In politics and governance it used to be an admirable trait to be able to negotiate and compromise. That doesn’t seem to be so admirable now.
Realpolitik is back in a big way.
If you aren’t a member of the majority or ruling party then your ideas on policy get nowhere.
That’s why we were so pleased when Chris Cournoyer, a LeClaire Republican, was selected by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds as her new lieutenant governor. Having the No. 2 elected official in the state come from the Quad Cities will only help the region have a critical seat at the policy table.
Too often that hasn’t been the case, and having a region split between two states makes it even more difficult to influence policy.
Before being appointed by Gov. Reynolds in December of 2024, Ms. Cournoyer represented Clinton, Jackson, and Scott counties in the Iowa State Senate.
First elected in 2018, she chaired the inaugural Technology Committee. From that position she wrote and managed the legislation that made Iowa the sixth state in the nation to protect consumer data in law.
She also was chair of the Education Budget Committee, vice chair of the State Government Committee and sat on the Education, Natural Resources and Environment, Transportation, and Ways and Means committees.
Ms. Cournoyer has extensive experience in the technology sector and artificial intelligence. The daughter of an engineer and a teacher, she worked as a senior consultant in the Technology Division at Andersen Consulting, the Fortune 500 firm that later became Accenture.
After having her first child, she left the corporate world to become an entrepreneur, starting a successful business as an independent website designer and developer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in computer science from the University of Texas.
We congratulate Ms. Cournoyer on this important appointment and wish her much success, and hope that the Quad Cities will be kept top of mind when legislation and monies are discussed.
An impressive intern
The QCBJ had a compelling article in the Jan. 20 issue about Daniel Mitchell’s internship with the Quad Cities Chamber.
As the article by Kenda Burrows noted, Mr. Mitchell was not your typical intern.
He’s a graduate of West Point, spent 25 years in the U.S. Army, including being a special forces officer, and served as garrison commander of the Rock Island Arsenal.
Mr. Mitchell’s internship illustrates the impressive caliber of folks in the military and the huge opportunity the region has in attracting and retaining this talent from the Rock Island Arsenal.
We applaud Mr. Mitchell for his willingness to educate the region about the opportunities to connect veterans with regional employers, especially through its SkillBridge Program, and look forward to him providing leadership in the region for years to come.
