Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation, the local nonprofit corporation that holds the state gaming license in Greene County, distributed $2,250,000 to organizations at its 11th Annual Awards Night, conducted in person at Wild Rose Jefferson Apri 7. Grow Greene County board members say it is the highlight of their year to hand out awards to the neighboring counties’ community foundations, Greene County municipalities, Greene County Community Foundation, schools within the county, economic development, legacy awards and this year’s competitive grants.
Under agreement with Wild Rose Entertainment Inc., Grow Greene receives 5 percent of the local casino’s adjusted gross gaming revenues to distribute to nonprofit, governmental, and charitable organizations. Of that total, 4.1 percent went to projects in Greene County and 0.9 percent was shared equally by the community foundations in the six counties contiguous to Greene County. They include Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Dallas, Guthrie, and Webster.
The awards given out April 7 represented gaming revenues at Wild Rose Jefferson during calendar year 2025.
Contiguous County Allocation – $51,500 each to Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Dallas, Guthrie and Webster counties.
School District Allocation (on a per student basis) – Greene County Community Schools, $260,000; and Paton-Churdan Community Schools, $30,000
Greene County Municipalities (based on population) – Churdan $21,935; Dana $2,284; Grand Junction $43,570; Jefferson $50,000; Paton $13,281; Rippey $13,221; and Scranton $30,709.
Legacy Grants (multi-year commitments) – Greene County Community Foundation $175,000; Greene County Fair Association for fairground renovations, $125,000 for second of four years; Greene County conservation board for Raccoon River Valley Trail rehabilitation, $125,000 for first of four years; and Paton-Churdan Early Learning Center for new building, $200,000 for first of two years.
Greene County Development Corporation for special projects $215,000; and for housing projects, including 25 Corridor Housing Initiative and 144 Corridor Housing Initiative, $100,000.
Jefferson Matters Main Street, for business incentives, $40,000.
2026 Competitive Grants – 50107 Summerfest Band Shell $35,000; City of Grand Junction, plow truck $40,000; Scranton Alumni Association/Community Center elevator $42,000; Remembering the Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey, $45,000; The Highlander Corporation, complete renovation of Apartment #6, $50,000; Jefferson Parks & Recreation, playground equipment for Chautauqua Park, $60,000; Greene County sheriff’s office in-car and body camera update, $74,00; and Grand Junction Fire & Rescue ambulance replacement, $150,000.
Total Funding Awarded 2026, $2,250,000.
Total funding awarded since 2015, more than $19 million.
Grow Greene County board members look forward to Awards Night all year long. This year the GGC board of directors welcomed three new board members in the fall of 2025 – LeeAnna Ausberger, Lori DeMoss and Bill Fields. In 2026 the GGC board will be replacing the last original board members – Bob Allen, Norm Fandel, and Kate Neese. Neese shares that she leaves with a full heart and great confidence in what will come next from the GGC board.
