Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has appointed Marion County Development Director Carla Eysink to serve as co-chair of The Governor’s Empower Rural Iowa (ERI) Initiative. 

The initiative was formed by Governor Reynolds through the signing of Executive Order No. 3 on July 18, 2018. ERI functions as a startup incubator for innovative rural policy. Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg will co-chair the initiative with Eysink, who will serve as a representative from the Iowa Rural Development Council.

Eysink has served as director of Marion County Development (MCD) for 28 years and also held various leadership roles for other organizations. Under her leadership, the MCD has been a recipient of the National Go-Getter Award for their rural existing employer call program and received 13 Iowa Tourism Awards for excellence. She is a graduate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organizational Management, certified as a FastTrac trainer, True Colors facilitator, and graduate of Leadership Iowa. 

Eysink received her undergraduate education in marketing/public relations from Wartburg College and graduate education in nonprofit arts management at American University in Washington, D.C.