History

The East Central Intergovernmental Association is a council of governments, formed in 1974 with the goal of developing regional solutions for local governments facing similar problems. ECIA is an evolving organization, continuously creating new programs and initiatives. Below is a list of programs, projects, initiatives starting from 2002.

  • ECIA moves from downtown to corner of Pennsylvania and NW Arterial(2002)
  • Dubuque Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (DMATS) expands boundary to include Peosta and Centralia (2002)
  • $750,000 USDA Regional RLF awarded (2003)
  • Evergreen Meadows complete, Eastern Iowa Regional Housing Corporation’s (EIRHC) first low income housing tax credits award of $2,064,000 (2004)
  • Public Housing Homeownership Program created (2004)
  • EIRHA assumes management of City of Maquoketa’s housing program (2004)
  • Asbury Building Code Inspections started (2005)
  • Prosperity Eastern Iowa formed (2005)
  • Eastern Iowa Regional Utility Service Systems (EIRUSS) formed (2005)
  • EIRHC awarded $3.62 million in tax credits for Asbury Meadows (2005)
  • Asbury Meadows completed (2006)
  • ECIA assumes Regional Transit Authority (RTA) management (2006)
  • Five homes sold to low to moderate income households (2006)
  • E.C.I.A. Business Growth, Inc record loan year of $9,035,000 (2006)
  • RTA receives $702,000 RIIF grant to construct combined facility with ECIA (2007)
  • ECIA and RTA build new offices and move to current location (2008)
  • Historic flooding occurs and ECIA is awarded $3 million to help communities (2008)
  • DMATS receives $2.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds for SW Arterial (2009)
  • Regional Planning Affiliation (RPA) receives $4,291,730 in ARRA funds for 11 projects (2009)
  • Business Growth receives $500,000 in ARRA funds to recapitalize its loan program (2009)
  • ECIA assumes City of Dubuque transit management (2010-2015)
  • Fifty-four homes constructed through the New Production 3 program (2010)
  • The Jule (City of Dubuque transit system) wins most improved transit system (2010)
  • Smarter Travel Study (vehicle miles traveled) project started (2010)
  • Kelley Deutmeyer, ECIA Executive Director (2002-2024) receives Women’s Leadership Network Women of Achievement award (2011)
  • EIRUSS breaks ground on Leisure Lake wastewater treatment system (2013)
  • Eastern Iowa Regional Housing Authority (EIRHA) assumes management of Bettendorf’s public housing authority (2013)
  • ECIA designated winning workplace by the Telegraph Herald (2013)
  • ECIA assists City of Dubuque in receiving $98.5 million for Bee Branch Flood Mitigation project (2014)
  • ECIA receives first USDA Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) grant to start the Government Training Institute (2014)
  • East Central Development Corporation (ECDC) created with a focus on new housing options for LMI populations (2015)
  • New Production homes finished for a total of 126 in the region (2015)
  • ECIA awarded first Brownfield Assessment grant (2016)
  • ECIA and RTA install solar panels (2016)
  • Housing Trust Fund established (2016)
  • ECIA begins administration of the City of Dubuque’s HUD Resiliency program (2017)
  • ECIA awarded Brownfield RLF for $500,000 (2017)
  • Keep Iowa Beautiful Hometown Pride community coaching begins (2017)
  • Streets project born from Smarter Travel Study (2017)
  • ECIA/ECDC assumes management of the City of Dubuque Homeless program from Project Concern (2018)
  • ECIA/ECDC begin operating homeless hotline (2018)
  • Construction begins on pocket neighborhood in Maquoketa (2018)
  • ECIA launches nuisance abatement program (2019)
  • ECIA awarded $3,000,000 HUD Lead grant for Dubuque County (2019)
  • Community Solutions of Eastern Iowa (CSEI) created to manage homeless program (2019)
  • RTA bus storage facility in Earlville ribbon cutting (2019)
  • ECIA receives $400,000 CARES Act grant from EDA for project planning (2020)
  • Business Growth receives $2.2 million in CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to capitalize its Revolving Loan Fund (2020)
  • Keep Iowa Beautiful Hometown Pride community coaching expands in Cedar, Delaware, Dubuque, and Jackson counties (2021)
  • ECIA awarded $1,000,000 Older Adults Home Modification and $2,000,000 Healthy Homes grants (2021)
  • ECIA awarded $5,000,000 regional HUD Lead grant (2021)
  • Pocket neighborhood completed in Maquoketa (2022-See photo below)
  • Pocket neighborhood wins the HousingIowa Single- Family Housing Development Award from the Iowa Finance Authority (2022)
  • Best Places to Work award (2023)

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