{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://finkenauer.house.gov/media/press-releases/finkenauer-announces-federal-grants-economic-development-districts-iowas-first", "Finkenauer Announces Federal Grants for Economic Development Districts in Iowa's First Congressional District", "2019-12-19", "2019", "2019-12", "Democrat", "House", "IA", "Abby Finkenauer", "F000467", "finkenauer.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, DC  Today, Congresswoman Abby Finkenauer (IA-01)announced the Region 6 Planning Commission and East Central Intergovernmental Association will each receive $17,500 federal grants from the Economic Development Administration. The goal of the grants is to encourage job creation by establishing an economic development planning framework, process, and strategy that supports capital investment by bringing public and private sectors together. I continue to push for more investment in our communities to ensure small businesses can begin, grow, and thrive, Congresswoman Finkenauer said, I am happy to see this federal investment in Northeast Iowa, and I will keep doing anything I can to ensure that hardworking families see a direct impact from these types of investments. Ensuring our communities have the tools they need to thrive is one of my top priorities. Kelly Dentmyer, Executive Director of the East Central Intergovernmental Association (ECIA) said, ECIA has been a designated EDA District since 1978. We utilize the EDA planning grant to assist our member governments with vital economic development and community development projects in our region. ECIA matches the EDA grant dollar for dollar with local funding and this enables our staff to work on projects related to business retention and expansion; workforce recruitment and retention; workforce housing development; as well as infrastructure related projects. This funding is critical to our economic development activities throughout the region. \nJulie Winter, Planning Director of Region 6 Resource Partners said, We are thrilled to receive the $17,500 award for the EDA Planning Partnership Grant. Funds from this award will be used to help support planning efforts in the region like affordable housing, sewer improvements, water improvements, tornado recovery, and trail development. These investments in our region are crucial to healthy, thriving communities. These funds allow us to help communities secure grants and other outside funding sources that maintain good quality of life, especially for rural areas. The Region 6 Planning Commission is comprised of Hardin, Marshall, Poweshiek, and Tama counties. The East Central Intergovernmental Association is comprised of Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Dubuque, and Jackson counties. Finkenauer represents Iowa's First Congressional District, which includes many of the counties in the Region 6 Planning Commission and the East Central Intergovernmental Association. In Congress, Finkenauer is a member of the House Committee on Small Business and is the Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Rural Development, Agriculture, Trade, and Entrepreneurship (RATE).In that role, she has invited Iowans to testify about small business and economic issues that are impacting them and their communities.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://finkenauer.house.gov/media/press-releases/finkenauer-announces-federal-grants-economic-development-districts-iowas-first"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9513020049780607, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}