Board of Directors

IEDC is governed by a 13-member Board of Directors comprised of public, private, and nonprofit sector leaders in the community. Itasca Economic Development Corporation is extremely proud of the dedication and effort that our board of directors brings to the table year after year. Their time and diligent work never goes unappreciated!

Tamara Lowney
President & CEO

Staff

Tamara hails from rural Hill City, Minnesota. With a goal of gaining knowledge and experience, she spent the first 20 years of her career working throughout the US and internationally for ARAMARK. She led hospitality organizations in Alaska, Ohio and California, before hiring on t...

Teri Heikkila
Office Administrator

Staff

Teri began working at IEDC in January of 2000. Initially hired part-time to support the team, it quickly became full time as she took on more responsibilities. Over the past twenty years, Teri has remained an anchor and historian of the organization. She is responsibl...

Rob Sjostrand
Business Consultant

Staff

Rob Sjostrand is a native to Itasca County, born and raised in Grand Rapids, MN. He graduated from Grand Rapids High School. He then graduated from Devry Institute of Technology in 1995 with his Bachelor of Science degree with an emphasis on accounting. Rob ha...

Kayla Swanson
Marketing Specialist

Staff

Kayla accepted the position as the Marketing Specialist at IEDC in December of 2019. Kayla is an Itasca County native, growing up in Taconite, Minnesota and graduated from Greenway High School in 2013. She started her journey by pursuing her Associates of Arts degree fro...

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Austin Miller
Business & Community Broadband Consultant

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Austin Miller is from Saint Paul, MN, and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus in Project Management and Spanish from University of Wisconsin-Stout in the Spring of 2020. He initially came on as a temporary worker in June 2020, but soo...

Kirstie McPherson
Project Coordinator

Staff

Kirstie McPherson is a Behavioral Economist whose research has focused on economic development throughout her career. Working with dozens of communities across the US, Kirstie has identified key practices to enhance economic development and answer the most common problems our communities are faced with today...

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Brianna Sutherland
Office Intern

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Brianna grew up in Grand Rapids, Minnesota and graduated from GRHS in 2018. After high school she attended Itasca Community College, where she graduated with her Associates of Arts degree in 2020. She is now pursuing a Business Administration degree from North Dakota State Universit...