Daily Newsletters
Account
Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
319-653-2191
Fairfield delegation travels to Vietnam for Intelligent Community Forum’s Global Summit
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – A group of four Fairfield residents traveled to Vietnam in early December to represent the city in an international competition.
Fairfield received the prestigious honor of being among the Top 7 Intelligent Communities of 2025 as named by the Intelligent Community Forum. The Top 7 cities gathered for the ICF’s Global Summit Dec. 2-3, 2025 in a suburb of Ho Chi Minh City called Binh Duong Smart City. Fairfield was a finalist because of its track record of entrepreneurship, with six times the number of small businesses per capita than the average U.S. city, along with its high percentage of homes connected to broadband internet, achievements in solar power, childcare and the arts.
The city’s four-person delegation consisted of Bob Ferguson, who was recently elected to the Fairfield City Council and who shepherded Fairfield’s ICF application. Joining him were Nahom Abegaze, Director of Continuous Improvement at Maharishi International University; Seth Miller, President of Advocacy and Administration at Cambridge Investment Research; and Margaret Dwyer, a Fairfield resident active in organizations such as the Resilient Action Network and the Southeast Iowa Sierra Club.
Of the Top 7 cities, Fairfield was the smallest, though there were a few other mid-size cities such as Hilliard, Ohio (pop. 38,000), and Assaí, Brazil (pop. 15,000). The winning city was the Regional Municipality of Durham, Canada, adjacent to Toronto and with a population of over 700,000. Other contenders were Bursa Metropolitan in Turkey, Kingston in Ontario, Canada, and Las Rosas de Madrid in Spain.
Ferguson said the experience taught him that, no matter where people are from in the world, they’re not that different.
“One of my takeaways was how wonderfully similar the aspirations of everyone in the world are,” he said. “Even with our deep cultural differences, we all have the fundamental human need for meaning, development and progress.”
Ferguson said one quality all the cities and regions at the summit shared was a respect for science and evidence-based policy, not “ideologically-based action.”
All four delegates helped to craft a presentation for the summit, Fairfield’s final pitch to take home the top trophy, a presentation that was delivered by Dwyer and Abegaze. Dwyer said they spoke about Fairfield’s history of innovation dating back to the Louden Machinery Company up through the present day with advanced manufacturers such as Agri-Industrial Plastics and TrafFix Devices. Abegaze stressed how Fairfield’s size, values and willingness to experiment positioned it well for continued growth.
“I described Fairfield as a place that has evolved significantly over the last few decades, from a traditional rural town into a small community with a global footprint,” he said.
Miller, representing the county’s largest employer, said he wanted to tell not just his company’s story but also share his personal experiences of growing up in great small town.
“We were proud to represent the smallest community selected among the Top 7 this year, and we made sure to highlight that small communities can absolutely be models of success,” he said. “I shared that Fairfield’s diverse culture is one of its greatest strengths and a key reason for its success, with people willing to come together to achieve common goals. I also talked about how proud I am to raise my family in Fairfield and how important it is that we continue making thoughtful decisions to improve our community for the next generation.”
Dwyer said she and the other delegates learned a lot from this experience and brought back lessons they’re eager to share with the rest of Fairfield. She said the group hopes to hold a session with local leaders from Main Street Fairfield, Grow Fairfield, the visitors bureau, city council and county supervisors about how the town and county can learn from these other success stories from around the world.
Miller noted, “A common theme among these successful cities was strong, bold leadership; a willingness to make big decisions and fully commit to them; and the creation of supportive networks across communities and regions to turn ideas into action.”
Ferguson said he was impressed with the host country Vietnam, remarking that it was “more developed than I could imagine” with skyscrapers and huge, pristine parks. During his time there, Ferguson visited the War Remnants Museum, a somber look at the country’s war against South Vietnam and the U.S.
“It was absolutely heart-breaking,” Ferguson said of the museum’s exhibits, “and I didn’t even serve, but I had people close to me who did. Then you contrast that with the very friendly relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam now. It’s a testament to the human spirit, and a testament to how we can heal as individuals and societies.”
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
