The Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) and county officials from across Iowa have been working throughout the summer to spread the message of the Counties Connect America initiative with candidates as they visit local coffee shops, hold town hall meetings and visit the Iowa State Fair.

Counties Connect America (CCA) is intended to educate candidates for the nation’s top office about the importance of a strong federal-state-local intergov­ernmental partnership in driving America forward.

NACo and ISAC have devel­oped CCA pages on their web­sites. NACo’s Counties Connect America Web portal contains resources such as a brochure with Why Counties Matter Fast Facts and a social media tip page with sample tweets.

ISAC’s site includes handouts, sample letters, a survey tool and talking points. ISAC supplements its Web resources with a bi-weekly email update to members with a schedule of candidate events and an initiative progress report. Additionally, ISAC staff and members have formed a leadership committee to attend specific events and make pointed contacts with candidates and campaign staff.

For more information or to learn how to get involved, please visit the Counties Connect America page at www.naco.org/countiesconnect or contact Arthur Scott, associate legislative direc­tor, 202.942.4230, or ascott@ naco.org.

Next on ISAC’s calendar is a Presidential Candidate Forum during the association’s 2015 Fall School of Instruction in No­vember. ISAC has invited all the presidential candidates to speak to its membership about how they plan to work with counties when leading the nation.

The Iowa Caucus is Feb. 1, 2016.

“This initiative, however, is not limited to any particular state or region and will rely on county officials from across the country to deliver this important message,” said Brian Namey, NACo public affairs director. “Our goal of strengthening the intergovernmental partnership crosses all state lines and extends further than any one campaign season.”