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Web posted
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Grant may boost plan for Cowley
By COURIER STAFF
A grant of $25,000 to Vision 20/20 may give Cowley County's strategic planning process a shot in the arm.
The grant comes via CornerBank from the Federal Home Loan Bank Board.
"We're excited about receiving these funds," said Pam Moore, a Vision 20/20 activist. "Sid Regnier is getting a group together to talk about how best to use the money. We will be looking for public input."
Moore is executive director of Legacy, the regional community foundation with offices in Winfield. Regnier, of Arkansas City, has led the coordination of Vision 20/20.
The grant is part of a $75,000 package provided by the federal bank board under its JOBS program to Cowley First, the countywide economic development agency. The grants come through local banks.
A grant of $25,000 via the Union State Bank will be used for seed capital for startup companies, according to LeRoy Alsup, county administrator.
This money will be joined with $300,000 raised from the sale of state tax credits under the Kansas Network program, he said.
That program is one of the rural initiatives authorized by the Legislature several years ago, along with Kansas' $500 million bioscience initiative. Cowley was one of six counties chosen to participate in the Kansas Network last year.
An additional $25,000 from the Home Loan Bank Board will go for outreach from a small business development center planed for Cowley and Sumner Counties. Alsup said he expected an outreach professional would spend three days in Cowley County and two in Sumner County each week.
Janis Hellard, executive director of the Sumner County Economic Development Agency, said plans for a small business development center had not been finalized.
Alsup told a meeting of the Cowley First advisory board Thursday that the small business center would be patterned after the one at Wichita State University. The Cowley/Sumner center will provide information, advice, training and expertise to small firms.
Anyone wanting to submit suggestions to Vision 20/20 can call Cowley First at (620) 221-9951 or Regnier at (620) 442-1018.
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