Mt. Vernon Lisbon Sun, IA
07-11-07
1000 Friends of Iowa holds annual meeting here
1000 Friends of Iowa will host its ninth annual meeting in Mount Vernon on
Saturday, July 28, at the Cornell College Commons. There is a fee to attend; the
early registration discount deadline is Sunday, July 15.
1000 Friends of Iowa is a statewide non-profit organization based in Des Moines
that promotes responsible development. The theme of this year’s annual meeting
is “Enabling Sustainable Development for Iowa: What it means for food, land and
people.”
The keynote speaker will be Thom Guzman, director of the Downtown Resource
Center at the Iowa Department of Economic Development.
Guzman’s keynote address is titled “What’s so special about downtown?”
Guzman oversees the Main Street Iowa program, a 21-year-old program that
engages cities in revitalizing downtowns through historic preservation,
beautification, and local business development. West Branch recently became a
Main Street community and Mount Vernon will soon be receiving services from
the Downtown Resource Center.
The conference will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will conclude with a
walking tour of downtown Mount Vernon led and hosted by members of the
Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission. Highlights of the meeting will
include a panel on farm-to-school programs to get local foods into schools; a
presentation by retired Iowa State University economist Ken Stone on the
economic impacts of a new mega-mall; reports from grassroots citizens groups;
and Best Development Awards.
1000 Friends of Iowa’s annual Best Development Awards reward cities,
companies and individuals implementing smart growth and sustainability in new
construction or redevelopment sites. An awards ceremony at the conference will
showcase a few of the best examples of responsible development in the state of
Iowa.
Individuals can register for the conference online at www.kfoi.org, or by calling
the 1000 Friends of Iowa office at 515-288-5364. More details about the event
can also be found at the website.