Muscatine Journal, IA
03-28-07
ISU prof tells Chamber crowd how to keep young Iowans in Iowa
By Jeff Tecklenburg of the Muscatine Journal
MUSCATINE, Iowa – For decades, it seems, politicians and community leaders
have often expressed no little angst about the exodus of Iowa’s well-educated
young people to brighter lights and higher-paying jobs in other states.
Barbara Mack was one who didn’t get away. The associate professor at Iowa
State University, once a reporter and attorney for the Des Moines Register, still
lives within 3 miles of the Des Moines hospital where she was born.
After earning a B.A. at Iowa State in 1974 and a law degree from Drake
University in 1977, “I had employment that interested me, I had friends who
supported me and I have a community where I thrived. That’s why I stayed,” she
said minutes after her keynote speech to a packed house Tuesday night at the
Holiday Inn for the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s
annual meeting.
Mack’s reasons for staying in
Iowa matched the message of her speech.
“I’m shocked at the number of communities that bemoan their young people
leaving but make no effort to tie them to the community before they leave,” she
told the audience of about 300.
Muscatine is blessed to have a corps of stable, thriving industries and strong
community leadership. “But I give you fair warning. The worst thing you can do is
sit on your laurels and think that as long as we have these big companies, we
have the sugar daddies … and the people who will lead community projects,” she
said.
The question that must be addressed by present leaders everywhere in Iowa is
“How do we broaden and deepen the pool of people willing to step up and say,
‘20 years from now, what do we want this community to look like?’”
Mack said the Young Professionals Network established in Muscatine over the
past couple of years “is one of the best things you’ve done here.
“But I urge you to think younger, too. Think of today’s high school students as …
your future leaders and get them involved.”
That means such things as developing extensive internship and mentoring
opportunities with businesses and organizations in the community.
“Pella Rollscreen is a great example,” she said, explaining that the Pella, Iowa,
company, provides business and engineering internships to high school juniors
and requires them to get involved with a community organization. All that makes
a difference, she said. “Pella has an 80 percent capture rate,” meaning, the
company hires four of every five people identified as desirable employees.
She wound up a speech that was sprinkled with humor and a trip down
Muscatine history lane by offering a final recommendation.
“Plan your life with the end in mind, what you want to be remembered for at your
funeral,” she said. “What’s more important – making money or doing something
you love.
“That’s why I love teaching. Think of what you want to leave behind in terms of a
better balanced community. Remember that you’re making a future for families.”
She likened the community-building process to how a pearl is made – wrapping
layer after layer of beauty around a point of friction, and “eventually the friction is
gone.”
The Pearl City people heartily applauded their approval.
Contact Jeff Tecklenburg at 563-263-2331, ext. 324, or
jeff.tecklenburg@muscatinejournal.com.