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Henry County Leadership begins in October
Hunter Moeller
Sep. 20, 2021 4:01 pm
The Henry County Leadership program is set to begin Oct. 13.
The program is offered to those who want to grow as leaders and build other skills to sustain community development. It's designed to identify and cultivate future community leaders. One of the program's tag lines is “Building Leaders for a Stronger Tomorrow.”
While in the program, participants will tread through two separate avenues of training.
The first training is called “Leading Communities: A Place-Based Leadership Curriculum.” This part of the program was developed by ISU Extension and Outreach and the University of Wisconsin Extension. This class-based program is delineated to teach participants the skills to interact and work together to promote sustainable community development.
The second half of the training is local programming, which partner organizations developed. Here the class will meet with local leaders to learn about Henry County and its resources. The class session will rotate to both rural communities and towns in the county, revealing each location's authenticity.
Seven separate sessions cover eight months. The sessions include topics on community leadership, education, health care, social services, economic development, state government, local government, crime and safety, agriculture and conservation.
Mt. Pleasant Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Kristi Perry said that this program is essential for community growth.
"This is a town that has had an extraordinary group of leaders that are getting to retirement age," Perry said. "For a town to grow, you always have to build a younger generation of leaders. What we're looking for are those people that want to be a leader in their community or a leader in their business."
Including the 2021-2022 class, 66 people have completed the leadership training.
This year’s Henry County Leadership Class is:
- Joel Baker, plant manger, Cornerstone Building Brands
- Eric Booth, assistant dean of students, Iowa Wesleyan University
- Grant Davidson, PR and marketing, Midwest Old Threshers
- Holly Frary, regional sales manager, Southeast Iowa Union
- Nikki Gerling, director of career development, Iowa Wesleyan University
- Allison Jacobs, director of membership, Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance
- Samantha Koontz, loan officer, 5 Star Community Credit Union
- Makayla Kruse, MSR, Community 1st Credit Union
- Melissa Shull, middle school assistant principal, Mt. Pleasant Community School District
- Tyler Thien, director of engineering, Access Energy Cooperative
- Caleb Waters, director, Henry County Conservation Department
- Kelly Waters, marketing program coordinator, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach-Henry County
- Mary Weinand, education specialist, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
The training is run by ISU Extension and Outreach and the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance.
Comments: hunter.moeller@southeastiowaunion.com
