COUNCIL BLUFFS — To survive and thrive, rural communities need young people.
The notion's obvious, but it's one Pete Sorenson of Neola, Iowa, emphasizes as he discusses HomeTown Competitiveness, a collaborative program of community organizations that is designed to improve rural towns.
Asked how important retaining young people is to a community, Sorenson said, "Well, it's No. 1."
"The only way small towns will keep rolling" is by making the communities conducive to a quality upbringing and to making young adults want to come back, he said.
Youth engagement is one of four "pillars" in the HomeTown program, which begins implementation of ideas in Pottawattamie County this year, said Lori Holste, executive director of the Avoca-based Western Iowa Development Association.
Holste worked with the Heartland Center for Leadership Development in Nebraska and other organizations to assess the county on the four pillars: youth involvement, leadership, entrepreneurship and community philanthropy.
The assessment and planned implementation includes all cities in the county except for Council Bluffs and Carter Lake.
"The overall goal is to increase economic vitality within these 12 rural municipalities in the county," said Milan Wall, co-director of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development. "We hope to see greater diversity in the economic base, more business startups, more business expansions, more people playing leadership roles. And we hope to see younger people engaged in leadership in community and entrepreneurship activities."
The one-year assessment phase included working with individual communities, focus groups, surveys, a three-day workshop in Neola and a trip to Holt County, Neb., which previously went through the HomeTown Competitiveness program, Holste said.
"Now we'll begin implementation, with different organizations focused on different pillars," she said.
Iowa State University Extension and Heartland Center will spearhead leadership, while the Western Iowa Development Association, Iowa Western Community College Economic Development Office and the Rural Policy Research Institute will lead entrepreneurship. Promise Partners is in charge of youth development, while the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation will take the lead on philanthropy.
Holste said implementation work will take two years.
Total cost of the three-year HomeTown Competitiveness program is $900,000, Wall said, with more than half coming in grants from the Iowa West Foundation. Other grants and in-kind work cover the rest of the bill.
A kick-off meeting is planned March 5 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Carson (Iowa) Community Center to begin the implementation phase. Community comment is encouraged.
For more information, contact the Western Iowa Development Association at 800-293-4821 or the Heartland Center for Leadership Development at 800-927-1115.
"In the end, we want more leaders and volunteers in our towns," Sorenson said.
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