Government : Governor Reynolds appoints Ward to Empower Rural Iowa Board

On Friday, Governor Reynolds announced her choice for Iowa board and commissions appointments.

Chris Ward, the City Administrator for the City of Vinton was selected to sit on the Empower Rural Iowa Committee. While appointed by the Governor, the appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.

The Governor created the Empower Rural Iowa Initiative in 2018. The initiative consists of an executive committee and three task forces partnering with the Iowa Rural Development Council to identify legislative, regulatory, and policy changes needed to help rural Iowa communities.

The three task forces are the Investing in Rural Iowa Task Force (housing), the Growing Rural Iowa Task Force (leadership development and strategic development), and the Connecting Rural Iowa Task Force (financing broadband).

The Governor appoints public members to the task forces.

Ward has been selected to be part of the Empower Rural Iowa Grow Task Force which is the leadership development and strategic development.

Ward said, "I have to thank the City of Vinton and the City Council for allowing me to serve the State of Iowa on a volunteer basis like this.