Changing Iowa: 5 ideas for revitalizing state's rural communities

Rural Iowa is struggling. Towns and schools are shrinking.

And farming, rural Iowa's historic economic mainstay, is going through a downturn that's likely to continue through next year, economists say.

What can Iowa do? Iowans offered some thoughts Thursday during an event sponsored by The Des Moines Register and the Iowa Rural Development Council at the Clay County Fair in Spencer.

The gathering was part of the Register's yearlong Changing Iowa series that's examining the sweeping demographic and workplace changes confronting Iowans, their communities and the state’s economy.

Here are five of the ideas offered to bolster rural Iowa:

1. Look for ways within the 2018 Farm Bill to support "transitioning" some farmland in Iowa and elsewhere to foods that people eat, said Ellen Walsh-Rosmann, who owns Farmtable Procurement & Delivery, a Harlan business that buys local vegetables, milk, meats and other products, and sells them to urban restaurants and buyers.

"We have food plots for pheasants (large plots of corn or other forage that help pheasants get through the winter). Why can't we do that for ourselves?" she asked.

Most of Iowa's 30 million crop acres are used for growing corn and soybeans that are fed to pigs, cattle, chickens and other livestock or to make ethanol, biodiesel and other renewable fuel.

2. Use community foundations to help provide startup money for local entrepreneurs.

"We're known for our philanthropy. But we're not known for using those philanthropic dollars to start businesses," as is done in other places, said Bob Riley, a panelist who owns Feed Energy Co., based in Pleasant Hill. "I think it's a great concept."

3. Strengthen rural housing, an area where many small towns and communities struggle.

Kiley Miller, CEO of the Iowa Great Lakes Corridor Development Corp., said he spends about 25 percent of his time helping communities find ways to add housing. It's key to economic development — businesses need workers and workers need homes.

"It's tough to bring in new businesses if we don't have the housing," Riley said.

4. Policies that support immigrant and foreign labor to replace an aging workforce.

One in five people in Clay County is 65 or older, Miller said.

"We don't have a workforce that's growing," Riley said. "We're going to be 200,000 to 300,000 people short in another five, 10 or 15 years" to meet job demands.

One way to fill the state's worker gap, Riley said, is to find ways to keep foreign students in Iowa after they graduate from public and private universities. "If we had an immigrant program that allowed them to stay here, gosh, we could do a lot of things," he said.

5. Examine the role wages play in Iowa's workforce retention.

Miller said all Iowa counties fell below the national average for weekly wages when he looked at the most recent federal data available. Clay County was about $260 below the national average. That's close to a $14,000-a-year difference for workers.

"As we look to attract people, we need to understand that our current wage structure" is a barrier, he said.

More Changing Iowa: Will rural Iowa wither as big ag gets bigger?

Catch Changing Iowa's next events

The Des Moines Register has planned a series of free Changing Iowa events to hear from Iowans about issues and opportunities confronting the state.

Upcoming events include:

Housing and Main Street Revitalization. 6:30 p.m. Oct. 10, Fort Dodge

New Iowans. 6:30 p.m. Oct. 26, Marshalltown

Aging and Rebirth. 6:30 p.m. Nov. 16, Oskaloosa