posted on February 13, 2009 at 5:06 PM

Guests on this discussion include Thom Hart of the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) who discusses his office's efforts to sift through thousands of requests from Iowa cities, counties and schools for stimulus funds. The IDED is setting the criteria and we'll talk about those standards for these shovel-ready projects.
Also joining the discussion is Tom Stanberry, President and CEO of West Bank and Chairman of the Iowa Bankers Association, who explains why Iowa banks are in good shape and their role in the stimulus.
Finally, David Swenson, an Iowa State University economist, helps make sense of all these ideas and what else can be looked at to help build durable value in the shortest amount of time.
posted on April 11, 2008 at 1:58 PM

Rand Fisher, President, Iowa Area Development Group and Kathy Evert, President, Iowa Lakes Corridor, discuss how and why rural Iowa counties are setting up community foundations.
posted on April 10, 2008 at 1:38 PM

If you can't "keep 'em down on the farm," can you at least keep some of the family money in the community? That's what many rural communities and counties are trying to do by creating community foundations. And in Iowa, they are establishing the foundations with the help of state gambling tax revenues.