Bettendorf is home for Matt Rebro, again.
After graduating from Bettendorf High School in 1990, Rebro headed north to Decorah to pursue a business management degree from Luther College. Soon after, he switched out his graduation cap for a hard hat when he took a job at Russell.
"I helped pay for college by doing construction work, and that industry peaked my interest," he said. "Upon graduation and not having a focus on what I was going to do and not having a job lined up, I ended up back here in the Quad-Cities."
He enjoyed what he was doing at Russell and was slowly navigating the transition from student to working adult.
"I started to get my feet wet as a professional and learn what it means to pay your own bills and stay at a job," he said.
But the "good run" came to an end after six or seven years, he said. At a holiday party, it occurred to Rebro that he was the "single guy" and he was ready to graduate from that, too. In 2000, he left Russell for Chicago and found a new job at a construction/real estate firm.
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"What do you know; I walked into a bar near Wrigley Field one day and ended up meeting somebody who is a Davenport girl," he said.
The Davenport girl is now his wife, Melissa, with whom he shares three kids. Chicago was home for the Rebro family for 17 years.
They lived in the city proper and loved it. As the kids got older, though, attention turned to their high school years.
"Chicago has public high schools that are arguably as difficult to get into as Harvard," he said.
As the Rebros had grown up in the Quad-Cities, they were accustomed to kids from the same family attending the same schools. That's not necessarily the case in Chicago.
"We just had a tough time grasping the concept of our two older children ... potentially being at different schools," he said.
From a logistics perspective, the Windy City can be challenging. Factor in cost, and the temptation to get out of the city becomes greater. Though their love for Chicago was strong, the Rebros considered moving to the suburbs, but the school issues persisted.
"We weren't willing to accept the chance that our kids would not go to the same high school. We couldn't put our head around that, and we felt like we had to do something," he said.
They decided if a job opportunity were to crop up in Iowa, they would consider it. It didn't take long for Russell to extend another offer, and the family returned in the summer of 2017.
Matt Rebro now serves as Vice President - Business Development at Russell and said, "We're starting to see some of the benefits of the move."
One big one is the absence of a daily commute in heavy traffic, which allows for more time to spend with family, including extended family also in the Quad-Cities.
"The reality is, we have more access to stuff because of time, and your dollar goes further," he said. "If the kids say they want to do one more thing, as long as it fits the schedule, its doable most of the time."
Looking at the region now, Rebro sees it from a different perspective than he did when he first left for Chicago. Before, each city seemed to be within its own compounds and the downtowns were stagnant.
"Regardless of the job, wherever you put your head down each night, there's still a quality of life issue," he said.
Thinking back, Rebro said he would never have been able to find an apartment downtown. That has changed too.
"There's a vibrancy there now," he said.
He is happy to see the small businesses and mom-and-pop shops thriving, he said. Commitment to the region and investment in communities will keep it growing and attracting more people to live and work in the Quad-Cities, he said.
"I'd love to see in 10 years that it grows, and people will say this is a cool place to be, a safe place to be, and my kids are going to get a great education," he said.
