Community & Economic Development Program Builder

CD-DIAL offers three types of services that assist and build decision-making capacity within an organization.

• Needs assessments examine the needs of local populations, organizational members, or constituents, as well as the resources available to meet those needs and gaps in services.
• Public opinion research is conducted to gain input from residents, constituents, customers, or employees.
• Evaluation services are used to assess the effectiveness of a social program, community service, or other intervention.

keywords: survey, focus group

Provides urban planning and design assistance to communities through a participatory public decision-making process that brings organizational representatives, community officials and concerned citizens together with professional designers. Process culminates in an intensive visioning workshop or “charette” to help all parties visualize the possibilities suggested by community development initiatives.

This is an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional master''s program that is entirely online. The program is offered by the Great Plains IDEA (Interactive Distance Education Alliance).

The Master of Community Development degree program is for community leaders, practitioners, and for those committed to people and places.  It provides the skills, information, and networks needed to facilitate sustainable and prosperous community change.  This degree program equips practitioners with the tools necessary to build community for the 21st century.

Check this website for more information:  www.gpidea.org/prospective/community/cdProgram.html

Array of community economic analyses for groups, communities, and regions with an interest in understanding their economic structure or in understanding the consequences of economic change.

Array of customized workshops, seminars and facilitation sessions for groups, communities and regions with an interest in developing, improving or expanding tourism efforts and outcomes. This program will facilitate communities and their regions in visioning, strategizing and marketing themselves as a visitor destination.

Series of educational meetings aimed to enhance civic understanding and leadership skills of newly arrived immigrants to Iowa. New residents plan the program’s content and program is delivered in participants’ native language with translation to English. Opens a dialogue between new residents and established community leaders, helps participants connect with other new residents and gain knowledge and confidence to take part in community, school and government activities.

keywords:  Latino, Hispanic, immigrant

Field Specialists are available for consulting, technical assistance, tailored training, planning, and organizational development services.

Topics and issues include economic development, local government, community planning, tourism, grant writing, nonprofit management, Latino community and business development, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and housing.

Products available include:

• Strategic Planning or Organizational Goal--Setting Establish an organizational or community vision and set priorities by engaging key stakeholders in a structured process.
• Consultation and Technical Assistance-- Specialists work directly with an organization on a problem or issue to provide advice, research, information, and assistance in developing solutions.
• Board Development-- Training boards of directors to understand their roles and responsibilities in the governance of organizations.
•  Training Sessions --A variety of tailored training can include professional development presentations, team-building, or one-time workshops on special topics of interest.

• Facilitation--Group processes and tools are used to help organizations resolve conflicts, organize new community groups, develop partnerships and collaborations, enhance community participation, or strengthen existing group structures.

   

This program will facilitate communities in visioning, strategizing and marketing themselves as an attractive place to retire. It will involve planning at the level of the region and community, neighborhood and downtown as well as at the concept design scale of public realm improvements.

Features of this program include networking and a connection to local issues and opportunities, group or individual work around a real project if they choose, and a strong emphasis on personal skills development.

keywords:  leadership, community, volunteer, management

Features study of a theme or geographic region for five-eight days. No prior subject knowledge is required, only a desire for lifelong learning. Some courses stay in one city, with daily field trips and excursions. Other courses travel by chartered coach or boat from city to city, stopping at places of interest and overnight in hotels along the route.

The CVC Governance Board has adopted three primary initiatives:

*Enhancing Community Entrepreneurship in Iowa

*Improving Community Foundations and Philanthropy in Iowa

*Identifying and Analyzing Actionable Elements of the Rural Policy Differential

This program is designed to assist agencies that are willing to improve the way GIS is being used in their environment. The technology has an enormous capacity to perform spatial analysis, and most of the time, it is underutilized. The main goal of this program is to elaborate a GIS Diagnostics for agencies, subscribing strategies, based on their needs, to incorporate spatial analysis in their daily routine. A step-by-step strategic plan will be developed for the agency with the goal to maximize the use of the technology to improve some of their daily tasks.

One and two day courses for groups of 6 to 12 participants covering basics of ArcGIS 9.X and extensions, geodatabase construction, CommunityViz, and 3D integration with SketchUp. Hands-on experience. Continuing education units available.

keywords:  training, mapping, GIS, GPS

This program will facilitate the development of a State certified Local Housing Trust Fund (LHTF). It will result in the creation of a collaboration to address the local affordable housing needs of a particular geographical area. Interested parties will be assisted in receiving state certification and applying for funds from the Iowa State Housing Trust Fund, administered by the Iowa Finance Authority. The LHTF is a financial tool used to procure and distribute funds for the creation and/or preservation of affordable housing in a designated area.

This three-hour program is designed to introduce the basic concepts of planning and zoning to local officials. Topics include the comprehensive plan, the zoning and subdivision ordinances, and the roles of elected councils and boards, the planning commission and the board of adjustment in land use decision-making.

keywords:  land use, law

This three-hour DVD is a recording of the July 19, 2005 Introduction to Planning and Zoning workshop held in Ames. It is designed to introduce the basic concepts of planning and zoning to local officials. Topics include the comprehensive plan, the zoning and subdivision ordinances, and the roles of elected councils and boards, the planning commission and the board of adjustment in land use decision-making.

Iowa Great Places brings the resources of State government to Places to build capacity in and cultivate the authentic and unique qualities of neighborhoods, communities, regions, or districts.  Places are required to engage in an inclusive visioning process, resulting in a feasible and sustainable vision or strategic plan for the Places future.  The Place can then invite the State to partner with the Place throughout the plans implementation.  Great Places provides a State Project Manager to guide the Place through State government assistance, technical assistance from each relevant State agency, additional consideration on State grants, and possible direct grant funds.

