Making Greene County “the most attractive place in western Iowa for Millennials* to come to” is the goal of Greene County Development Corporation, that group’s executive director Ken Paxton told the county supervisors Monday morning.
Paxton and GCDC president Sid Jones were at the supervisors’ meeting to make their annual request for funds.
Paxton said a group of young (Millennial) leaders has formed. “They want to see this community expand and grow and meet their needs and attract other families like them,” Paxton said. Studies show that Millennials chose where to live based on amenities available rather than jobs available, and that attractions like a water park or sports complex are what they’re looking for.
He listed many assets already available, like the casino, the Raccoon River Valley Trail, the Mahanay tower, Deal’s Orchard. “We’ve got a great collection of assets already here. We just have to finish that off and make this a very special place,” he said.
He added that the young leaders are very interested in getting a school bond issue approved.
CDC president Sid Jones briefed the supervisors on GCDC’s budget as he made the annual request for funding from the county. The request for FY 2018 funding is $50,000 from the county and from the city of Jefferson, the same amount as the current year.
According to Jones, the budgets are similar with two differences. First, GCDC negotiated a different agreement with Midwest Partnership, a regional economic development group that serves Greene, Audubon, Adair and Guthrie counties. Previously, GCDC has paid the same share as the other three counties, although Greene is the only county to have its own economic development director.
The new agreement allows GCDC to pay only for services it receives from Midwest Partnership, reducing cost of membership from $52,400 per year to $27,500. Jones said that change allowed the GCDC board to formulate a budget that is “a little above break-even.”
The second change is a draw down account funded by Grow Greene County. Grow Greene County will provide up to $100,000 a year for the GCDC board to use as it sees fit for economic development projects. The funds are not to go toward operational costs. Jones said this year most of the $100,000 was spent on drainage work and site preparation at the west business park (west of Highway 4 and south of Syngenta).
Jones also commented on community development as it involves Millennials. “To so many of us, water parks and sports complexes are ‘ice cream’ kinds of things. They’re perks that are out there. One thing we’re learning… is that those are really expectations of that generation. If you don’t have them, you’re not on their radar. They aren’t going to come,” Jones said.
“It’s hard for me to think of it that way. An investment vs. expense… I deal with it every day. But it is reality. Some of those projects I believe really are investments. We may not see the return on them immediately, but somehow we’ve got to get that community development piece together. The school system has to be a part of it. It’s an incredibly important piece. There’s a lot of work to be done, and some of it in the near future,” he said.
Jones said there are difficult decisions to make in the future, but also great opportunities.
