WAVERLY - Snow, wind and cold temperatures warranted school closures and delays this past week throughout Northeast Iowa. Two women on a mission, however, were undeterred by the winter weather.

On a recent weekday, Kelly Engelken and Tiffany Kudron pulled on winter coats and scarves and made the chilly trek on foot from their West Bremer Avenue office to the east downtown business district.

It was Tuesday, after all.

Engelken and Kudron are relatively new hires for the Waverly Area Development Group. Engelken came on board in late July as executive director for the development group, which handles chamber of commerce, tourism and Main Street programming. Kudron started in October to direct tourism and special events.

As such, the two are committed to getting to know the faces of Main Street. For Engelken and Kudron, that includes visiting downtown offices, restaurants and shops on a regular basis.

"Just to touch base," Engelken said. "You want to have that interaction so people feel comfortable talking to us."

Making the business rounds are only a slice of the work that goes on through the Waverly Area Development Group. But it illustrates top priorities recently reemphasized by the organization's leadership team - communication, support, teamwork.

For Engelken and Kudron, the Tuesday outings are a chance to catch up on community news, pass on information and, eventually, recruit volunteers for upcoming events. The visits also are opportunities to listen and ask questions.

"So we can be more proactive, rather than reactive," Engelken said.

On this recent Tuesday, the pair slipped inside the Waverly Home Bakery for maple and pecan rolls - a traditional, final fuel stop during the almost weekly outings. In addition to passing out information about an upcoming ICN training, the ladies also learned about the bakery's growing wedding cake business and listened to a critique of a recent bridal show in the Cedar Valley.

Sometimes the stops take only minutes, but Engelken and Kudron believe investing in relationships is the foundation to their work as representatives of a larger organization.

"We are here for our businesses," Kudron said.

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Time of transition

In many ways, Engelken and Kudron are learning and shaping an organization even as it changes.

Until recently, the development group spearheaded economic development, in addition to chamber of commerce, Main Street programming and tourism. The Waverly Area Development actually came into existence almost a decade ago after the merger of two, separate entities - the Waverly Economic Development Co. and the Chamber of Commerce-Main Street group.

But last summer, the City Council felt it was time to relieve the group of managing economic development. Some felt that economic development - a complex and weighty city priority - was becoming too much for the organization to handle, given its resources and competing responsibilities. The development group's executive board publicly supported the change and asked City Council members to allow the organization to narrow its focus.

"We had started to spread ourselves so thin it was becoming difficult to do any of them well," said Traci Magsamen, chairwoman of the development group's executive committee.

The recent restructuring is prompting the group's leadership team to reexamine the organization's purpose and mission in Waverly and surrounding communities. The organization experienced additional changes last year as two top staff members resigned.

Throughout January, the development group has scheduled strategic planning sessions to help map out a game plan for the future of the organization. The planning follows months of conversations, brain-storming sessions and interviews with local business and community leaders.

Specifics, including definitive, measurable goals, are still in the works, said Engelken, and the organization's leadership will continue to identify its focus in the coming days and weeks. Some intentions, though, have already been articulated.

Committing to building a stronger downtown. Putting on spectacular events. Communicating and serving existing businesses who are members of the organization.

"We want our members to speak up and be heard and make sure this organization speaks for them," Magsamen said.

Business wishes

When Travis Nuss helped establish a family chiropractic practice in downtown Waverly, he turned to the development group for help. Nuss already had a business plan under his belt, but he used the organization to help identify building availabilities and rental costs. The organization also can provide information about loans and other funding opportunities to new or existing businesses.

"Definitely use them as a resource," Nuss said.

Nuss said it would have been easy to go into business along the Highway 218 business route, a hot spot for development. But he felt a commitment to building up Main Street. Nuss joined the Waverly Area Development Group and now chairs the Main Street Development Committee to further strengthen the downtown.

"Too many of Iowa's rural downtowns are becoming ghost towns," Nuss said.

Neighboring business owners say they hope the development organization can focus on filing empty storefronts on Main Street. More specifically, Marty Johnson of Thompson Shoes wants an emphasis on retail.

In this, the organization hasn't completely washed its hands of economic development, Engelken said, and the group intends to work with the city.

City leaders agree. During last year's restructuring talks, City Administrator Dick Crayne stressed that economic development is a community-wide effort. What was in question at the time, said Crayne, is who leads the charge.

