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Various agencies across the State of Iowa are looking
at a consorted effort to revitalize the State. Kossuth County Economic
Development Commission (KCEDC) took the lead role for Kossuth County
in looking at what would be the overall benefits for Rural Iowa
to join forces with 10 other counties (Hardin, Hamilton, Webster,
Sac, Calhoun, Buena Vista, Pocahontas, Humboldt, Wright, Kossuth,
and Palo Alto) which is now Mid Iowa Growth Partners (MIGP). With
the tight economic economy, decline in population and reduced funding.
MIGP has pooled their time, dollars and efforts by entering into
this partnership along with the assistance from various other entities
such as: Corn Belt Power, Alliant Energy, MidAmerican Energy, Iowa
Lakes Community College, Iowa Central Community College, and MIDAS.
MIGP is in it’s incubation stage but already
we have established relationships that we can all draw from each
others expertise, share resources and have the capability of marketing
a larger area. (Clearly we will have a larger voice for Kossuth
County and its regional partner.) The effort of bringing 11 counties
to the table was made a lot easier through our Professional Developers
of Iowa (PDI) Membership. Relationships were already initially established
and through PDI’s educational workshops and seminars, we all
know the importance of regionalism. PDI played a key role in keeping
members educated on all levels of economic development.
A few of the major goals of MIGP are: 1) To create
an aggressive regional organization and “community mindset,”
2) Enhance awareness of the local development entities on a regional
and national scale, 3) Develop a greater awareness and collaboration
within the region, 4) Develop a program involving a CEO roundtable
with existing industry, 5) Initiate and develop targeted marketing
projects that will benefit the region…to name a few.
KCEDC has identified that the increased awareness
of regional collaboration will increase resources, expertise and
provide greater opportunity for growth in Rural Iowa. The overall
impact is that we all gain by taking the steps to communicate and
work for the betterment of the State of Iowa, our region, county
and communities.
MIGP Board of Directors
| Calhoun County |
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Pamela Meeder
Exec. Director, Calhoun Co.
Rockwell City |
Gary Nicholson
Calhoun Co. Supervisor
Rockwell City |
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| Hamilton County |
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Catherine Bergman
Exec. Director, Hamilton Co. SEED
Webster City |
Gary Sandholm
Director of Econ. Dev.
Webster City |
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| Hardin County |
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Tom Deimerly
Exec. Dir. Ia. Falls Area Dev.
Iowa Falls |
Deb Crosser
Econ. Dev. Director
Eldora |
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| Humboldt County |
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Lorie Bennett
City Administrator
Humboldt |
Alissa O’Connor
Humboldt Co. Econ. Dev. Director
Humboldt |
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| Kossuth/Palo Alto Counties |
Palo Alto County |
Maureen Elbert
Exec. Director Kossuth/
Palo Alto Co. Econ. Dev.
Algona |
Steve Heldt
Emmetsburg ECDC
Emmetsburg |
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| Pocahontas County |
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Paul Beneke
Pocahontas Co. Supervisor
Palmer |
Tom Grau
Pocahontas Co. Econ. Dev. Dir
Pocahontas |
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| Webster County |
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John Kramer / Cindy Litwiller
Dev. Corp. of Web. Co. & FD
Fort Dodge |
Dennis Plautz / Laura Olson
Dir of Bus. Affairs
Fort Dodge |
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| Wright County |
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Dennis Bowman
Wright Co. Econ. Dev. Director
Clarion |
Lucas Beenken
Wright County Supervisor
Clarion |
MIGP At-Large Board Members
Marion Burns
Econ. Dev. Consultant
Mid American Energy Company
Carroll |
Jim Kersten
Assoc. VP External Relations & Gov. Affairs
Iowa Central Community College
Fort Dodge |
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Jim Vermeer
V. P., Business Development
Corn Belt Power Cooperative
Humboldt |
James Patton
Webster CEED/ISU Extension
Fort Dodge |
MIGP Support Agencies and Services
Shelly Blunk
Dir. of Economic Dev. & Industrial Training
Iowa Central Comm College
Fort Dodge |
Lisa Knigge
Org. Adm.
Dev. Corp. of Fort Dodge & Webster Co.
Fort Dodge |
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Randy Hildreth
Area Director
USDA Rural Development
Humboldt |
Cindy Litwiller
Marketing Coordinator
Dev. Corp. of Web. Co. & Fort Dodge
Fort Dodge |
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Sara Messerly
Regional Manager
Iowa Workforce Dev.
Fort Dodge |
Cindy Schieber
Asst Director
N Central IA SBDC
Fort Dodge |
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Larry Nelson
Alliant Energy
Albert Lea, MN |
Lisa Shimkat
N. Central Ia. SBDC Director
Fort Dodge |
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Mike Nuss
City Administrator/Dev. Director
Ackley |
Cliff Weldon
Exec. Director
MIDAS
Fort Dodge |
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Don Woodruff
Pres.
Woodruff Construction, LLC
Fort Dodge |
Laura Olson
Business Affairs Specialist
City of Fort Dodge
Fort Dodge |
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John Ziegenbusch
Mgr, Econ. Dev.
Alliant Energy
Des Moines |
Diane Ramsey
Director E.D.
Alliant Energy
Cedar Rapids |
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