The Municipal Clerks Institute provides educational credit toward professional certifications, including Certified Municipal Clerk, Certified Iowa Municipal Clerk, Certified Municipal Finance Officer and Iowa Certified Administrator.

In addition to the Institute, the Academy is a continuing education program offered to those wishing to retain their certifications.

keywords:  city clerk

Iowa Precinct Election Official Certification Training consists of three two-hour sessions of training for precinct election officials on Iowa election law, responsibilities of precinct election officials, voting machine operation, ballot security, and voter privacy. This program is conducted in conjunction with county election commissioners (county auditors).

keywords:  poll worker, election training, precinct worker

SUDAS is the statewide standard for design and construction of all types of common urban public works improvements (generally, those found in the street rights-of-way) in the State of Iowa. The program primarily consists of the maintenance and improvement of two manuals, design and specifications. These manuals are used to provide uniform design guidelines for engineers and construction specifications for contractors.

ITSDS provides agencies with the most readily available crash data analysis resources in Iowa. It was created to fill the gap between what safety data users can gather for themselves and what they can obtain from experts. ITSDS uses the latest in geographic information systems technology developed by the Iowa DOT. Using the data and analyses provided by ITSDS, agencies can help reduce the number of crashes in their jurisdictions.

Provides professional landscape planning and design services to rural Iowa communities with populations under 10,000. Communities learn to employ participatory decision-making processes and implementation strategies, and each community receives a conceptual design plan that can be used to implement landscape and transportation enhancements. Past projects include transportation corridor enhancements, community signage, downtown streetscape improvements, recreational trail development, etc. Collaborating partners include Iowa Department of Transportation, Iowa State University Department of Landscape Architecture, Trees Forever.

keywords:  highway, strategic plan, appearance, beautificaiton, interns, trails

The goal of LTAP is to share new research and updated information with local transportation agencies and help them in their daily transportation operations. The Iowa LTAP efforts include a quarterly technology newsletter, transportation lending library, training workshops, and individualized technical assistance. Iowa LTAP is a key venue for disseminating and implementing transportation research and best practices operations. Many research projects become topics for technical and/or newsletter articles, workshop and seminar presentations, and library reference materials.

In order to make more informed decisions regarding developing new recreational trails or materials to promote trail use it is useful to know what trails are currently used most often, what time of day they are used and if there are any trails that are underutilized. To answer these questions, trail use monitors can be installed to count the number of users over a given period of time. This program is designed to provide assistance and equipment necessary to collect this information.

Provides career-enhancing workshops to equip nonprofit professionals with skills to more effectively manage their organizations or specific programs. Workshop topics have included financial management, governance and leadership, diversity issues, technology management, effective supervision, etc. Continuing education units and certification available.

keywords:  staff development

Provides assistance to create concept plan aimed at enhancing and promoting quality and character of a landscape or community. Past projects include historic preservation feasibility studies; housing needs assessments; development of downtown revitalization plans, city and county comprehensive plans, park and trail master plans, etc.

This one-day certificate program will use hands-on case studies and practice scenarios to educate participants in the essential principles and practices of managing the land use process. Topics include the legal framework for planning and zoning, finding and working with planning information, meeting management and record keeping, the operation of the zoning ordinance, subdivision plat and site plan review.

keywords:  zoning, land use

Economic and demographic data and analysis for community development efforts, local needs assessments, and community benchmarking. 

ReCAP's Web-based information products include local retail trade analysis reports, demographic and economic indicators, industry studies, and other tools for community analysis.  The standardized data products and reports are available at no charge.  For more in-depth information needs, ReCAP offers fee-based research and technical consulting services to communities and groups.  See separate listings for Community Economic Analysis and Education Services, Retail Trade Area Analysis, and Targeted Industrial Development and Research.  

keywords:  census, data, demographics, employment, population, statistics, trends

This research focuses on industrial change, regional economies, and other important dynamics of the state''s and nation''s economic structure.

The Retail Trade Analysis portfolio includes two products: (1) local presentations describing trends and other characteristics of the local retail trade sector, and (2) a customized profile of a community’s trade region, including its geographic extent, population size, market demographics, and comparisons with competing trade centers. keywords: retail, trade, market, demographic

Iowa''s Safety Circuit Rider program deals primarily with highway safety related issues such as temporary traffic control for work zones, flagger training, permanent traffic signing and pavement markings, roadside safety and other related issues. Workshops, studies, and advice on these topics can be provided upon request.

These two- to three-hour programs will be offered as evening programs to alert local officials to changes in legislation, important court cases, “hot topics” or new and innovative planning practices. These workshops will be marketed through the ISU Extension website and county extension offices, the Iowa League of Cities and the Iowa State Association of Counties. They will be scheduled in response to local interest.

Program offers educational programs which lead to being certified in election administration in the state of Iowa. The program also offers courses which enable election administrators to maintain their certification.

keywords:  election, auditor

Statistics in the Community (STATCOM) is a community outreach program that serves local communities throughout the nation. At Iowa State, STATCOM offers statistical advice and expertise to governmental and nonprofit groups. Students in the Department of Statistics coordinate the statistical consulting services provided through STATCOM.

This is a regional industrial and economic research service designed to help multi-county groups understand the structure of their shared regional economy and which elements of their regional economy are strong, stable, declining, or emerging.

Three-hour workshop covering legal responsibilities of township trustees and clerks with primary focus on fire and emergency management, cemetery management, and fence law.

 

 

Financing and technical assistance for housing, business development and critical community infrastructure projects