Southeastern Iowans chosen for governor’s ‘Empower Rural Iowa’ task forces

When Gov. Kim Reynolds announced her Empower Rural Iowa initiative in July, southeastern Iowans saw an opportunity to have a voice in shaping the rural Iowa of the future.

Empower Rural Iowa was an executive order signed by Reynolds to grow and strengthen rural Iowa. Recommendations from three task forces - Investing in Rural Iowa, Growing Rural Iowa and Connecting Rural Iowa - and an executive committee will be brought to Reynolds in December. The task forces have met a couple of times and will hold a joint meeting in November before taking their recommendations to the governor.

Of the 180 Iowans who applied for the task forces, one resident from Henry County and one resident from Washington County were selected.

'I truly believe a strong rural Iowa is a vital component of a strong Iowa and a strong Midwest economy as well,” said Sandee Busee, member of the Connecting Rural Iowa Task Force. 'The Connecting Rural Iowa Task Force is very much focused on how we expand broadband into the unserved and the underserved areas of the state.”

Busee, who lives in Riverside, is manager at a broadband company in North Liberty called Liberty Communications. Liberty Communications partners with another broadband company that serves Washington, Brighton, Ainsworth and other towns in southeast Iowa.

Busee is one of the many people with diverse skillsets on the Connecting Rural Iowa Task Force, whose background in broadband is integral to moving forward. Her passion for rural Iowa stems from childhood.

Busee moved to Iowa when she was four years old and grew up on her family's grain farm. She graduated from a small high school in West Liberty before attending the University of Iowa. After college, Busee moved to Denver and Kansas City for a while, before relocating to rural Iowa to raise her children.

Before the task force is able to brainstorm ways to expand broadband into unserved and underserved areas of the state, they first have to identify what is considered an acceptable speed. It is then they can work on pushing that last mile out of broadband to the rural parts of the state, Busee said.

'I understand the last mile, how difficult it is, how costly it is to serve the really rural areas,” Busee said.

For Busee, the task force is an opportunity for like-minded professionals who 'have been heads down in the industry” to get a fresh perspective, she said.

Vicky Larson, of Mt. Pleasant, has a similar passion for rural Iowa. Chosen to sit on the Investing in Rural Iowa Task force, she has a lot at stake with four children approaching adulthood and as an area specialist with the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development.

Although Lason didn't grow up in Iowa, she was raised in a small community on a cattle farm in South Dakota. She moved to Iowa when she got married but watched from afar as her hometown's population decreased and retained fewer young adults.

'I wish there was something I could do about that,” Larson said, adding that she is glad she can now help the city of Mt. Pleasant where her children grew up. 'There's a lot of value in these small communities. The metro appeal is always going to be there for the youth, but those same qualities can be achieved in small towns.”

Conversations that happen in task forces are fluid, Larson said. They aren't going to solve the housing crisis or fix broadband tomorrow.

'This group is there for people to find civic engagement,” Larson said. 'Whether anything comes from it or not, we're identifying conversations to help whoever at the next level decide what to do. There's some great people coming to these events and thinking about the future.

'I love doing these things,” Larson continued. 'I love contributing to my community.”