Since 1995, Rick Hunsaker has served as Executive Director of Region XII Council of Governments. He has spent his professional career in regional government, beginning his post-college career as a regional planner. As director of the COG, he also serves as Executive Director of three affiliate non-profit corporations: Region XII Development Corporation, Council of Governments Housing, Inc., and Region XII Housing Corporation. He is also the contracted Executive Director for the Mid-Iowa Development Fund, business loan fund serving an additional seven counties.

The COG serves six counties in west central Iowa and has six associate member cities in central Iowa. Region XII COG is a designated Economic Development District but the USEDA and an Iowa DOT-recognized Regional Planning Affiliation for transportation planning. The COG operates the regional public transit system and Iowa Waste Exchange services in 54 of Iowa’s 99 counties. COG Housing, Inc. is the designated local housing trust fund through the Iowa Finance Authority. Through its development corporation, the COG manages $22M in business loan funds.

Rick is an active member of the Iowa Association of Councils of Governments (ICOG), serving as both chair and vice chair in past years. He currently serves as National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) First Vice President and has been a member of the NADO Board of Directors since 2012, serving on numerous committees. He was a previous member of the RPO America Council of Peers.

Aside from COG-related boards, he is the Chairman of the Iowa Governmental Health Care Plan and a member of the Iowa Housing Partnership Board of Directors, and the Drake University College of Arts & Sciences National Advisory Council. Rick is a certified Housing Development Finance Professional through the National Development Council (now Grow America).

Rick is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, holding a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Political Science, International Relations, and Geography) and a Master of Public Administration (Public Finance).