There you go. The safety scissors. I cannot cut. At Christmas time, cutting the wrapping paper. My husband says, "Are you sure you're not just doing this so I have to wrap all the presents?" No, it just doesn't work for me. Will that work?

I'm out of questions. It seems that you've hit the ground running.

I love it. I love chamber work. If I wanted people to know one thing about me, I love what I do. I know that that's a luxury. Not everybody is lucky enough to do something that they love. I am very fortunate to love to come into my office every day. If you're going to work and you're going to work hard, pick something that you love because I love this. I couldn't do anything else.