Iowa City Press-Citizen
05-02-06
West Liberty, ISU partner on development group
By Rachel Gallegos
Iowa City Press-Citizen
The West Liberty Economic Area Development Committee has begun a
partnership with the Iowa State University Extension to share the costs of
hiring an executive director to serve the West Liberty area.
The development group, known as WE LEAD, will pay for 75 percent of the
director’s salary and the ISU Extension will pay 25 percent. The executive
director will split time between WE LEAD duties and tasks related to rural
development educational projects assigned by the ISU Extension.
The City of West Liberty has committed $50,000 for three years to fund WE
LEAD, which officially incorporated as a non-profit organization in February. The
organization will also receive $25,000 in local private funds and $3,600 annually
for three years from the Muscatine County Board of Supervisors.
The group formalized the deal with ISU at its April 24 meeting. It also elected its
officers:
Cindy Mays, Iowa State Bank market president, was elected as president; Randy
Carlson, president of West Liberty State Bank, as vice president, and Jerry
Melick, president of Liberty Communications , as secretary/treasurer. The
group’s nine-member board includes local industry leaders and officials.