The Community Vitality Center will encourage growth and development in Iowa’s rural areas. From left are Mark Hamilton, chair of the governing board; Mark Edelman, interim director; Ellen Huntoon, of Sen. Harkin’s staff; Stan Johnson, vice provost for ISU Extension; and Dan Brown, state director of USDA Rural Development.

Community Vitality Center encourages growth, development in rural Iowa

In an effort to encourage growth and development in Iowa’s rural areas, Iowa State University Extension and College of Agriculture, Positively Iowa and 20 leaders from around the state have created the Community Vitality Center (CVC).

An organizational meeting for this new initiative was held June 21 on the ISU campus. At this meeting, the CVC’s governing board elected its first slate of officers and officially kicked-off the effort. The CVC is a result of a memorandum of understanding between ISU Extension and Positively Iowa, a private, non-profit organization that works statewide on rural development projects.

The CVC has been granted $268,000 in federal extension funding for the coming year, garnered with the help of Sen. Tom Harkin. This money will be used to initiate a range of projects, all geared toward improving community vitality.

“We hope the center will become a catalyst for innovative ideas to stimulate community vitality,” said Mark Edelman, ISU professor of economics and CVC interim director.

To date, the CVC governing board has approved five community-based projects. The first three focus on entrepreneurship, while the other two will look at ways to improve community vitality.

“The CVC is soliciting proposals for research, pilot projects and demonstrations of best practices to help rural leaders make more informed decisions about their futures,” commented Mark Hamilton, publisher of the Iowa Falls Times-Citizen and chair of the CVC governing board.

Hamilton, who became concerned with the state’s future after studying census numbers, says now is the time to stop the decline in rural Iowa. “We hope to engage all the regents’ institutions, the community colleges, Iowa’s private colleges and all their alumni in an effort to save this state from a dismal future of decline,” said Hamilton, who noted the center’s goal is to create some cross-institutional collaborations that haven’t occurred in the past.

According to Hamilton, the roles urban areas and agriculture play in this issue also are important, especially given that more than half of Iowa’s farm families now rely on off-farm income to survive. “If rural Iowa continues to decline and age, that engine for urban vitality will decline as well and the whole state will suffer,” Hamilton explained.

Beth Danowsky, director of the Iowa Rural Development Council, is vice chair of the CVC governing board and agrees there is a need for an effort like this one. She said the CVC hopes to address certain goals that many Iowa communities share, such as increasing the population and workforce, developing attractions and natural resources, supporting infrastructure development and being a welcoming state for returning Iowans and/or newcomers.

“The CVC is rooted in determining what rural policy shifts need to take place to help rural places thrive,” Danowsky said.

To accomplish this, the CVC will partner with other organizations on upcoming projects, including the UNI Institute for Decision Making, the Iowa Peace Institute, the Iowa Rural Water Association, the Iowa Department of Economic Development and the USDA. Continued funding, however, will be something the board will need to address in coming months. Hamilton said they’ve had positive indications that federal funding will continue through the second year, but admits they will have to prove themselves.

“We’re going to have to prove our effectiveness and look for other financial stakeholders,” Hamilton said. “And we’re hoping ISU gets more involved in the future.”

Planned projects of the Community Vitality Center

Project 1. Enhancing entrepreneurship to improve Iowa’s community vitality–This will involve a series of regional public forums that will examine three approaches to assisting entrepreneurs. Three communities interested in facilitating business startups will be selected, and focus groups of entrepreneurs will be organized to foster networking, collaboration, information sharing and the attraction of seed capital.

Project 2. Integrating rural Iowa in Iowa’s industry cluster strategy for economic development–Led by the UNI Institute for Decision Making, this project will select three rural communities and work with their leaders to identify prospective industry clusters that represent opportunities for development.

Project 3. Iowa places of destination: Keys to success for Iowa’s fastest growing rural communities–Eight of the fastest growing communities in non-metro counties will be identified. Leaders from these communities will be interviewed about the tools, strategies and factors that have contributed to their success and growth.

Project 4. Small community water and waste water infrastructure management collaboration–The Iowa Rural Water Association will lead an effort to identify and match small communities with partners who can assist those communities and help them implement more cost-effective infrastructure and water management programs.

Project 5. Real estate electronic documentation modernization cost study–Interviews with local government officials and private sector leaders in six counties will be conducted to estimate the costs and impacts of converting from a paper real estate recording and property tax collection system to a fully electronic system using Internet access.

The CVC also will organize an educational program (date, time and site to be determined) on the rural development provisions of the 2002 Farm Bill.

FALL 2002 HOMEPAGE

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Last update: September 2002