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# Waterloo-Cedar Falls Area Experts To Tackle Iowa Brain Drain At Tuesday Forum
- URL: https://www.investigatemidwest.org/waterloo-area-experts-to-tackle-iowa-brain-drain-at-tuesday-forum/
- Published: 2015-05-06T20:15:26.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-11T02:38:49.000Z
- Description: A panel of Waterloo-Cedar Falls job placement experts will convene at a public forum on Tuesday, May 12, to advance the conversation on how Iowa can keep more bright young people from taking their talents out of state after graduating from an Iowa college or university. The forum, at The Courier com
- Author: IowaWatch
- Tags: iowawatch, Uncategorized, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-06-18 04:56

[![Brain Drain_Waterloo poster art](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/d3/cdd3c059-8898-40b1-bcf7-cb2d3aa89775/content/images/2026/09/Brain-Drain_Waterloo-poster-art.jpg)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cd/d3/cdd3c059-8898-40b1-bcf7-cb2d3aa89775/content/images/2026/09/Brain-Drain%5FWaterloo-poster-art.jpg?ref=investigatemidwest.org)

A panel of Cedar Valley career advancement experts will speak at a public forum on Tuesday, May 12, to advance the conversation on how Iowa can keep more bright young people from taking their talents out of state after graduating from an Iowa college or university.

The forum, at *The Courier* community room, [100 E. Fourth St., in Waterloo](https://www.google.com/maps/place/100+E+4th+St,+Waterloo,+IA+50703/@42.4970364,-92.3360457,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x87e552fb45125301:0xa1bdf8502b481645?ref=investigatemidwest.org), will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. It is a collaboration of the non-profit Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism-IowaWatch, which is producing a report on May 10 on this topic after a two-and-a-half month study, and[*The Courier*](http://wcfcourier.com/?ref=investigatemidwest.org)*.*

Scheduled panelists are:

- Danny Laudick, talent solutions director, [Greater Cedar Valley Alliance & Chamber](http://cedarvalleyalliance.com/index.php?ref=investigatemidwest.org).
- Sherman Wise, market manager for Waterloo-Cedar Falls, [Premier Staffing Inc.](http://www.premierstaffingia.com/?ref=investigatemidwest.org#!staffing-firm-cedar-rapids/c13az)
- Nicholas Fisher, University of Northern Iowa student from Mechanicsville, Iowa, student journalist for the IowaWatch report and incoming editor of [*The Northern Iowan.*](http://www.northern-iowan.org/?ref=investigatemidwest.org)
- Rachel Evans, career services coordinator, [Hawkeye Community College](http://www.hawkeyecollege.edu/?ref=investigatemidwest.org).

Audience members will be able to ask questions and make comments after the panelists make opening remarks. The forum will be co-moderated by Lyle Muller, IowaWatch executive director-editor, and *The Courier* editor Nancy Newhoff.

###### COMING SUNDAY, MAY 10: AN IOWAWATCH/COLLEGE JOURNALISM PROJECT REPORT ON WHY A LOT OF MAY COLLEGE GRADUATES IN IOWA WILL LEAVE THE STATE

The forum goal is to advance conversation about this topic. Rebranding Iowa to appeal to a young workforce is challenging. “It’s more than just showing we have good nightlife, with a bunch of bars and restaurants,” Laudick says in the IowaWatch report. “It’s showing that people in the area have the same interests as you and you are not limiting yourself by staying here.”

The Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism-IowaWatch is an independent, 501(c)(3) non-profit and non-partisan journalistic program dedicated to producing high quality investigative journalism in Iowa while training journalism students on this work at a high, ethical level. It collaborates with other news media to distribute its stories and also publishes its stories on the free news website, [IowaWatch.org/](https://investigatemidwest.org/?ref=investigatemidwest.org).