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Field Trip Shows Off Success Stories:
Iowa Delegation Visits Holt County
By Luann Schindler
Norfolk Daily News
 | HTC Field Trip Participants at the Blarney Stone in Nebraska's Irish Capital.
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O'Neill - When the Western Iowa Development Association wanted to scout out the best practices in rural development, the group headed west - to Holt County. On May 23 and 24, 2011, 20 visitors from 12 communities located in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, visited three Holt County communities to see the HomeTown Competitiveness (HTC) framework in action. HTC provides a long-term approach to rural community sustainability through four pillars: building leadership, expanding community philanthropy, energizing entrepreneurship and engaging youth. "HTC has helped individual communities, as well as the county, and this field trip shows our guests what we're doing and what we've accomplished," said Nicole Sedlacek, Holt County economic development director. "It's an opportunity to show how far we've come in the last five years." The Iowa delegation was made up of a diverse cross-section of Pottawattamie County residents, including government officials, business owners, economic development personnel and interested citizens. Walnut City Councilwoman Kathy Humann said Pottawattamie County is home to 93,000 people and includes rural areas, as well as the metropolitan Council Bluffs area. "To keep that hometown community spirit, it's important for regional communities to come together in so many areas," Humann said. Humann said she is impressed with the advances Holt County has made and wants to take those fresh ideas back to her community and put the HTC pillars into effect. On Monday, the visitors traveled to Atkinson and Stuart, where they toured specialty shops and businesses, explored ongoing projects, including Stuart's Murphy Center, and met with city officials, economic development entities and community leaders. Jon Schmaderer of Stuart said the HTC process provided Holt County with the opportunity to change the culture of a community by identifying each community's strengths and areas for improvement, in addition to offering leadership training for residents. Schmaderer, Sedlacek and a handful of graduates from the county's Leadership Institute shared success stories for the communities and organizations the graduates represent. Institute alumnus Nikki Johnston of O'Neill urged the Iowa delegation to recognize each community's needs and then celebrate small successes as they happen. "In O'Neill, we identified the youth pillar of HTC as a need for improvement, listened to concerns from the age group and created the space for what they wanted to try." Johnston said. Lori Holste, Western Iowa Development Association executive director, said she hopes Pottawattamie County entities start a similar leadership program and tap into the rich resources available in the area. "It is important for rural areas to spend time on people who already live in our small communities and ask them, "What can you do for our county?" she said. Sedlacek said the Iowa delegation is at the starting point to assess each town's needs and anticipates they found ideas of how to create a common bond among all communities and maintain individuality at the same time. "I think we've seen a proven model for what can happen when communities are working together and retain their own identity," Sedlacek said.
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