Mid Iowa Growth Partners
Various agencies across the State of Iowa are looking at a consorted effort to revitalize the State. Kossuth/Palo Alto County Economic Development Commission (K/PACEDC) took the lead role for Kossuth/Palo Alto Counties in looking at what would be the overall benefits for Rural Iowa to join forces with 8 other counties (Hardin, Hamilton, Webster, Sac, 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.
MI
GP 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/Palo Alto Counties and its regional partner.) The effort of bringing 8 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.
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 8 other counties (Hardin, Hamilton, Webster, Sac, 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 Major Goals of Mid Iowa Growth Partners:
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.
K/PACEDC 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.