What were you hired to do?

What I believe they hired me to do was to provide leadership, make tough decisions, restructure the organization in some ways, for the better, and to get results. I know there are fairly high expectations of me for this role. The leadership of this board has made a strong commitment to it, and I think they are going to allow me, and give me the tools and the flexibility, to do what I need to do to get this organization performing at a high level. So that excites me. Part of that is going to be reviewing everything. At some point soon, I hope, we are going to add more staff. Before we can do that, we want to continue to increase our revenues. And part of doing that is giving our stakeholders something to believe in. The crux of that, and where I’ve always started, is with our existing employer base.

How did your time with Midwest Development Partnership Corp. prepare you for this role?

I learned during that time that a high level of engagement leads to success in this business. Because we do operate as a nonprofit entity, meaning we have public-sector funds and we have private-sector funds, we need all of that support to execute a plan of action. Job growth, business growth, tax-base growth is kind of the mantra I point to first and foremost as what we should be in the business of doing. … I can’t be effective in my job unless I have the grass roots behind me. Certainly building that grass roots, and also getting it behind me, is what I’m going to do.

Tell me about your rural upbringing.

A farm is a business. I think maybe that’s why a lot of times I’m comfortable walking into a family-owned business, because a farm is a family-owned business, and everybody has to kind of pull together for the success of that farm. One of the things I appreciate, but sometimes has pros and cons to it, is that you are truly tied to that way of life. One thing I really appreciated was my dad working so hard, sacrificing so much to provide for the family, but also teaching me a lot of lessons from a work ethic standpoint. I think those things have certainly carried over throughout the years.

What are some of Warren County’s strengths?

I came from West Central Iowa. There was a lot of tourism and agribusiness growth in that part of the state. I think coming over here, one thing I’m excited about in Warren County is a nexus between where urban and rural meet, in a lot of ways, because of its connectivity to the Des Moines area. If you look around in the county, there are a lot of folks that want to brand it as wine country. You have a lot of businesses like Capital City Fruit. We have another company that we work with, even though it’s just over the county line in Carlisle, and that’s General Mills. So you have a lot of businesses in food production, agribusiness and (agriculture) tourism, as well, and I think that was a real strength. … You have four-lane highways basically leading in and out of Warren County, everywhere. That’s a big plus for companies looking to access markets, transport goods conveniently. So it means a lot. And also for people; Warren County is the fourth-fastest-growing county in the state.

Tell me about your role with Professional Developers of Iowa.

In addition to being president of the Professional Developers of Iowa, and with my current position on that board, I have been co-chair of the legislative committee for several years to promote and defend Iowa’s economic development tools.

How do you unwind?

We like to take in movies; we like to take in live music. I like to watch baseball and the Iowa Hawkeyes. We go for walks on trails in Central Iowa.