New video promotes Iowa County

WILLIAMSBURG — “We are Iowa County. Come grow with us.”

A new video promoting Iowa County’s industry, tourism, history, education and health care is ready for distribution, Laura Sauser, director for Iowa County Community Development, told the Williamsburg City Council Monday.

The video features footage of the Williamsburg and Marengo town squares, a Raiders football game and the Gateway Triathlon, Kinze Manufacturing and Compass Memorial Healthcare.

It includes aerial views of towns and farms, the Amana Colonies, industries and highways and invites people to experience “the warmth and hospitality of our vibrant communities, annual festivals, farmers markets, explore our parks and trails and our waterways.”

“That took us about a year to make,” said Sauser. Community Development received a grant for the project, and local farmer Tim Jones created the video.

ICCD wanted to keep the project local, Sauser said.

The video can be viewed at iowacountydevelopment.com. ICCD hopes the snapshot of Iowa County will encourage people to move to Iowa County communities, especially those who already work here, Sauser said.

In her update to Williamsburg officials, Sauser noted that ICCD has helped businesses and nonprofit organizations write grants that have brought $242,000 into local communities this year and more than $900,000 since 2022.

ICCD is often a point of contact for investors, Sauser said. She’s been in director of ICCD for two years and regularly hears from developers seeking information about available buildings in the county and from business owners seeking grants to improve their properties.

ICCD cultivates relations with the State and has hosted Iowa Economic Development Authority officials twice, Sauser said. The state director visited Williamsburg to see the projects that have benefited from State grants and loved it. She even mentioned Williamsburg during a recent conference in Cedar Rapids, said Sauser.

Williamsburg also hosted officials from the Community Catalyst Building Remediation Program. The building owned by Grayson Jones on the corner of Welsh and Elm Streets on the Williamsburg square, the recipient of a Catalyst grant, was part of their presentation.

Networking at a State level can increase the chances that Iowa County communities will receive grants in the future, Sauser said.

Williamsburg is one of only two towns in the state that has received three Catalyst grants, the most in the state, though Williamsburg City Manager Aaron Sandersfeld said the city received no requests for the grant this year.

ICCD is a point of contact for entrepreneurs, said Sauser. A post on the ICCD Facebook page resulted in Best of Iowa, of Kalona, opening a shop on the Williamsburg square, Sauser said.

Often people see a new business open, but they don’t know the backstory, Sauser said.

Sauser is also part of the East Central Iowa Housing Trust Fund board which offers funding for affordable housing. “If a project comes from Iowa County, I can give my pitch for it,” she said.

Iowa County Supervisor Chris Montross is also on that board.