Iowa South Week

FAIRFIELD - A group of community stakeholders is promoting southern Iowa as a great place to 'live, work, thrive and grow.”

The partnership consists of stakeholders from 10 counties that are part of a region called Iowa South - Jefferson, Van Buren, Appanoose, Davis, Keokuk, Lucas, Mahaska, Monroe, Wapello and Wayne counties. Economic professionals from these counties, along with Indian Hills Community College, have dubbed this week, March 8-14, 'Iowa South Week,” and are hoping to encourage residents in the 10-county region to share their stories about what makes the region such a great place.

Residents are asked to visit iowasouth.com/stories/submit/. In addition to learning more about the initiative, there is a form residents can fill out if they are interested in sharing their Iowa South story with a larger audience.

Fairfield Economic Development Association Executive Director Josh Laraby said he and the other nine economic developers in the partnership want to see the region grow because there is 'power in numbers.”

'Although we have our individual responsibility to grow, we know that when one tide rises, so does another,” he said. 'We're all in this together.”

Laraby said he hopes to attract people to the area by making them realize that it's easy to get from one city to another in southern Iowa.

'We like to say it's a mile a minute here. If you drive for an hour in Los Angeles, you'll go four blocks,” Laraby joked. 'In that same hour, you can go 60 miles here, and experience a lot in that 60-mile radius.”

Iowa South is on Facebook, facebook.com/iowasouth, and will be sharing stories through this platform as well. Groups that are promoting events held in the region, or positive local news stories, are encouraged to use the hashtag, #IowaSouth.

While Iowa South has initially been focused on helping local employers attract additional talent to the region, the group is dedicated to supporting local initiatives that help match local residents with

new opportunities. Those who need assistance with career/skill training, or finding out about the job opportunities available locally, are encouraged to contact iowasouth@indianhills.edu.