Corridor staff has been working on website updates. If you have questions about where to find information, please contact Alyssa Petersen by email or phone,
712-264-3474.
This Week in the Corridor
Add the Virtual Sendoff to your calendar for the Zoom link:
A lesson from a tiny entrepreneur
This is the story of a small boy in Central America. I heard it through others but I believe it to be true.

The boy lives with his grandparents. He is 10 years old. He should be in school but a sickness has shut the school down, so each day he goes with his grandfather into the jungle to work. I do not know what they do but I am sure the job is hard, hot and dirty.

Most of the money the boy earns goes to his family, but his grandfather allows him to keep a small amount. He is saving it. He has a plan, one that makes his family very proud.

The little boy wants to buy a burrito, a baby burro. Burritos are cheaper than full-grown burros. He will raise up the burrito until it is strong and then sell it for a profit. With this money, he will buy two more burritos and start again. On and on until his family has the money they need.

The boy may be small but he is a creator, an entrepreneur. All the markers are there—vision, purpose, hustle. I would like to meet him, to shake his hand, but that is not possible. His life is far too far removed from my own.

There is something I can do, though. In a time of anger, a time of resentment and hostility when it seems there are only binaries, I can remember that this, my nation, is just one of many and I am only one person among billions. Across the world are those in need. Their need is sometimes so great that I have none in comparison, but great, as well, are their hopes and their talent.

Thinking this way does only this: It makes me—us—better for the life we live here. It leads to humility and thankfulness. It makes us more welcoming of difference. And it causes us to be more forgiving because we never fully know the stories of others. That driver swerving between lanes might be rushing to his first day at a new job. The customer in the checkout line arguing over a few cents could lie awake at night afraid of losing his home.

And the young waitress who is slow with our order may ache in her breast for a 10-year-old son with dark eyes and a dreamer’s heart laboring in the jungles of Guatemala.
Featured Real Estate
18th St. & Central Ave.

Location: 18th & Central Ave.
Estherville, IA 51334

Sale Price: $75,000

Acres: 0.4

For more information visit the Corridor website!

1710 Central Ave.

Location: 1710 Central Ave.
Estherville, IA 51334

Sale Price: $65,000

Acres: 0.4

For more information visit the Corridor website!

News
Seasons Center offering Youth Mental Health First Aid training

The Seasons Center for Behavioral Health is offering a Youth Mental Health First Aid Training for the public to be held virtually on Tuesday, January 26th from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The course will cover a variety of mental health crises or situations and how to deescalate these situations.

Learn about the training.
Spencer Library receives $3,000 grant

The Spencer Public Library was selected as one of 200 libraries across the nation to participate in "Libraries Transforming Communities: Focus on Small and Rural Libraries." This program is an American Library Association initiative to assist library workers to serve their communities. This $3,000 grant will be used to focus on the areas of food insecurity and obesity in the community.

Read more about the grant.
Local musician awarded Iowa Arts Council grant

The Iowa Arts and Culture Recovery Program awarded grants to over 400 cultural organizations and artists throughout Iowa totaling more than $37 million. Gary Lambert, Pearson Lakes Art Center, Historic Arnolds Park, and the Iowa Rock 'n Roll Music Association are some local recipients of these grants to assist with revenue losses due to COVID-19 in 2020.

Learn about the grants.
Investor Spotlight
Each week we want to feature and thank the businesses and individuals that have committed to economic development and growth in our communities. To learn more about these investors and others, visit our Business Directory!
Bank Midwest
Sector: Financial & Insurance Services
Investor Level: Platinum
Location: Spirit Lake
Description: Bank Midwest is a regional financial services provider with an asset size of $665 million, operating within 10 community locations in Northwest Iowa and Southwest Minnesota. Their purpose is to be the One Place for customers' financial needs, providing banking, trust, investment, and insurance services.
Bank Plus
Sector: Financial & Insurance Services
Investor Level: Silver
Location: Estherville
Description: Bank Plus, a locally-owned institution with assets exceeding $120 million, serves more residential, agricultural and commercial customers than ever before with quality financial and real estate products delivered by knowledgeable personnel from offices in four Northwest Iowa communities.
See a listing that needs updated? Please contact Alyssa Petersen to discuss changes to your business listing.
Jobs in the Iowa Lakes Corridor
Post your jobs where quality candidates are already looking: lakescorridor.com

See current job openings here.
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Questions? Want to be featured in next week's newsletter?
Contact the Iowa Lakes Corridor at info@lakescorridor.com,
or call us at 712.264.3474.