Fifth and sixth graders from Corning Elementary School brought their history lessons to life as they collaborated with the Adams Community Economic Development (ACEDC) to produce a three-minute promotional video about Adams County to be shown at the Second Annual Great Places Banquet in Des Moines on Oct. 22.

The students were tapped by ACEDC director Beth Waddle, who took video and still photos of the students at a host of Adams County’s highlights, which included The Corning Center for the Fine Arts, Johnny Carson Birthplace, Corning Opera House, House of History and the French Icarian Village. “The fifth and sixth grade students study Iowa History as part of their curriculum and starting with their own county seemed to make sense,” said Waddle, who explained that Adams County was one of six Iowa Great Places being honored at this year’s banquet. The mini-field trips tied in cross-curricular education about not only history, but also art, theater, science and music.

Fitting into the students’ Iowa History curriculum, small groups from the classes toured the various locations around the county and take in a mini-history lesson while visiting. The entire class visited the Icarian Village to live a piece of history by churning butter, making rope, gardening and going to school like the Icarian children. Students visited Lake Icaria to learn not only about its history and linkage to Icaria, but also to learn more about watershed protection.

“The kids loved being able to ‘tour’ our county this year,” said fifth and sixth grade teacher Liz Timmerman. “Through the making of this commercial the students learned about the great place they live!”

Another component of the project drew in a partnership with Mindy Docker’s music class. Docker taught the students an Adams County song to accompany the commercial.

After four weeks of hard work and cooperation with volunteers in the community, the students were able to view the video for the first time on Oct. 1. Alumni attending the All-school Reunion on Sept. 25 were also treated to a sneak peek of the production, which will be shown along with those of other Great Places communities at the Oct. 22 banquet.

“It was great working with the students and their teachers,” said Waddle.

Created in 2005, Iowa Great Places is a program designed to promote bold thought, innovation, and entrepreneurship at the local and regional level in Iowa. Adams County was designated a Great Place by Gov. Chet Culver in 2006 and joins other Iowa highlights in engaging in an inclusive strategic planning process to assess strengths, create vision for augmenting unique attributes and designing a roadmap to turn that vision into a reality.

The video can be viewed online at www.adamscountyiowa.com.

The Adams County Commission on Sustainability (ACCS) and the Adams County Board of Supervisors announced Sept. 17 that a feasibility study and market demand survey research on a proposed conference center and lodge adjacent to Lake Icaria has been completed.

ACCS board chair, Jean Peckham, and Adams County Board of Supervisors chair, Mark Olive, received the completed study from O'Brien Economics Consulting (OEC) founder and former ISU economist Meghan O'Brien. The study was one of the two ACCS board goals when it was created by the Board of Supervisors earlier this year, the other goal being the construction of affordable housing in Adams County.

The study involved an examination of the evolution of Adams County’s economy. Agriculture was and is a driving force in the regional economy. As job creation associated with agriculture declined over the past several decades, many communities recruited manufacturing concerns to fill that void. Over the past two decades many of the jobs have been out-sourced to other countries. While the effects have been felt by all communities, smaller municipalities are more adversely affected since they don’t have the resources of larger communities to compete in this economic development environment. “While manufacturing is still a vital piece of Iowa’s economy, the economic development game communities must play to get those jobs more often than not exhausts the potential gains by forcing communities to commit large sums of money to get companies to locate there,” said O’Brien.

This leads to the question of how rural communities can achieve economic growth. The simple answer is that rural communities must identify their competitive advantage. According to O’Brien, “For some places, they will not have a competitive advantage and they will have to accept whatever employment they can offer their residents in order to slow the decline n population loss. For some, their competitive advantage might lie in a historical landmark or event that they can parlay into some tourism dollars. The extremely fortunate are a small group of communities and places that have a natural endowment such as a lake, river, or environmental uniqueness that can be marketed as a destination. Adams County is fortunate to be in this group with Lake Icaria.”

OEC’s analysis of the feasibility of the conference center and lodge adjacent to Lake Icaria begins with what is known as SWOT analysis, analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the success of the project. The immediate strength is Lake Icaria itself. Development anywhere but Lake Icaria of a similar project in Adams County simply wouldn’t be feasible without the natural amenities of Lake Icaria according to the research. This is due in part to the fact that eco-tourism is the fastest growing segment of the tourism market, currently growing between 10 and 15 percent annually. Additionally, data suggests that conference centers throughout the country are more successful outside of metropolitan areas when they are located on a unique natural resource and are located nearby a community that offers additional amenities.

“The opportunities are abundant for marketing a conference center adjacent to Lake Icaria in such a way that it provides economic opportunity at Lake Icaria as well as in Corning, Adams County and the wider region,” said O’Brien.

The data within Iowa suggests that places focusing on eco-tourism and developing an amenity see gains in retail sales, tax revenues, entrepreneurship, and employment not only where the development occurs but the benefits accrue to the larger community and the region. In the larger Midwest region, the same pattern emerges. The development of a natural amenity creates new businesses not only at the amenity, but in surrounding communities. In fact, the most successful projects focused on eco-tourism are those where there was a partnership between nearby communities and the development to market the larger region.

The report suggests that success begins with educating local residents, business owners, and leadership about the potential for economic growth once the conference center and lodge are built. Because economic development does not occur in a vacuum, a partnership or, at least, an understanding of a shared vision between residents, leadership, the State of Iowa, and the other stakeholders is crucial to the ongoing success of such an effort. Toward that goal, Peckham said that ACCS would be working with O'Brien as well as ISU Extension to formulate next steps for the project. Olive said the Board of Supervisors would look to assist in this effort since it is part of a broad-based Adams County economic development strategy.

Speaking for the ACCS board, Peckham said that the group was very pleased with the quality of the data and the thoroughness of the work by OEC, which is based in Ankeny. The firm has conducted research and economic studies for the Iowa Department of Economic Development, the Iowa Finance Authority, the Department of Cultural Affairs, and many private businesses as well as communities throughout Iowa.