Iowa Lakes Community College

Mid Iowa Growth Partners

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 EXEC BOARD

Wright County Humboldt County
Dennis Bowman, President
Director, Wright County EDC
Clarion
John Hartford, Past President
President, Humboldt Trust & Svgs Bank
Humboldt
   
Webster County  
James Crean, Secretary
Webster County Development Inc
Fort Dodge
Jim Patton, Treasurer
Webster CEED / ISU Extension
Fort Dodge
Kossuth County  
Maureen Elbert, Vice President
Executive Director, Kossuth County EDC
Algona
 

MIGP Board Members

Calhoun County  
Pam Meeder
Director, Calhoun County
Rockwell City
Linda Lauver
Exec. Dir., Calhoun County
Rockwell City
   
Hamilton County  
Catherine Bergman
Exec. Dir., Hamilton Cnty SEED
Webster City
Gary Sandholm
Director of Economic Development
Webster City
   
Hardin County  
Deb Crosser
Economic Development Director
Eldora
Manuel A. Silva, Jr.
Iowa Falls Area DC
Iowa Falls
   
Humboldt County  
Lorie Bennett
City of Humboldt
Humboldt
Lonnie Larson
Humboldt County Econ. Dev. Dir.
Humboldt
   
Kossuth County  
Maureen Elbert
Exec. Dir., Kossuth County EDC
Algona
Ed Berg
Pharmacists Mutual Ins. Co.
Algona
   
Palo Alto County  
Steve Heldt
Emmetsburg EDC
Emmetsburg
Lloyd Petersen
Board Member, Dev. Board
Graettinger
   
Pocahontas County  
Tom Grau
Dev. Dir., Pocahontas County EDC
Pocahontas
Wilbur Ekstrand
Pocahontas Cnty Sup.
Pocahontas
   
Webster County  
John Kramer
Webster County Development, Inc.
Fort Dodge
Dennis Plautz
Director of Bus. Affairs & Comm. Group
Fort Dodge
   
Wright County  
Dennis Bowman
Dir., Wright County Econ. Dev.
Clarion
Stan Watne
Wright County Supervisor
Galt
   
At-Large Appoinments  
Marion Burns
MidAmerican Energy Co.
Economic Development Consultant
Carroll
Jim Vermeer
Vice President, Bus. Dev.
Corn Belt Power Co-op
Humboldt
   
Jim Kersten
Assoc. Vice President, ICCC
Fort Dodge
James Patton
Webster CEED/ISU Extension
Fort Dodge
   
Support Agencies  
Randy Hildreth
Rural Development Manager
USDA Rural Development
Humboldt
Stephen F. Hoesel
Executive Director, MIDAS
Fort Dodge
   
John Ziegenbusch
Manager – Econ Dev
Alliant Energy
Des Moines
Mike Nuss
Development Director
Ackley
   
Smart Solutions Group  
Bob Henningsen
Smart Solutions Group, Inc.
West Des Moines
Irv Jensen
Smart Solutions Group, Inc.
West Des Moines
   
Iowa Dept. of Economic Development
Marlys Pelz
Iowa Dept. of Econ. Dev.
Community Development Division
Des Moines
Karen Merrick
Regional Strategies Coord.
Iowa Dept. of Econ. Dev.
Des Moines

MIGP RESEARCH STEERING COMMITTEE

Pam Meeder
Director, Calhoun County
Rockwell City
Dennis Bowman
Dir., Wright Cnty Econ. Dev.
Clarion
   
James Patton
Webster CEED/ISU Extension
Fort Dodge
Jim Kersten
Assoc. Vice President
ICCC
Fort Dodge
   
Clark Marshall
ILCC
Estherville
Mitch Craigmile
Sr. Dir. of Mfg.
Fort Dodge Animal Health
Fort Dodge
   
Marion Burns
MidAmerican Energy Co.
Econ. Dev. Consultant
Carroll
Jim Vermeer
Vice Pres., Business Dev.
Corn Belt Power Co-op
Humboldt
   
Peter Hong
President, Positech Corp.
Laurens
Michael Abildtrup
Gen. Mgr., Star Energy, LLC
Manson
   
Conley Nelson
Prestage-Stoecker Farms Inc.
Algona
Tom Tibbitts
CEO, Trinity Reg. Med. Ctr
Fort Dodge

 

 


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Kossuth County Economic Development Corporation
106 South Dodge Street, Suite 210, Algona, Iowa 50511
515-295-7979 | Fax: 515-295-8873
kcedc@kossuthia.com

All text and original graphics copyright © 2008
Kossuth County Economic Development Corporation