Iowa State’s Public Policy and Administration Program will be working to help two nearby counties share their community services.

Boone and Poweshiek counties recently received a grant from the Iowa Innovations fund for $63,850 for the Olive Tree Project: Helping Citizens Define Their Communities, a program used to work toward shared services within the two communities.

Shared services include library services, law enforcement and road maintenance.

Through the Olive Tree project, one community’s service will be used by another community and vice versa.

“The need for intercommunity collaboration has never been greater in Iowa,” said Rick Morse, assistant professor of political science.

“Local resources continue to decline while the demand for public services grows. Communities across Iowa simply cannot afford to go it alone anymore.”

Morse is leading the Olive Tree project with Kurt Thurmaier, professor of political science and the public policy and administration director.

The Olive Tree team will be working with local officials to figure out what services are needed in each community, but also to help maintain the identity of the individual communities.

“This call for ‘smart government’ emphasizes utilizing public resources more effectively through collaborative provision of public services,” Morse said.

“Communities may be reluctant to fully explore opportunities for collaboration due to a fear of losing community identity. Thus, it is crucial to find ways to help communities identify core services, institutions and values that are essential to preserving community identity.”

Thurmaier said he agrees with the importance of establishing community identity.

“This process will provide a basis upon which communities can explore options for collaboration in the delivery of public services as well as regional approaches to community and economic development,” Thurmaier said. “Local governments will be empowered to seek ways to increase effectiveness and efficiency while preserving community identity.”

Also on the Olive Tree team are Laura Barclay and Kimberly Maddox, graduate students in political science.

The group will be holding a number of community forums to assist Boone and Poweshiek counties to pinpoint the services that are essential to the individual communities’ identities.

Involvement in the shared services project reaches beyond ISU Extension and the public policy and administration program.

Other groups involved include the Iowa State Association of Counties, Iowa League of Cities and the ISU Community Vitality Center.

Morse said the project is important and innovative in a number of different ways.

“All communities in these counties will be engaged in the process simultaneously. Also, the community processes will be linked together by a stakeholder committee at the county level in order to facilitate intercommunity learning,” Morse said. “Finally, the knowledge development will be from the bottom-up, driven by citizens working with their public officials.”

The Olive Tree project will begin this fall and continue through next spring.