Southwest Iowa Coalition Communities

We are happy to put your community and county success stories here. Simply e-mail your text with any photo you would like included.

Have you heard a new commercial touting living and working in southwest Iowa on radio stations?

The WhySouthwestIowa marketing group comprised of 8 Coalition counties has launched its campaign to attract entrepreneurs back to our region by offering them all of the support we have in place to help them ReInvent themselves and start new business ventures. Two spots are running on radio stations reaching into the Kansas, Missouri and Illinois markets.

The WhySouthwestIowa cooperative marketing group is in the final production stages for promotional materials that will coordinate with the regional Web site marketing tool, whysouthwestiowa.com.

8 sets (one per county) of 3 themed floor banners will be available for use at your local events such as homecomings, festivals and home shows. The banners are: RElax, RElate and RElocate. Contact your marketing delegate about the use of the banners which will be available at the end of the month.

As a group, the marketing delegates are preparing to target home shows in Kansas City, Omaha, Lincoln, Des Moines, Minnepolis, Denver and Chicago. County "Infor Cards" are being printed for these shows as a companion to the banner and other materials. Space ads are being prepared for possible inclusion in magazines such as: The Iowan, Our Iowa and MidWest Living.

The focus of the marketing plan is to target individuals who are interested in moving back or to the region to start businesses. County resource cards that describe the attributes for living and working in SW Iowa have been developed. You can ask your delegate for these as well to distribute at appropriate events. Stickers can be used to co-market the brand. These are available for use on any type of mail piece. The REinvent logo in a digital format is available through the SWICO office to put on your letterhead or other print pieces.

You can download a copy of the slide show and brand strategy outline on the "Documents and Press Release" page of this site for a more detailed description HERE.

Population growth in rural SW Iowa?

Whose moving to towns in Southwest Iowa and why? When the Community Vitality Center noticed the data, it became intrigued and conducted a study. Knowing why people are moving in and out of the region can assist communities plan resident retention and recruitment tactics.

A survey was mailed to everyone who moved in or out of a rural community within an 18 month time-frame using a purchased database. The questionnaire asked about the factors that influenced the household's decision to move and their thoughts about the community where they lived now and where they used to live.

Reports on the data collection and analysis are now available for you at http://www.cvcia.org/content/projects/8.migration.and.population/index.html

Counties sampled in the Coalition membership region were Adams, Union, Taylor and Page. These reports might be valuable for all to review as your community thinks through how to attract new residents and retain those already there.