Clay County ISU Extension

Growth requires new building; Clay County ISU Extension broke ground on new land in October 2022

SPENCER -- The Clay County Iowa State University Extension office has a good problem: their building is not big enough to meet customer demand.

Currently located at 110 W. Fourth St., office space is stretched with area needed for popular programs and their staff.

"Our current facility can handle about 25 people at most," said Beth Frankenstein, regional director. "That's not near enough space for the growth we've seen in the services we provide and the number of Clay County residents who want to attend. In many cases, we've had to rent other facilities to make a program happen."

ISU Extension offices serve their counties with agricultural and natural resource programs, 4-H youth services, community and economic development classes, and human services, which include family and finance topics.

In addition to lack of usable space, rent has increased over the years.

"In 2021, we knew we weren't meeting the need of the community in the current building and that wasn't going to change, so we looked at other property to rent," said Jarrett Smith, a Clay County ISU Extension council member. "We found that the rent would still be more than a mortgage payment, so we started looking for land to build on."

Smith is also on the fundraising committee, which began its funding campaign in the fall of 2022.

New land was acquired at 1515 18th Ave. W. in Spencer, and the groundbreaking happened in October of last year.

"We interviewed staff on their needs and discussed plans with an architect," said Smith. "We looked into the future and discussed further growth. We even discussed trends in school consolidation and how such a plan for ISU Extensions could impact our county. We knew we wanted to create a facility that would meet our current needs and those of the time to come."

The new building will have a conference center designed to accommodate up to 100 participants, a gathering area for 15 people, nine enclosed workspaces for 10 local and state staff, and an aesthetically pleasing outdoor space which doubles as a safe outdoor classroom area for youth and adult programming.

"When it comes to family and finance classes, we've had many programs that require space to cook in a real-world setting," said Frankenstein. "We're happy to say that we'll also have a kitchen to help with this kind of programming. These facilities will also be available for the community to use; we do a lot of regional work, and we want to have people feel welcome here at the Spencer office."

Additional parking will also be a benefit with enough spaces to accommodate the new building's capacity.

Although the Clay County Extension Office receives research and educational resources as well as guidance from ISU, the local county office is funded and governed locally by taxpayer dollars and the Clay County Extension Council.

"We've got a few months behind us when we've started fundraising. We are asking for monetary donations as well as community support," said Frankenstein. "The overall land purchase, building costs, and professional fees total at $1.9 million. The extension is financing part of the cost of the building. Our Extension council members, staff, and volunteers are working to secure advance gifts and grants from companies. I'm proud to say that our board and staff were the first to give monetarily on this project. We have done what we are asking our community to do."

A limited number of naming gift options are available for the building, conference room, reception area, and offices. There are also numerous giving levels.

In constructing this new facility, the Extension's goal is to create a program and education center that is a valuable community resource for all of Clay County.

"We intend to be ahead of growth and position ourselves to expand if the need ever arises," said Extension Councilman Smith. "We are seeing great local support within the community."

The goal for occupancy is August of this year.

For more information on this project as well as how to give, contact Office Manager Michele Hogrefe or Beth Frankenstein at 712-262-3364.