265: Wear the Name Badge: What Ed Raber Knows About Showing Up

This month on The Found Podcast, we're doing something a little different. We're bringing the boys in for a few episodes (don't worry, we'll be back to our women founders soon), and first up is somebody I've admired for a long time: my friend Ed Raber.

Ed is the Director of Planning and Development for Dubuque County here in Eastern Iowa, but honestly, that title barely scratches the surface.

Ed is a connector. A mover. The guy with an $8 Staples name badge who has spent thirty years showing up to Rotary, to library meetings, to coffee shops, to whatever room needed one more person willing to raise their hand.

We talk about what it actually means to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem in a place like Dubuque County (spoiler: it starts with "no wrong door"), why farm ground and residential zoning matter more than you'd think, and the advice from a pastor that has shaped Ed's entire career: if you want to make a difference, you've got to stick with it.

What You'll Hear

• Ed's path from urban planner to nonprofit economic developer to Dubuque County's Planning and Development Director

• Why he still wears a name badge everywhere he goes (and why you should too)

• What makes Dubuque County's rural population unlike almost anywhere else in Iowa

• The "no wrong door" philosophy behind a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem

• How 1 Million Cups came to Dubuque and why it works

• The Farley library project that started with one meeting Ed called himself

• Ed's answer to The Found Podcast's closing question, and the pastor's advice that changed how he shows up in the world

Resources & Links Mentioned

• 1 Million Cups Dubuque

• Rotary International

• HACAP (Hawkeye Area Community Action Program)

• Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation

• Iowa Rural Development Council

• Dubuque County Library system (Farley, Epworth, Peosta, Holy Cross)

• Community Vitality Center, Iowa State University

• Small Business Development Center, Dubuque

• The Innovation Lab, Jones Street, Dubuque

Connect with Ed

Find Ed on LinkedIn

Listen and Subscribe

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