Molly Lopez, who graduated from Fort Dodge Senior High School, is now the chief operating officer of both the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Iowa Finance Authority.

She does not, however, make the deals that create new jobs and new homes in the state. Instead, she works on things like work flows and efficiencies so that other staff members can make those deals.

“I am in a lot of meetings all day with a lot of great people,” Lopez said. “My role is helping our folks get the job done right and in a way that is satisfying to them.”

She compared the job of chief operating officer to “the engine on the train.”

Lopez, who has more than 25 years of organizational management experience, became the chief operating officer for both of those agencies last spring.

She credits her upbringing in Fort Dodge for her success. Her years in Fort Dodge “created a solid foundation for my life.”

She is the daughter of David and Sandy Beukelman. Her father worked at Fort Dodge Laboratories; her mother was a Girl Scout leader.

She was a toddler when the family came to Fort Dodge.

The family, which included her brother, Todd, lived near 11th Avenue North and 15th Street. She and her friends used to spend hours playing in nearby Snell-Crawford Park.

“We would play there for hours and hours outdoors,” she said.

When the streetlights came on, they knew it was time to go home.

“We really lived that kind of life,” Lopez said.

In high school, she was on the swim team, was a cheerleader and served as editor of the yearbook.

During the summers, she detasseled corn and worked as a lifeguard at Oleson Park Pool. And while those were typical pursuits for Iowa teenagers, Lopez also got interested in something quite different.

Her father used to fly hot air balloons and she often accompanied him. As a result, she earned a hot air balloon pilot’s license when she was 16.

After graduating from Fort Dodge Senior High School, she earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Iowa State University in Ames. Her first job after college was as a career counselor at Iowa State.

Then she worked for the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.

When she was 33, she purchased her own business, called Amplify Association Management. That business helps associations with things like work efficiencies and identifying high performing staff members.

In the course of her work with Amplify Association Management, she met Debi Durham, director of both the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Iowa Finance Authority.

“Our paths crossed in the economic development space,” Lopez said.

She recalled that at the conclusion of a meeting, Durham asked her “Molly, do you love what you do?”

“I tried to kind of scoot out of the room,” Lopez said.

She was not successful in scooting out of the room. The conversation that then unfolded ultimately resulted in Durham offering her the post of chief operating officer of both the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Iowa Finance Authority.

Lopez no longer has any family members in Fort Dodge, Her parents are buried in the Vincent Cemetery.

But she did come back to Fort Dodge in the spring to meet with the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance staff and board.

The town she grew up in still holds a special place in her heart.

“I don’t think people realize how special Fort Dodge is,” she said.

The city’s future, she said, is now even brighter than it was when she was growing up here.