Glenwood Police Chief Eric Johansen Named Recipient Of Inaugural Ron Kohn Servant Leadership Award

Glenwood Police Chief Eric Johansen was recognized Thursday night as the inaugural recipient of the Southwest Iowa Planning Council’s Ron Kohn Servant Leadership Award.

Johansen was one of eight southwest Iowa residents nominated for the award, created to honor the legacy of the late Ron Kohn, who was a Glenwood educator, mayor and Mills County supervisor.

“Ron showed tremendous selfless leadership throughout his life, and the award shines a light on those that go above and beyond to serve the region, often without fanfare,” SWIPCO officials stated in a press release.

Johansen has served the Glenwood community as a police officer and chief for three decades and has created many community-centric events and programs to bring residents together. He started the annual Cultivate Community event, held every summer on Town Square, and has been instrumental and supportive in the development of several department programs, including Project Lifesaver, the junior cadet program and driver safety courses for youth. He serves on the Mills County Chamber Foundation Board.

Johansen was nominated for the award by former Mills County Chamber Of Commerce Executive Director Jennie Davis.

“When I heard about this new award in his honor, one person came to mind immediately - Chief Eric Johansen,” said Davis. “I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Eric. As the former Mills County Chamber Director, RAGBRAI 2024 was my very first go at it, and to say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement. Our little town of 5,000 had to prepare to host 25,000 people in a single day and Eric was the steady hand who guided the entire team. He was my go-to, most days multiple times a day, and he always made the time to answer questions, give direction and calm nerves.

“And that’s just one example. Eric is the reason the Cultivate Community event has become a tradition. His department recently created a driver safety program to make our roads safer, and just today it was announced they are instituting a youth cadet program. And finally, recently, when we asked him to join the new Mills County Chamber Foundation Board to help communities across our county access grants, he didn’t hesitate to say yes.  And that’s just what I know about; I’m sure he’s completed much more in his almost 30 years of serving the City of Glenwood.”

Like Kohn, Davis said Johansen’s leadership is rooted in service to his community.

“He doesn’t look for the spotlight, he just asks, “How can I help?” and then rolls up his sleeves,” she said.  “That’s why I felt compelled to nominate him, because he lives out the kind of leadership Ron believed in and taught to all of us.

“Ron showed us what servant leadership looks like, and tonight, Chief Johansen reminds us that legacy is alive and well in Glenwood.”

Johansen said he’s surprised but also “very honored and flattered” to be the inaugural recipient of the award.

“I was really surprised when I was told I was nominated and then when I actually won the award, I was even more surprised,” he said. “There were a lot of outstanding candidates that in my opinion deserved the award just as much. They are all very decent people from all over southwest Iowa.”
Johansen noted that Kohn was a person he respected and admired.

“We (Ron and I) had a good working relationship,” Johansen said. “Ron brought a lot of integrity with him as mayor and that bled through to the rest of the council and the city. I just thought Ron was the perfect definition of integrity – he was always trying to do what was right.”

In addition to Johansen, other nominees for the award were Ryan Campbell, mayor of Hastings; Carol Vinton, former Mills County Supervisor; Kattie Lewis, Southwest Iowa Technical Career Hub director; Grace Garrett, mayor of Atlantic; Steve Herrington, SWITA driver; Kevin Cabbage, FMTC CEO; and Angela Winther, Logan city clerk

Thursday night’s award presentation took place during SWIPCO’s 50th anniversary celebration and annual meeting in Atlantic.