NOTEBOOK: Did you know: Tomorrow Plan grant origins

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Chalk this up to the “did you know” file. The Tomorrow Plan is entering year three of implementation, but it might not have ever taken off if not for the keen grant-seeking eye of Aaron Todd. Todd, now the senior director of network advancement for the Iowa Primary Care Association, helped push a grant opportunity in front of the Des Moines Metropolitan Planning Organization, which ultimately led to a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program for the creation of the Tomorrow Plan. Todd, who was on hand for the Tomorrow Plan’s annual celebration on May 25 and was on the plan’s original steering committee, helped spearhead the effort while working for the Rebuild Iowa Office. His passion for sustainable planning has led him to be involved in a number of community efforts: He’s the founder and president of 6th Avenue Corridor Main Street, he served on the board for the Center on Sustainable Communities and had a brief stint as its executive director, and he was on the Des Moines Urban Review Board, just to name a few.