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Denison Mayor Dustin Logan to Participate in Iowa State Design Workshop
(Denison, Iowa) Denison Mayor Dustin Logan will join municipal leaders from five other Iowa communities at Iowa State University later this month to explore solutions to local development and planning challenges.
Logan has been selected to participate in the 2026 Iowa Mayors’ Design Workshop, scheduled for June 23–25 on the Iowa State campus in Ames. The program connects mayors with university faculty members, extension specialists, engineers and design professionals who can offer guidance on challenges facing their communities.
Each participating mayor will present a specific issue from their community and receive feedback from other local leaders and a multidisciplinary team of experts. Iowa State has not yet announced which Denison community challenge Logan will present during the workshop.
This year’s theme, “At the Intersection of Natural and Human Environments,” will focus on how Iowa communities can balance development and the built environment with natural systems while promoting long-term growth, resilience and quality of life.
The workshop is organized by the Iowa State University College of Design in partnership with the College of Engineering and ISU Extension and Outreach. Abbie Gaffey, an ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development field specialist, will work with Denison and Le Mars as part of the program.
Organizers say the workshop is intended to provide smaller and mid-sized communities with access to planning, design, engineering and economic development expertise that may otherwise be difficult to obtain.
The program can also lead to longer-term partnerships. Some community challenges presented at previous workshops have been incorporated into Iowa State design courses and engineering capstone projects, where students and faculty develop more detailed proposals for participating cities.
Since the Iowa Mayors’ Design Workshop began in 2024, 14 Iowa State faculty members and 186 students have worked with participating communities through design studios and other applied projects.
In addition to Denison, the communities represented at the 2026 workshop will be Le Mars, Creston, Shenandoah, Cherokee and Sioux Center.
