Governor Kim Reynolds has signed an executive order creating task forces to address the lack of housing and broadband in rural Iowa. The “Empower Rural Iowa Initiative” also seeks to develop leaders in rural parts of the state.
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Reynolds hopes to name the members of the three task forces by August 1st.
Sandy Ehrig of the Iowa Rural Development Council is a co-chair. She says the new group will hopefully address a critical need in rural Iowa.
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The Iowa Rural Development Council has already held meetiings in Jefferson and Grinnell for rural communities. The newly-created task forces will start meeting this fall and will host an “Ideas Summit” — but the date for that has not been announced.