THE NEW FACE OF IOWA

    While corn is king, Iowa is trying to diversify. The Iowa governor's strategic planning council recently published "Iowa 2010: The New Face of Iowa" which seems to be the result of elaborate scenario planning and visioning on the part of many influential and civic-minded Iowans. The council used local forums, previous studies, those from other states, and they communicated with Iowans using the Internet to get the ideas and opinions of those who had left the state. In particular, they tried to learn about the hopes and worries of young people who are still leaving the state for better jobs in bigger cities. The results are an interesting mix...

The planning council says the state needs more people (310,000 is the goal), but they also want to preserve what they call "Iowa values." These include education, individual well-being, economic prosperity for all regions, the natural environment, a world-class reputation, civic integrity, and caring communities. The 2000 census showed the main cities gaining, and the counties clustered around them also growing, while very rural counties are losing people. Net growth overall was less than 6%. The number of Iowans over 65 will increase by 142,000. by 2010. There will be fewer Iowans of school age. The population shifts are crucial to the future of the state and do point to diversity. A Chicago Tribune article on May 4, 2001, points out that in the next decade more than a third of a million Iowans will retire and many young people will move out of state leaving about 100,000 to fill more than 500,000 jobs. However, the Des Moines Register reports on a survey that shows 2/3s of Iowans are opposed to this kind of increase, as well as any recruitment of skilled immigrants. "Iowa is just fine as it is and we like it that way," Janice Easley, a senior from Mason City, told the Chicago Tribune. There is the usual worry that immigrants will take jobs, but there are many jobs to fill. The second day I was there the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service raided some egg processing outfits and were getting ready to deport 91 Mexican males, including two boys 15 and 17. As in other states, the growth of the Latino population has been a primary factor in the modest increase in Iowa's population over the past ten years, but it still is less than 3% of the population.