What Bi-State Regional Commission does

Bi-State Regional Commission is a voluntary intergovernmental organization established in 1966 that serves as the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Quad Cities urbanized area and the Rural Planning Organization (RPO) for Iowa Region 9, spanning five counties and 47 municipalities across the Iowa-Illinois border. It operates under statutory authority granted by both Illinois (Chapter 50, Act 15; Chapter 55, ILCS 5/5-14001) and Iowa (Chapters 28E, 28H, 28I) code, providing regional transportation planning, economic development strategy (CEDS), grant administration, GIS and Census data services, code enforcement (MUNICES), and cooperative purchasing (Joint Purchasing Council) on behalf of its member governments.

The Commission's technology stack centers on geographic information systems: it maintains the Quad Cities GIS Consortium on ArcGIS Hub, a Census Data Clearinghouse with exportable demographic profiles, and administers the MUNICES municipal code enforcement adjudication platform with online payment processing. It staffs transportation modeling, regional freight planning (including Upper Mississippi River Ports coordination), trails planning (QCTrails.org), and air quality monitoring programs. A 2013-2014 Household Travel Survey of 1,700+ households provides foundational travel demand data for the region.

Bi-State is funded through member government dues prorated by population (approximately $393,000 annually as of FY2017, ranging from $1,102 to $77,355 per member), federal and state transportation planning pass-through funds (approximately $740,000), EDA-capitalized Revolving Loan Fund administration, and contractual services, supporting an annual operating budget of approximately $2 million as of FY2017. With ~20 staff led by Executive Director Denise L. Bulat, the organization functions as a publicly funded planning and program administration body rather than a commercial enterprise, with no equity investors, no parent company, and no change in ownership structure documented.

Name

Bi-State Regional Commission

Legal name

Bi-State Regional Commission

Website

https://bistateonline.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bi-State Regional Commission is a voluntary intergovernmental planning body serving five counties and 47 municipalities across the Iowa-Illinois border, functioning as the federally designated MPO and providing transportation planning, economic development strategy, GIS/data services, code enforcement, and joint purchasing to its member governments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Regional Planning and Government Coordination Services

NAICS

Regulation and Administration of Transportation Programs (92612), Administration of Urban Planning and Community and Rural Development (925120), Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support (921), Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development (925)

SIC

Transportation Services (4700), Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Local & Suburban Transit & Interurban Hwy Passenger Trans (4100)

akta.pro primary industry

Urban & Regional Planning (Land Use, Zoning, Master Planning) (BPAIANAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

State/Provincial Transportation, Roads & Public Works Administration (BPAIABAK), Economic Development & Business Licensing (Local) (BPAIACAN), Regional & Land Use Planning (BPAHAKAE)

Keywords

• Regional planning services
• Transportation planning
• Economic development
• GIS data services
• Government coordination

Headquarters

HQ city

Rock Island

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Member Government Dues: Member counties and cities over 5,000 population pay dues prorated based on total population, ranging from $2,917 to $77,355 per year. Smaller cities and villages pay a flat rate of approximately $1,102 annually.
2. Federal and State Transportation Planning Funds: Bi-State receives federal and state transportation planning funds through its role as the Quad Cities MPO and Iowa Region 9 planning organization. The organization also administers federal grants on behalf of member governments.
3. Economic Development Administration RLF Programs: Bi-State administers three Revolving Loan Fund programs capitalized by the federal Economic Development Administration, providing gap financing to businesses creating or retaining jobs in the region.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Bi-State Regional Commission is a voluntary intergovernmental regional planning organization providing transportation planning, economic development assistance, GIS/data services, code enforcement, and joint purchasing for five counties and 47 municipalities across the Iowa-Illinois border region. It serves as the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the Quad Cities urbanized area and the Rural Planning Organization (RPO) for Iowa Region 9, administering Revolving Loan Funds and grant programs on behalf of member governments. Services are funded by member dues, federal/state transportation planning funds, and contractual services rather than commercial sales.

