From Iowa Farm Boy to Development Visionary
Mark Nolte and the Importance of Community Building
Mark Nolte has a passion for cultivating innovation in Eastern Iowa. Through his work at the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD), Mark is searching for Iowa’s next generation of leaders and working to provide them with the financial support and mentorship they need to bring new ideas to the Corridor. According to their website, “the Iowa City Area Development Group will create, collaborate and lead regional economic development initiatives that contribute to the creation and growth of companies, wealth and quality jobs through a spirit of innovation and a culture of sharing that transforms knowledge into economic opportunity.” We spoke with Mark to learn more about how his passion for community building began and about his vision for the future of Eastern Iowa.
Why Community Building?
Like many of our stories, Mark’s began on a small, Iowa farm:
I was a small town farm kid. As a small town kid, you are raised to have a lot of pride in your community. That never left me even though I moved to a bigger community. Iowa City is not huge…it still has that “community-vibe” to it. This is where I live and I’m proud of it, so I want to do things to make it stronger and better.
If no one in a community has a vested interest in uplifting and empowering their neighbors, the community will stagnate both economically and socially. Members of a community must support one another in order for meaningful growth to occur. This support can be demonstrated in a multitude of ways, from individuals volunteering at local events to businesses investing in local start-ups. As Mark so expertly expressed, “communities are only as strong as people are willing to get involved and give back.”
But how did he come to find this passion for community investment? Mark’s journey to ICAD was rather unexpected:
I was in micro-enterprise in the early 2000s and was doing a lot of traveling. At that time, I was helping states set up programs to help people with disabilities start businesses. And I was bumping into all of these regulations saying “You can’t do this, you can’t do that.” So I decided to get into politics and ran for office. I lost that election and subsequently had an epiphany: public service isn’t where I can make the most impact.
Losing that election helped Mark understand that his skills could be better put to use in the business sector by helping to nurture innovation and development in Eastern Iowa. Since then, Mark and ICAD have developed a vision for what they hope to see in Iowa City and the rest of the Corridor.
Mark’s Vision
Put simply, Mark’s goal for Eastern Iowa is to make the Corridor the place where innovation happens. He hopes that the Iowa City area, as one community, can become a place that draws envy from other parts of the country. As he told us:
I’m hoping for [Iowa City] to be known as the place that figured out how to create a people-centered economy. How do we build a community that is sustainable, inclusive…and that has an innovative educational model that is underpinning all of it so that people are learning? Not just facts and figures — the traditional stuff — but giving our young people a sense of how to live as strong, caring human beings. My dream is that someday other communities will come here and say “We need to be more like Iowa City.”
Thinking more abstractly and looking beyond Iowa City, Mark also has hopes that the American economy at large will become less focused on “the daily grind.” He believes individuals should feel encouraged to turn their passions into a career— and that the economy would benefit if they did.
What frustrates me is when people just do their work without thinking about their “why.” There are people who can plug along for 40 years just doing a thing without ever looking at it contextually and saying “Is this the right thing?” I think that’s endemic in so many ways. Economic development is just one of them. I go to conferences and they talk about “Oh, you have to change your website! It’s your marketing brochure [that’s the problem]!” No! Build a community that people care about.
To avoid “plugging along” without a purpose, Mark suggests reflecting on your values and figuring out what it is that truly matters to you as soon as you possibly can:
I saw a great tweet the other day that said “Think of your career as a jungle gym, not a ladder.” I thought that was really good. But for someone starting their career, I would say find your authentic voice as soon as you can. It’s easy to fall in line with what your company wants you to do. The most happy, successful people I know are the ones who just see the bull**** for what it is and call it out. If you’re not being true to yourself, then move on...I realize that’s easier said than done, but if you really care and want to [do meaningful work], then don’t get stuck somewhere if it conflicts with your values or doesn’t feed your soul. Move on. If you have built good relationships and cared for other people along the way, there will be other opportunities.
ActWorthy in Our Community
ActWorthy is social media for social change. In our souls, we believe that a more participatory community is a better community. We want this to be a place where people recognize that we have a shared interest in working together to make our community a better place and where our media platform reflects that shared interest. We are developing ActWorthy to allow everyone to see the actions we take and the impact we achieve by working together.
Toward the end of our conversation with Mark, we asked him what makes the work he does meaningful. His response is one to which many activists and entrepreneurs can relate:
If I can go to bed at the end of the day and know that someone got help, that someone’s life is a little better because of something our team did…that is what makes it all worthwhile. I think that’s what a community is supposed to do.
Mark said it perfectly: communities are supposed to make people’s lives better. At ActWorthy, we are building a community of grassroots organizers, entrepreneurs, student leaders, educators, and many others to do just that: improve the lives of as many people as we can through collective action. We asked Mark what he would like to see ActWorthy do so that we can help him reach his goals. His response?
ActWorthy’s success is the community’s success. I hope at the end of your journey when you’re looking back at your success someday, you can think “Wow, the community was really behind us.”
Please visit actworthy.org and join our community today. We would love to have you.
Are you an activist doing amazing work in Iowa? We want to show it off! Email us at ross@actworthy.org if you’d like to be profiled on ActWorthy’s social media. #WorthyWednesday
