This institution is an
Equal Opportunity Provider
Grow Iowa Foundation is a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) - United States Treasury Department
GROW IOWA FOUNDATION
206 NE Court Drive
PO Box 177
Greenfield, Iowa 50849
Phone 641.343.7977
www.growiowa.org
info@growiowa.org
Debra J. Houghtaling
Executive Director
GROW IOWA FOUNDATION provides capital for small business, industrial, manufacturing or affordable housing projects within southwest Iowa.
Since 1996, Grow Iowa has invested more than $5 million into southwest Iowa projects, creating approximately 1100 jobs and 109 housing units.
SPOTLIGHT
Deb Houghtaling, Executive Director of the Grow Iowa Foundation, testified before the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry at a full committee field hearing in Council Bluffs on April 14, 2007. Houghtaling served as a Rural Development witness for the hearing which was held in preparation for the reauthorization of the Farm Bill that was most recently authorized in 2002. The Farm Bill guides agriculture, rural and food policy for the United States and includes authorization for programs such as commodity payments, conservation, school nutrition funding, and rural business.
Houghtaling's Senate testimony focused on three areas to help create vital rural communities that should be the focus of the Rural Development portion of the Farm Bill: fostering regional collaboration through funding projects identified by organizations such as the 16-year-old Southwest Iowa Coalition that brings together government, nonprofit and private entities to collectively address economic development issues; promoting entrepreneurship through the creation of a rural microenterprise program and through the support of projects such as the newly-formed Rural Development Resource Center that provides technical assistance and market avenues to southwest Iowa entrepreneurs; and through sparking private investment through rural philanthropy and leverage created by intermediaries such as Grow Iowa.
During her testimony Houghtaling said, "The future vitality of our rural communities depends upon crafting new Rural Development approaches that meet the current realities and opportunities facing these communities. . . rural communities must band together to build new approaches to compete in today's economy. . .We have a perfect opportunity right now to convince young people to stay in rural America or to recruit them, and others, 'back home.' Technological advances and the burgeoning e-commerce industry can allow someone in rural Iowa to access markets and employment opportunities that previously had only been available if they were located in major metropolitan areas. The opportunities are at hand and endless; what is needed are systems that promote and support entrepreneurism as an increasingly important form of economic development in our communities."
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here to read the full text of Houghtaling's testimony
