ACT selling Iowa City campus, continuing operations as tenant

ACT, the Iowa City-based educational organization, is selling its campus after transitioning to a public benefit corporation.

Emma Jane, News Reporter

May 10, 2024

Grace Smith

12-year-old Mira Gibbons completes a puzzle during a test preparation session with Founder and Director of test preparation organization FinnPrep, Kelly Finn, at the Armstrong Center in downtown Cedar Rapids on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. Iowa ACT scores have dropped to the lowest level in about a decade.

ACT, the Iowa City-based educational organization, has agreed to sell its Iowa City campus to Iceberg Development Group.

ACT said the sale will not impact its operations, as the organization will continue to work from the Iowa City campus as a tenant, according to KCRG.

“Iceberg Development Group will create a community that offers a variety of housing options while prioritizing partnerships with nonprofit organizations that align with ACT’s historic mission and ensure the betterment of the community,” ACT wrote in a statement.

This announcement follows a May 1 news release from ACT announcing that the nonprofit organization has transitioned to a public benefit corporation, partnering with Los Angeles-based private equity firm Nexus Capital Management.

Current ACT CEO Janet Godwin will maintain her position as the business transitions to ACT Education Corp., according to the May 1 news release.

Godwin stated this partnership “will complement and amplify ACT’s proven platform of education and work readiness solutions.”

In May 2023, ACT announced the company planned to lay off over 100 employees across 20 states, impacting 13 percent of its Iowa City workforce. In 2022, ACT also sold a building on its campus to the Iowa City Community School District, according to a news release.

ACT was co-founded by two University of Iowa faculty members, E.F. Lindquist and Ted McCarrel, in 1959. Since establishing its first headquarters on Washington Street in 1960, the company has maintained its headquarters in Iowa City.

About the Contributor

Grace Smith, Senior photojournalist and filmmaker

she/her/hers

Grace Smith is a fourth-year student at the University of Iowa double majoring in Journalism and Cinematic Arts. In her four years at The Daily Iowan, she has held the roles of photo editor, managing summer editor, and visual storyteller. Outside of The Daily Iowan, Grace has held an internship at The Denver Post and pursued freelance assignments for the Cedar Rapids Gazette and the Des Moines Register.