John Lisle

John Lisle, president of Lisle Corp. in Clarinda, has been named chairman of the board of directors of the Iowa Department of Economic Development. Lisle told the Omaha World-Herald that his term as Chairman may be cut short, under Governor Branstad’s state government restructuring plan. Lisle told the paper Friday “A new board will get picked when the change goes into effect. We’ve been told it probably won’t happen until the fall or later.”

The 15-member state board meets monthly to review D-E-D projects which are eligible for grants, loans or tax incentives under the state’s economic development incentives rules. Lisle said eight to 10 new projects are considered each month. Lisle was first appointed to the board when it was created 10 years ago,  by former Goveror Tom Vilsack.

Lisle was honored earlier this week at the Governor’s Volunteer Awards ceremony in Storm Lake for his decade of work on the Department of Economic Development board.