"Waukon Works" implementing ISU Community to Community Program to assist in revitalization of the Waukon community

Much like the gears featured in the logo that identifies the “Waukon Works” committee, the wheels of progress continue to turn forward in addressing the revitalization of the Waukon community.
The meshing of those gears that have been driving that “Waukon Works” machine began with initial ideas from downtown forums held within the past year, further driving formations of committees, and ultimately an overall steering committee. Although those initial efforts first put the gears in motion, it was also discovered during that process that all those hard-working pieces were sometimes difficult to coordinate, due mainly to a lack of an established common goal.
“The Waukon Downtown Forums held last year were a great start to attaining a cohesive plan for moving Waukon forward, there were several great ideas that came from the meetings,” summarized Waukon Works Steering Committee member Patty Fosaaen in a background report on the project. “The committees had a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of energy going in different directions, so there was a need to coordinate everyone. We knew we didn’t need to reinvent the wheel; other communities have had our same challenges.”
Fosaaen is joined on that steering committee by several other community leaders and volunteers, some who also had a hand in bringing the Waukon Wellness Center and Northeast Iowa Community College satellite center to reality while serving on the Allamakee Pride Committee. Those members who emerged from those early committee efforts include Fosaaen, Dave Herold, Gil Hunstad, Dennis Lyons, Josh Miller, Mike Myers, Laura Olson and Kris Rausch, bringing with them experience and insight from a number of different facets of business and community development.
In an effort to draw from the experiences of other communities and organizations, the Steering Committee searched through a variety of avenues before stumbling across what is anticipated to be the one missing “cog” to make all the gears mesh seamlessly together toward a more positive direction for the future of Waukon - the Iowa State University Community to Community Program.

INTRODUCING COMMUNITY TO COMMUNITY
The Community to Community program is a community economic development initiative coordinated by Iowa State University (ISU). Tim Borich,  Associate Professor of Design Administration at ISU and Director of ISU Extension Community and Economic Development, owns a cabin in Harpers Ferry and will be one of the staff members helping implement the Community to Community program in Waukon.
“Actually, Tim said he was waiting for someone to approach him about getting involved with the program,” Myers relayed. “He’s familiar with Waukon from the time he’s spent up here in Harpers, and he believes Waukon is a perfect place for a project like this.”
The program involves a 10-step process of planning over a two-year period and will involve several ISU staff members (pictured individually with this article), along with some of their students, who will be using their experience with the program to apply their education to real world scenarios and help create a portfolio for future employment. The program will require input from a great number of facets from Waukon and the surrounding community.

GETTING STARTED
One of the first input steps will be a series of interviews conducted by Biswa Das, Community & Regional Planning Extension Specialist from ISU. That interview process will assess the current situation within the Waukon community, in addition to creating an economic base study, a retail trade analysis and a demographic profile upon which to base further planning and decisions.
“That’s one of the great things about this program, the planning process is based on facts gathered through the process, and not so much on emotion,” Myers shared. “Based on what these experienced professionals find out through the input process, they will tell us what we need to work on as a community.”
From those initial interviews, a further survey process of an even larger sample of community members will be taken, that process headed by Nora Ladjahasan, Assistant Scientist in Design Administration at Iowa State. The community’s retail sector will also get an opportunity to not only provide input but also benefit from the expertise of Lisa Bates from ISU’s College of Design.
"Our focus here goes far beyond the four-block square area of downtown Waukon," Hunstad explained. "It will involve the entire school district, seeking direction for the whole area and then tying it all together for everyone's benefit"
Further expertise in community design and economic development will be provided by additional ISU staffers Carl Rogers, Nadia Anderson, Mark Reinig and Abbie Gaffey. Combined with that expertise will be further long-range planning involving the City of Waukon and its various governmental and public service agencies, including a comprehensive land use plan and capital improvements plan, among other development tools.
“The Waukon City Council has been very supportive, very engaged in the whole process," several of the Waukon Works committee members echoed. "There are some things the City Council had plans to do anyway that can now be done as part of this whole project."

INVESTMENT IN THE FUTURE
Further evidence of that support from the Waukon City Council is the $20,000 in economic development funds the Council has committed to the project, footing just about half of the entire $42,000 cost of the undertaking. All three banks located in Waukon - Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank, Fidelity Bank & Trust, and Waukon State Bank - have also made generous contributions toward that cost to further assist the community they serve.
With grant funding additionally being pursued, there will also be opportunities for individuals, organizations or businesses to contribute to covering the remaining cost of the venture. Anyone wishing to do so may contact any member of the Steering Committee mentioned previously.

INITIAL OBJECTIVES
Citing statistical data that indicates that over the next 20 years approximately 78 million "baby-boomers" will reach retirement age nationwide, one of the priorities identified by the Steering Committee is the need for Waukon to become a more "aging friendly" community.  An important fact supporting this priority is that everything positive about becoming more "aging friendly" is also good for the entire community.
"Every indication is that what's good about a community for the aging population goes hand-in-hand with what's a good draw to bring family-oriented young people into a community," Miller explained. The Committee offered further examples of communities such as Maquoketa, Mt. Pleasant and Ottumwa where the Community to Community program has already been successfully implemented.
Statistical data for communities very similar in size and status to Waukon show an obvious gap in retail revenue between Waukon and its fellow county seat communities of similar population size. The Steering Committee feels involvement in the Community to Community program will go a long way toward addressing that issue and providing a more specific direction for further action to be taken.
"This is very much like the Allamakee Pride campaign in that you can just feel that it's the right thing to do," Myers summarized. "This, by far, is the best opportunity for a sustainable plan for the future of the Waukon community, and we ask for and appreciate everyone's patience and participation."

Ongoing updates in regard to the project will be published as warranted throughout the process. Anyone with further questions is asked to contact one of the Waukon Works Steering Committee members.