Plymouth County Board of Supervisors held first meeting of 2026
The Plymouth County Board of Supervisors approved several agenda items during their first meeting of the new year yesterday morning.
The Board voted to appoint supervisor Don Kass as chairman and Craig Anderson as vice chairman of the Board for another year. Appointments to several county boards and commissions were also approved by the Board. On the County Board of Health, Dr. Emily Hutchins will replace Dr. Paul Schroeder for a three-year term, and Trevor Oetken will replace Chris Beeck on the Conservation Board for a five-year term. Several other re-appointments were also approved by the Board.
A funding request and presentation from Heidi Sauh of the Foster Grandparents and Senior Companion programs was also given to the Board. Sauh highlighted the 12 total volunteers and the dozens of youth and seniors in Plymouth County that rely on the programs, and requested $5,000 to help cover costs in Plymouth County not covered by a federal grant the programs receive.
The Board will meet next on Tuesday, January 6th.
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Iowa’s economic development agency to launch new talent recruitment efforts
Debi Durham says improving Iowa’s tax and regulatory climate has been the “North Star” during her tenure as the state’s top economic development official.
Durham, who’s been director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority since 2011, says she’s focused on selling Iowa as home base to businesses and young professionals in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Durham says in the past year 33-hundred people interested in moving have responded and those leads are being passed on to officials in Iowa cities and communities that match their interests. Durham says it’s part of talent recruitment efforts to address workforce concerns. In early 2020, more than 70 percent of Iowans above the age of 15 who were able to work were working. But nearly six years after the pandemic started, Durham says Iowa’s labor participation rate hasn’t fully recovered.
Durham’s agency will launch new talent recruitment efforts next year focused on sectors like health care that need more workers.
(Story via Radio Iowa)
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