On the Side| Brad Hicks
A couple of decades ago, a younger version of Gov. Terry Branstad joined forces with the Iowa Newspaper Association to create something called “The Iowa Futures Project.”
Iowa was floundering in the wake of the 1980s Farm Crisis. Some banks had closed. There were thousands of farms lost to foreclosure. The federal government’s agricultural price support system was inadequate to deal with the problem. And state government didn’t have the resources to even begin to address the things that were happening in Iowa.
The Iowa Futures Project was designed to spur local discussion and encourage local enthusiasm to renew Iowa’s communities. The governor and-or his designees attended hundreds of these meetings across the state. The sessions were hosted by local newspapers, with facilitators trained to lead the discussions.
Some communities took the ideas and ran hard with them. Some had a meeting and the effort fizzled before anyone left the room. Due to some moving around, I was a party to these in three different counties over a four-year period. Two of the communities failed to do much with the ideas that were generated, but one had some great leadership and really made some inroads in economic development.
A few years later, Gov. Tom Vilsack’s administration launched something called Iowa 2010. The concept was the same – getting people together to discuss community development. The third community I referenced earlier once again had leadership that took charge. That community group wound up printing a booklet on slick paper, listing all of the goals for eight years down the line, and assigning responsibility for meeting the goals to willing participants. That community wound up with repairs to its local bandshell, new trails where there were none before, construction of a wellness center built with local donations, park improvements, new spec buildings, elimination of eyesores, new community events, and higher levels of involvement by citizens and organizations.
Each year, the newspaper and the leader of the organization would do a review of the progress toward the goals. By 2007, most had been accomplished or were in the works, so the group did the visioning again, and created a plan for 2016.
As the year comes to a close, I now no longer wonder about whether that town has made the type of progress it hoped. But I do wonder about my new town.
I look around and see many good bones. The downtown has the structures in place to be vibrant. The YMCA is an asset for economic development that most cannot fathom. The medical complex is extensive. The airport is a very good asset. The Wilson is something others envy. And we have a good base of good businesses.
Many communities have those same types of bones. The difference among them is having a vibrant spirit, and constantly renewing it.
Heading into 2017, it’s important that we Red Oak and Montgomery County residents remember that it’s up to us to make our communities what we want them to be. The state and federal governments aren’t going to ride to our rescue when times are tough, or to help with providing businesses with new jobs. It just doesn’t work that way. And those who sit around and moan about not being included or things not being right are just whining their way into a deeper hole. Community and economic development require hard work and critical thinking. They also require a certain level of critical dreaming.
So, think about 10 years down the line. What would be a great asset? An artists’ community? A town with a telecommunications utility that hard wires each home? A...? You fill in the blank - because the future will be what we make of it.
Contact Brad Hicks at publisher@redoakexpress.com.