Kossuth County EDC

Vickie Skadburg Madsen was born on August 23, 1954 in Clarion, Iowa. Vickie went to school at Goldfield and Burt, graduating from Burt High School. She attended Waldorf College taking a business course. She married her high school sweetheart, Steve Madsen, in August, 1973. They have two children, Shane and Jill. Vickie worked for Midwest Gas Company in Algona for many years, then at Erpelding, Voigt, & Co. until her employment a few years ago for the City of Burt where she is now the City Clerk.

As City Clerk for the town of Burt, Iowa, Vickie Madsen represents every aspect of our town's slogan, "Big Heart with a Helping Hand." She is the epitome of what it takes to make a smaller town stand out among the larger cities of our great state.

Vickie's dedication to her job is just as impressive as her involvement in the community. She spends countless hours volunteering her time for a wide variety of community events. Some of these include the Burt Summer Celebration, Summer Rec Program, and beautification projects for our hometown. These annual events would not be possible without her expertise, energy, enthusiasm, and most importantly, dedication. Vickie is the first one to initiate a community fundraiser for a project in need and turns it into a success. She is eager to get involved and never seeks recognition for all the wonderful things she does.

Dawn Schmidt, a native resident of West Bend, was 'recruited' in April of 2001 to help West Bend Economic Development with one of their primary projects at the time, making a new motel in West Bend a reality. Dawn volunteered countless hours developing a business plan, which consisted of identifying target markets, a marketing plan, job descriptions and a 5-year operating budget. This information supplemented the CAT grant application, which was applied for and awarded in September 2001.

Transforming the words from the business plan to reality is how Dawn spends much of her time while working for Park View Inn & Suites. Even when not on payroll, she is always looking for ways to work cooperatively with the Grotto and West Bend businesses to ensure we have something to market to interest group travelers, campers and tourists alike. Dawn submitted a West Bend vacation package to the Iowa Bankers Group. The package was one of thirty other packages selected for printing in their brochure going to 25,000 Iowa families.

Dawn is a member of the volunteer community marketing group, consisting of representatives from the chamber, economic development, Historical Society, the Grotto and the motel. Dawn leads this group by providing the monthly agenda and leading the meetings. While scheduling and running the meetings is important, she takes a hands on approach to getting projects the group has identified done. For example, she wrote a procedure manual for writing and publishing press releases for the various media contacts along with pricing schedules. This was made available to chamber members and other groups in town how host events needing to be published and/or advertised. Dawn also typed up West Bend's schedule of events and faxed or mailed it to a number of publications for print in upcoming editions and websites.

Dawn also understands the importance of cooperative marketing within West Bend, as well as regionally. She plays an active role in the Kossuth County Economic Development's Tourism Committee, making sure West Bend is involved and represented.

While not tourism related, Dawn finds time in her busy schedule to teach Sunday school at her church. She is an excellent role model when it comes to showing others how to make time for family and community while doing the things you have passion for. Dawn loves what she does and it shows with whomever she deals with. West Bend, the motel, and Kossuth County are the lucky beneficiaries of all Dawn does.

West Bend is very fortunate to have the Grotto of the Redemption as a tourism attraction. Because of this tourism attraction, our community is able to draw people to our town to see the other attractions we have to offer. The Historical Society is currently making plans to build a new museum where they will display historical artifacts important to West Bend. The museum will be built at the site of the historical School House, Post Office and Sod House displays. The Grotto, Historical Society and Park View Inn and Suites work hand in hand to coordinate tours of our attraction sites and promote downtown business visits.

Each year our community holds several events that welcome tourists. The "4th of July" celebration has grown over the years and has become an event that is enjoyed by many. The "Fall Back" celebration, Christmas Open House, and Gospel Songfest also bring many visitors to our community.

The West Bend Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the City of West Bend takes an active part in the promotion of tourism in our community through the financial support of the West Bend Marketing Group. The marketing group is made up of individuals representing the Grotto of the Redemption, Park View Inn & Suites, Historical Society, Economic Development and local businesses. The group's main objective is to promote our community in a positive manner through publications, organization of activities, assistance with grant writing and the attendance at regional tourism meetings. Some of the group's current projects and accomplishments are as follows:

Creation of a West Bend Visitors Guide -- the guide will showcase our
community by including a West Bend map that lists the locations of attractions, a business directory, our calendar of events and articles about various businesses, events and historical facts.
Updates were made to the Kossuth County Visitors Guide. West Bend will be featured on two pages. The marketing group funded $100 of the project cost.
Creation of media packets--the media packet is a collection of media sources that can be used for the promotion of special events or business activities. The planner included contact information and costs for advertisement.
Representatives of the West Bend Marketing Group have attended Unity Day, PlanIt Iowa Showcase, Mid-Iowa Community Development Conference and the Western Iowa Tourism Annual Meeting. The group hopes to have a display booth at the Iowa State Fair.
Grant applications have been submitted to Western Iowa Tourism for the attendance at conferences and to help in funding of other projects our community is looking to accomplish in the categories of advertising, promotion, scholarships and education. A grant application was submitted to KCCI for the construction of the "Wolverine Wagon."