Background
Selected counties, communities and regions in Iowa are undertaking special and comprehensive efforts to accelerate economic and population growth. (Efforts associated with the Vision Iowa fund the Grow Iowa Values Program and Fund, and industry efforts like the Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation and Center are examples.) Iowa State University (ISU) Extension will cooperate with the citizens and private and public sector agents leading these efforts by developing Special Community Initiatives to support and assure their success. The cooperation will involve uniquely designed expansions in programming and innovative approaches to raising the resources necessary to underwrite and sustain these customized programming activities. If Iowa is to grow and prosper, community-based efforts that require specially designed and new forms of partnerships will have to flourish and succeed. We know too well the results of “business as usual” in Iowa.
Concepts that underlie these Special Community Initiatives have two general areas of focus: (1) improving the quality of life for local citizens (encouraging them to stay) and making communities attractive to new residents who can choose where they want to live; and (2) adding economic opportunity. These areas of activity are in fact quite complementary and they involve strategic positioning of the communities and industry relative to nearby and global competitors. Moreover, the essence of success of these strategies involves market segmentation and differentiation both for products and services that emerge from the economic sector and the lifestyle within the communities. ISU Extension as well is set to bring the full capacities of the University and Iowa partners, and the experience of communities nationally and internationally to the development of these growth and development strategies and their implementation.
Resourcing for the implementation of the strategies for their initiatives will require that ISU Extension be a full partner in these community-based efforts. ISU Extension has a proven and growing record of generating resources for programming from grants and contracts (largely federal), user fees and gifts. By capitalizing on these capacities of ISU Extension, these community initiatives can be funded while not taking away from services for the traditional clients of Extension programs. The idea is to negotiate a plan for raising the increased funding required by the communities for these Special Initiatives. ISU Extension has a record of multiplying local investments by a factor of $1 to $3, through its entrepreneurial efforts. The communities that Cooperative and ISU Extension will share the risk for resourcing these Special Initiatives designed to accelerate economic and population growth successful—and contribute to a brighter future for our state.
Purpose
The purpose of the ISU Extension Special Community Initiative is to support the growth and development of counties/communities making special efforts to grow their economy and population by increasing their access to the resources available at ISU—more fully engaging ISU with these counties/communities/industries as they develop and implement their new strategies for success.
Approach
The ISU Extension Special Initiative for cooperating with communities/counties and industry sectors undertaking comprehensive efforts for growth and development will involve a two-phase approach. First, programs that are currently underway in counties/communities/industries (largely local innovative efforts) will be provided to the communities/counties/industries as input for their strategies. In Iowa (and nationally) these programs are highly valued by the communities/counties/industries now using them. Thus, during this first phase, the Special Community Initiative will involve adapting and expanding participation in already existing successful programs from growth-oriented communities, counties and industries. This will make more manageable fund raising to support development efforts and to justify the associated investments. Clear evidence of the value of then proposed new programs will be available.
The second phase of the Special Communities Initiative will involve the cooperative development of more specialized and innovative programs with the cooperating communities, counties and industries. Here, there is the experience of the extension services in other states that can be utilized. Communities, counties and industries in many states have undertaken special initiatives (that are specially funded) to support accelerated population and economic growth. Information on these programs will be assembled. ISU Extension professionals will work with representatives of the communities, counties and industries to review, adapt, and prioritize the possibilities suggested by this review of programs of other states. Decisions on the special strategies reflect the results of this exercise, information on local or industry conditions, and opportunities available for leveraging investments through grants, contracts, user fees and gifts or endowments.
The Special Community Initiatives will be continuously evaluated. The evaluations will relate to their impacts on the economic growth and development as well as on the quality of life for the residents in the areas served. The programs making up the Initiatives will also be evaluated for their capacity to become financially sustainable through grants, contracts and other extramural support. The idea is to use the predictable funding from the cooperating communities, counties and industries as a foundation for launching an expanded and growing set of ISU Extension programs. These growing programs will deepen the partnerships of communities, counties and industries with ISU and expand the opportunities to serve the state through the related education and research programs.
Funding Strategy
The funding strategy involves the joint development of the Special Community Initiative proposal with the private and public sector partners in the communities, counties and in conjunction with the industries. The idea is to appeal to the interests in those in the communities, counties and industries who have the highest stake in their continued growth and development—both the private and public sector leaders. These are also individuals/organizations with a good understanding of the fact that our Iowa communities must increase competitiveness compared to those in the neighboring states, if they are to succeed.
The specific approach will be as follows. Presentations will be made to communities, counties and industries inviting them to join with ISU Extension in undertaking Special Initiatives or indicating how ISU Extension can add to initiatives they are considering or have underway. These presentations will be to individual organizations and to groups of organizations leading these initiatives. ISU Extension will then follow up with individual negotiations with cooperating communities, counties and industries identifying funding opportunities and the programs that this funding will support. Examples of programs that may emerge from these discussions are provided below.
Page last updated
September 14, 2004