Anyone who wants an example of all the good things a rural county with a relatively small population can do should look no farther than Pocahontas County.

It’s a community that’s making strides in housing, worker training and quality of life issues.

Enhancing all of that is the active presence of the Pocahontas Community Foundation, which recently awarded about $101,000 in grants for various purchases and projects.

For those who want to check out what Pocahontas County has to offer, there is an award-winning web site, DiscoverPoco.com, which has all the highlights. That web site was named the state’s best rural tourism web site by the Iowa Tourism Office.

All of this good news was celebrated during the joint annual meeting of the Pocahontas County Economic Development Commission and the Pocahontas Community Foundation, which was held in January in Palmer.

The meeting featured a summary of new housing projects and the introduction of a potential nuisance enforcement program intended to keep existing homes in good shape.

The success of the career academy Iowa Central Community College operates in Laurens was recounted.

Chad Cleveland, the general manager of Laurens Municipal Power and Communications, was honored as the Volunteer of the Year for leading the county’s housing committee among other efforts.

Jacob Rittgers, of Rittgers Spine and Wellness, was named Boss of the Year while The Tavern 119 in Fonda was named Business of the Year.

The biggest grant award of $20,000 was given by the Community Foundation to Laurens for a pond improvement project. Other grants were awarded for everything from steel sculptures to specialized stretchers used by emergency medical service crews.

The annual meeting was a real celebration of the county’s accomplishments.

We salute all those who made this progress possible and we anxiously await more exciting developments in Pocahontas County.