Partnership Program

Mission Statement

The group was first organized in May of 1987 to bring together a group of Sac County citizens into an independent, bipartisan, and broad-based economic and tourism development organization to coordinate and promote these efforts.

SETD (Sac Economic & Tourism Development Ltd.) is charged with promoting Sac County through conventional and innovative marketing; fostering economic development in the county through growth of business and industry, solicitation of new and expanding businesses; and attracting visitors to the county by assisting and encouraging the continuation, expansion, and development of festivals, attractions, and resources.

Benefits to Sac County

• SETD coordinates with prospective development, expansions of existing businesses, and community promotion/tourism for Sac County. Confidential information is maintained for all prospective and existing businesses as requested.
• Marketing and promotion of Sac County at workshops and conferences at the city, county, state, and national levels. This includes promoting all of Sac County’s attractions and events.
• Communication with legislators and Iowa Economic Development Authority on behalf of businesses/communities regarding major issues affecting our area.
• Financial resource consultation for business projects, provide grant writing support. The Executive Director chairs the multi-county revolving loan fund committee (through Region XII) and serves on the Raccoon Valley Electric revolving loan fund committee.
• By partnering with regional marketing groups and local development boards, initiatives include lead generation, which puts us in front of investors with tangible projects and one-on-one meetings to pitch our county, region and its businesses, communities, available sites, buildings, workforce and other assets.
• Assistance with workforce recruitment.
• Funding the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to assist strategic planning for entrepreneurs and businesses.
• SETD provides organizational maintenance of the Sac County League of Cities, which joins the governments and area leaders of Sac County, Iowa in discussion, evaluation, and joint action in connection with matters of mutual interest and concern.

Accomplishments

Past accomplishments include:

• Located a developer for the old school building in Sac City.
• Worked with our development team towards the development of the land on Highway 20.
• Worked on child care needs.
• Coordination with existing businesses on retention and expansion, and with new entrepreneurs on startups.
• Zoning at Interchange Service Area to include industrial.
• Completion of a new partnership program.
• Partnered to hold a Keys to Small Biz summit to help educate bankers about revolving loan funds and other programs to assist start-ups and other businesses.
• Partnered with Cost of Living Index to provide cost of living info for Sac County.
• Included Sac County in regional housing developer attraction material.
• Provided Economic Development 101.
• Researched various sites in Sac County for future development needs.
• Assisted various businesses to create informational articles about them for our WIAD marketing.
• Continued working with Historic U.S. 20 Route in Sac County, and added a Sac County ad.

2024 Goals

• Utilize regional housing developer attraction to assist with housing in Sac County.
• Continue working with the developer on the middle school building and vacant lot.
• Find new ways to address vacant housing.
• Work with developer and committee to create new use for the auditorium at the school.
• Promote or provide grant writing training.
• Find ways to address vacant/underutilized commercial buildings.
• Professional recruitment/marketing
• Work on continuing to develop land on Highway 20.

Partnership Program Investment Levels

Platinum: $2,000

Gold: $1,000

Silver: $500

Bronze: $250

Municipalities: $2.50/per capita

Board of Directors

SETD is guided by an 11-member board that includes a county supervisor, a representative from each of the nine communities in Sac County, and the executive director. Uniting people with backgrounds in business, agriculture, city government, and various life experiences creates a diverse board that enables SETD to develop a powerful vision for the county’s future.