Cindy Ranninger took over the position as Main Street Manning Director in mid-February, and says she is pleased to have found a challenging career that fits with her current lifestyle. The position requires approximately 25 hours a week for Ranniger, who had worked for the Carroll Chamber of Commerce for about seven years before taking some time off to travel. After a while, she said, she began thinking about going back to work and when this opportunity arose, she said it really appealed to her.
Since taking over, Ranniger has attended a few state Main Street meetings and has learned more about grants and the Open 4 Business contest as well as processes. She said she is doing a lot of reading on what has been done in the past and spending time attending board and committee meetings as part of her learning process, which she is really enjoying right now
Ranniger is looking forward to learning more about working with the city, county and economic boards as well as the politics involved with the position. She says that most of all, she is really proud to be a resident of Manning and now a member of an organization that is working so hard to see the community thrive and that pride solidified her decision to accept the director position.
Projects in the near future that she will be working on include the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) dollars to continue the façade projects. Working with Drake University on the Manning Public Relations plans that were drafted by students who visited the community last fall and winter and moving forward with the childcare development Challenge grant for the daycare center. In 2017, they will start the second round of market analysis with a goal to find out what more needs to be done in the community. Ranniger and her husband of 42-years, Russ, live on a farm west of Manning. They have three grown daughters and four grandchildren.