Product overview

Bi-State Regional Commission provides a comprehensive suite of regional planning services organized around economic development, transportation, data/GIS, and environmental planning. The core offerings include the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) as the cornerstone economic planning document, Grant Readiness and Administration services, and Revolving Loan Fund Programs providing gap financing to businesses. Transportation planning services are delivered through the Quad Cities MPO and Region 9 Rural Transportation Planning programs, complemented by Transit Development Plans and Regional Trails System planning. Data and mapping services include GIS and Data Products, the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area Street Map, Census Programs, and custom Data Requests. Supporting programs include MUNICES (municipal code enforcement), the Joint Purchasing Council for volume buying, Air Quality Management through the Air Quality Task Force and Clean Air Partnership, and Regional Freight System planning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS)

Quantifiable outcome

• Total annual dues of approximately $393,000 bring in nearly $740,000 in federal and state funds, providing a roughly 1.9x leverage ratio on member investment.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Bi-State Clean Air PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2009A voluntary emissions reduction program formed in 2009 by the Bi-State Region Air Quality Task Force to address air pollution. Partners include local governments, major industries, and organizations that pledge activities to reduce their emissions footprint and help the region remain in air quality attainment. Partners include Alcoa, John Deere, cities (Bettendorf, Davenport, East Moline, Moline, Muscatine, Rock Island), Scott County, Muscatine County, Rock Island County, Quad City International Airport, and others.
• Upper Mississippi River Ports (UMRP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUMRP is a 15-county port statistical area (7 Illinois counties, 8 Iowa counties) along the Mississippi River, designated in February 2020. Bi-State participates in this multi-regional planning partnership that includes 150+ facilities and 70 barge terminals, moving over 8.4 million tons in 2020, ranking 11th among U.S. inland ports. Part of the Corn Belt Ports grouping.
• Quad City Health InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to create QCTrails.org, a one-stop shop for non-motorized trails in the Quad Cities region. The website was funded by the CDC Partnerships to Improve Community Health (PICH) Grant supporting the Be Healthy QC project. Bi-State provides staffing and GIS support for the trails planning initiative.
• Iowa and Illinois Departments of TransportationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBi-State works in partnership with Iowa DOT and Illinois DOT for transportation planning in the Quad Cities MPO and Region 9. This includes cooperative agreement documentation for transportation planning, federal certification reviews, and joint project programming.
• Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit AdministrationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBi-State undergoes periodic federal certification reviews by FHWA and FTA to evaluate the metropolitan transportation planning process. The most recent certification review report was published August 2024, with commendations and recommendations on the planning process.
• U.S. Economic Development AdministrationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEDA partners with Bi-State through the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) program and provides initial capitalization for three Revolving Loan Fund programs administered by Bi-State for job creation and retention in the region.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG): Regional planning body for the seven-county Southeast Michigan region with MPO designation, providing transportation, economic development, and GIS/data services to member governments in a structure highly analogous to Bi-State.
• Mid-America Regional Council (MARC): Kansas City metropolitan region's MPO and council of governments, providing regional planning, transportation, aging services, and GIS/data services to member counties and municipalities in a manner directly comparable to Bi-State.
• Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC): Bi-state MPO (Pennsylvania-New Jersey) serving the greater Philadelphia region. Comparable to Bi-State in cross-state authority, MPO designation, and comprehensive regional planning scope including transportation, economic development, and GIS services.
• Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization: The MPO for the Des Moines urbanized area in Iowa, performing the same federally mandated metropolitan transportation planning functions as Bi-State's Quad Cities MPO, with comparable LRTP, TIP, and public participation processes.
• East-West Gateway Council of Governments: St. Louis metropolitan region council of governments performing the same MPO and regional planning functions (transportation, economic development, GIS) as Bi-State, but at a larger scale across the Missouri-Illinois border.

Others

• National Association of Regional Councils (NARC): National membership association for regional councils of governments. Comparable to Bi-State as a membership-based intergovernmental organization, but operating as an industry association rather than a direct service-delivery planning body.

Broad incumbents

• Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP): The regional planning organization for the seven-county northeastern Illinois region. Performs the same MPO and comprehensive planning functions as Bi-State, but at a substantially larger scale and serving a much bigger metropolitan region.

Regional players

• Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce: Regional economic development and business advocacy body for the same Quad Cities area Bi-State serves. Comparable in geography and economic development focus, but organized as a private chamber rather than an intergovernmental planning commission.
• Peoria Metropolitan Planning Organization: MPO for the Peoria region in Illinois. Comparable in transportation planning function and Illinois-based operations, but does not operate across state lines like Bi-State.
• Champaign County Regional Planning Commission: Single-county regional planning commission in Illinois providing transportation planning, GIS, and economic development services to local governments. Comparable in service mix but smaller in geographic and political scope than Bi-State's multi-state model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/QCTrails

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bi-State Regional Commission