T-R PHOTO BY MIKE DONAHEY
The Marshalltown welcome sign at the intersection of Iowa Highway 14 and Iowa Avenue West.

Three entities have identified an opportunity to promote Marshalltown pride and are working together on a new community tagline all residents can rally around. And locals will have an opportunity to create it.

The City of Marshalltown, Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce and Vision Marshalltown announced recently they will be working as a team to create the new tagline.

On Thursday, Marshalltown City Administrator Jessica Kinser, Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Officer Lynn Olberding and Vision Marshalltown Director Kyley Leger met to discuss project goals, tasks and outcomes.

The leaders agreed on the following:

• As part of a collaborative effort, the city, Chamber of Commerce and Vision Marshalltown realized the significance of creating a community tagline everyone locally could rally around. A tagline is an aspirational phrase that describes who we are today and also who we want to be in the future. It should help those outside the community understand who we are in Marshalltown and where we’re going.

• Community pride is how one feels about the community. The level of pride for a community is based on many segments: social offerings, beauty, welcomeness, amenities, quality of infrastructure, education system and businesses.

• Many local organizations are focused on inspiring, creating and sharing pride among citizens. The City of Marshalltown, Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce and Vision Marshalltown have prioritized community image and pride as goals.

• The Marshalltown pride tagline can be used by anyone and is not limited to represent one organization. It can be used on marketing and advertising materials or used by residents when they tell others about Marshalltown.

Example taglines:

• Windsor Heights: “The heart of it all.”

• Cedar Rapids: “City of Five Seasons.”

• Earling: “Progress is our Future.”

• Grinnell: “Jewel of the Prairie.”

• Knoxville: “Sprint Car Capital of the World.”

“We need the community to help create our tagline,” Leger said.

By Aug. 15, use the Google form https://forms.gle/UATAuDK3fcebks5P7 to submit 5-6 words that make a tagline. Entries will be narrowed down to the top five and submitted to the public for further comment and feedback.