Our Agency

1. Roll Call In-Person
Lt. Governor Gregg Sandy Ehrig James Hoelscher Caleb Knutson
Ashley Moyer Jason Neises Chris Ward

Roll Call Virtual
Rob Denson Stephanie Fromm Jenae Jenison Linc Kroeger
Shannon Landauer Ron Reischl Sharon Stroh Gary Taylor

2. Approval of Minutes from November 16, 2021 meeting
Minutes had been previously distributed for review and were unanimously approved

3. Welcoming Remarks from Lt. Governor Gregg
The Lt. Governor thanked members and sponsors, reviewed meeting agenda and discussed revised meeting schedule for the year including alignment with the IRDC.

4. Remarks by Co-Chair Sandy Ehrig
Thanked members and provided an overview of the upcoming IRDC Rural Summit to be held in April.

5. Panel of Rural Innovation Lab Communities
• Molly Knuth - Cascade Innovation Lab
• Jordan DeGree – Creative Adventure Lab
• Eric Dregne - Rural Innovation Lab
• Maryann Baldwin – Lansing Innovation Lab
DeGree and Dregne provided an overview on the development of the Rural Innovation Lab model, starting with the success of the Creative Adventure Lab in Dubuque, Iowa. After that success, rural communities were interested in launching their own model, resulting in the Rural Innovation Lab.
Knuth joined virtually and shared her experience as a supporter and user of the Rural Innovation Lab in Cascade, outlining our important it is to her business to have the remote work opportunity as well as the training in partnership with the Creative Adventure Lab model.
Baldwin owns and manages the Rural Innovation Lab in downtown Lansing and shares how much of a partnership the effort was with the community and Dregne and DeGree. While only recently opened, and still developing the community kitchen component, the space has already seen substantial use.
Task force members and guests asked questions regarding costs, annual fees, and flexibility in programming. Panelists expressed that each community is different by the model allows communities to select the components that work best for them.

6. Public Comment, Wrap up & Next Steps
Sacha Wise and Jessi Carver, who manage the AmeriCorps program at IEDA, are helping Liesl with more rural projects. Child Care market study grant opened second round will open second round March 1. Deadline is May 3.

7. Adjourn
Thank you to the local planning committee: City of Monticello, Monticello Chamber of Commerce, and Jones County Economic Development