"They would like to work closely with us and we would like to work closely with them," Crayne said. "We both work in the same, big bowl. We just do different things."

Waverly Area Development Group was already taking steps to grow and maintain the downtown sector even before the recent restructuring.

The group supported a recent sidewalk renovation project and helped promote downtown shopping during the construction. And more recently, the Main Street Development Committee published the results of a retail survey conducted April-August 2007. Suggested new businesses to top the wish list included a mens clothing store, a bike shop and an antique shop.

"If something is unique enough and different enough there's no reason why it shouldn't work," said Darrin Siefken, owner of Crawdaddy Outdoors.

As a member of the Main Street Development Committee, Siefken also hopes the development group finds new ways to support existing businesses. He suggests offering small-business classes.

"We haven't been nurturing anyone along the way," Siefken said.

Amy Price, owner of Something Sew Right, would welcome additional training on business-related topics. Price said business owners would be more likely to attend development group meetings if they knew they'd walk away with something helpful, like how to design a brochure or window decorating tips.

Price sees room for improvement when it comes to business owner-development group relations. But she applauds the accomplishments of the old guard.

"They did what they needed to do," Price said. "They got Main Street back on its feet."

Jason Passmore, the city's new economic development director, continues to hear from grateful business owners who credit a grant or a building improvement to the development group. The development group keeps a list of projects they've supported in Waverly but also Sumner, Plainfield, Shell Rock and Denver.

"They got pride built back up," Price added.

Same yet different

Those guiding the transition offer assurances that change doesn't mean abandoning meaningful and effective traditions.

Business owners applaud retail-related boosters like Ridiculous Days. And it wasn't so long ago that A&E filming crews flocked to the Bremer County town to capture small-town, holiday magic during the community's annual Christmas Greetings on Main event.

Engelken and Kudron plan to look to the past for guidance. Kudron, in charge of tourism and special events, intends to serve up old favorite with a new twist, along with starting new traditions.

"Take what they have built and move it to the next level," Engelken said.

Magsamen, newly elected chairwoman of the development group's executive committee, finds analogies helpful.

"It's the same ball we've been pushing around and tossing from year to year but we are going to change the color of the ball," Magsamen said.

Carol Jahnke, former economic development director for Waverly, is confident the newly restructured organization will continue efforts to improve the community. Jahnke resigned from the development group last year.

"The Waverly area will always be a great place to live work and play," Jahnke wrote in an e-mail to the Courier. "It was a pleasure to serve and I know that great things will continue to happen. There are many dedicated people working everyday to keep this area strong."

Waverly, said Magsamen, needs to establish its own unique place in the region. To Magsamen, that means supplementing and complimenting - not competing - with neighboring communities.

"We are still a distinct community," she added.

One thing in Waverly's corner, she said, is the town's reputation as a progressive community. Magsamen cited the outside attention directed toward the town during the renovation of the Big Six, a set of once-dilapidated buildings in town, and excitement over a movie theater coming to town.

But the formula that brought Waverly success five and ten years ago won't necessarily guarantee success on into the future, Magsamen reasons. Waverly, she said, needs to continue to change and enhance its message.

"Years ago, the needs of the community were much different," she said.

It was the farm crisis of the 1980s that pushed Waverly leaders to establish organizations that could help guide and grow the local business community, said Evelyn Rathe, a former Waverly mayor. Waverly was spared some of the hard times due to a diversified local economy, Rathe said, but eventually Main Street business leaders realized it was in their best interest to work together.

"There was a real need in that farm crisis for people to pull together," Rathe said. "City's were just really in trouble in terms of their businesses closing."

The Waverly Economic Development Corporation formed in 1985 and later, it helped facilitate the addition of the Main Street Iowa program, which eventually became self-supporting, according to the development group.

Mayor Ike Ackerman thinks the economic development corporation served the city well at the time and managed "a lot of aggressive recruiting."

But sometimes, cities decide its time to try something new. And that's where Waverly finds itself.

"You have to go with whatever works best at the time," Ackerman said. "There's nothing wrong with trying different styles and formats."

And Waverly, Ackerman suspects, is going to be just fine.

Contact Karen Heinselman at (319) 291-1581 or karen.heinselman@wcfcourier.com.

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