We already knew that, though that will not keep us from celebrating the County's new designation awarded by the State of Iowa. "The Iowa Great Places program celebrates communities with a bold vision to develop their communities through innovation, placemaking and integration of arts, history and culture to enrich their residents' overall quality of life," said Chris Kramer, acting director of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs. "We're proud to add Cedar County to the Iowa Great Places program, and I'm eager to see how they'll use this opportunity to keep growing."
The Iowa Great Places program recognizes and partners with Iowans who cultivate the unique and authentic qualities of their local places – neighborhoods, districts or regions – and make them great places to live and work. Iowa Great Places receive access to professional training, technical assistance, a network of vibrant communities and passionate leaders, and other state and local resources.
As excited as we are for this Great Places designation, us becoming an Iowa Great Place means we can apply for funding this fall for projects that are tied to our vision plan. Funding comes from an annual appropriation from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund to the Iowa Great Places program by the Iowa Legislature. The average Iowa Great Places grant award from 2014 to 2018 was $204,000. We will be working on securing one of these grants over the next few weeks.
