Jonathon Goering offered up few surprises, but plenty to chew on this week for Iola and Allen County leaders.
Goering, economic development director for Thrive Allen County, gave a year in review for 2021 for Iola City Council members Monday evening, and again Tuesday morning for Allen County Commissioners.
Goering noted the biggest challenge facing Allen County’s businesses remains a dearth of workers.
With the county’s unemployment rate at a miniscule 2.4% (down from 12% at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic) companies across the board are struggling to find employees, Goering said.
As a tool to help the local industries, Thrive — which is paid for its economic development services by the city, county, Iola Industries and to a lesser extent, Humboldt, — has commissioned a workforce study.
The study was completed in December, and its results should be due early this year, Goering said. It should give businesses large and small a true sense of the overall health of Allen County’s workforce, indicate opportunities where the labor force is strong and how this part of the state compares to national trends.
THE NEXT crucial element — housing — also is under a microscope.
The Kansas Housing Resources Corporation recently published a statewide assessment covering all four corners of the state, including Allen County.
Another housing study by Atlas Community Studios, the same firm that handled the aforementioned labor force study, is underway to better identify Allen County’s needs.
In addition, Allen County is the recipient of a $50,000 model income housing grant, which will assist communities in purchasing vacant lots, to get those in the hands of builders in Iola, Humboldt and other nearby communities, Goering said.
As for Iola, Goering noted the construction of a new elementary school could open Iola’s three grade school facilities to be used for potential housing projects. Bids from people or companies wishing to acquire the buildings are due next Monday, with school board members deciding who gets them in February.
Goering also continues to pursue opportunities for further development along the Cedarbrook Addition in north Iola, which would require additional infrastructure from the city, he said.
As an aside, Atlas also is looking at such things as building revitalization. Some Iolans pursued a grant that would fund such improvements, but none were successful, Goering said. Nevertheless, he expected locals to take another swing if the grant is available again in 2022.
SPEAKING of grants, Goering noted 2021 was Thrive’s most prolific ever in helping secure grants from private, state and federal sources — 53 in all, totaling nearly $3.5 million.
Of that, more than $1.6 million were designated community grants, meaning the funding went directly to the nonprofits and government entities outlined in the grants. One prominent example for Iola was a $345,000 Community Development Block Grant to help fund the purchase of a new fire truck.
