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PITTSBURG —
If it takes money to make money, then Project 17 should have no problem making progress on its goal to improve the economy in Southeast Kansas.
Project 17 is a group formed by four state senators to attack the issue of a lagging economy and poor health indicators in the 17 counties that make up Southeast Kansas. And on Wednesday, Project 17 and the Advance Manufacturing Institute at Kansas State University received a $715,000 grant to help create the Southeast Kansas Opportunity Innovation Network.
The funds come from the Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, designed to support rural partnerships that are important to small businesses. Project 17 was one of 13 national awardees to receive a grant.
The grant will technically come from two sources: $215,000 from USDA Rural Development and $500,000 from the Economic Development Administration within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce.
“USDA Rural Development is pleased to provide financial support in concert with EDA to this locally led, regional planning effort. The state and local support help capture the federal funds to finance this multi-county, multi-community collaboration,” said USDA Rural Development State Director Patty Clark in a press release. “Regional planning will help create more opportunities for the skilled workforce, a higher quality of life for residents, and a brighter future for the individuals and families that choose to call Southeast Kansas home.”
State Sen. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott, is one of the four co-founders of Project 17. He thanked K-State’s AMI for their help in pursuing the grant, which he said will help create a map of sorts of the region’s assets.
“I was pushing for a survey of every asset we have here,” Marshall said. “A survey so a company in Miami County that needs a widget, and there’s a company in Wilson County, and they don’t know each other. By doing a survey, we can send information to all businesses in the area. It’ll say, ‘Here are all the businesses in the area.’ If there is any interactive business with those organizations, we would encourage you to support the Project 17 region. That’s the purpose of the survey.”
Marshall said that the grant will be important for whatever Project 17 looks like in the future. That’s because the four state senators that organized Project 17 are not all likely to be around when the grants kick in.
Marshall is in a primary battle with Jake LaTurner for his position, while current state senators Jeff King and Dwayne Umbarger will face off in a primary battle for the Republican nomination after redistricting put the two in the same district (15) and will put a new face in district 14. Pat Apple, who had represented the 12th district, was moved into another district after the redistricting process had taken place, meaning a new face will take over that position, too.
“It’s almost like we’re starting from scratch,” Marshall said. “We could potentially be bringing in three new people [to Project 17]. But this grant gives us the project some authenticity.”
Other projects in the Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge include two projects each from North Carolina and West Virginia, as well as one project from Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana-Arkansas, New Hampshire, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia. Projects ranged from $193,500 to just more than $1 million.
Andrew Nash can be reached at andrew.nash@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 ext. 140.
If it takes money to make money, then Project 17 should have no problem making progress on its goal to improve the economy in Southeast Kansas.
Project 17 is a group formed by four state senators to attack the issue of a lagging economy and poor health indicators in the 17 counties that make up Southeast Kansas. And on Wednesday, Project 17 and the Advance Manufacturing Institute at Kansas State University received a $715,000 grant to help create the Southeast Kansas Opportunity Innovation Network.
The funds come from the Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, designed to support rural partnerships that are important to small businesses. Project 17 was one of 13 national awardees to receive a grant.
The grant will technically come from two sources: $215,000 from USDA Rural Development and $500,000 from the Economic Development Administration within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce.
“USDA Rural Development is pleased to provide financial support in concert with EDA to this locally led, regional planning effort. The state and local support help capture the federal funds to finance this multi-county, multi-community collaboration,” said USDA Rural Development State Director Patty Clark in a press release. “Regional planning will help create more opportunities for the skilled workforce, a higher quality of life for residents, and a brighter future for the individuals and families that choose to call Southeast Kansas home.”
State Sen. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott, is one of the four co-founders of Project 17. He thanked K-State’s AMI for their help in pursuing the grant, which he said will help create a map of sorts of the region’s assets.
“I was pushing for a survey of every asset we have here,” Marshall said. “A survey so a company in Miami County that needs a widget, and there’s a company in Wilson County, and they don’t know each other. By doing a survey, we can send information to all businesses in the area. It’ll say, ‘Here are all the businesses in the area.’ If there is any interactive business with those organizations, we would encourage you to support the Project 17 region. That’s the purpose of the survey.”
Marshall said that the grant will be important for whatever Project 17 looks like in the future. That’s because the four state senators that organized Project 17 are not all likely to be around when the grants kick in.
Marshall is in a primary battle with Jake LaTurner for his position, while current state senators Jeff King and Dwayne Umbarger will face off in a primary battle for the Republican nomination after redistricting put the two in the same district (15) and will put a new face in district 14. Pat Apple, who had represented the 12th district, was moved into another district after the redistricting process had taken place, meaning a new face will take over that position, too.
“It’s almost like we’re starting from scratch,” Marshall said. “We could potentially be bringing in three new people [to Project 17]. But this grant gives us the project some authenticity.”
Other projects in the Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge include two projects each from North Carolina and West Virginia, as well as one project from Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana-Arkansas, New Hampshire, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia. Projects ranged from $193,500 to just more than $1 million.
Andrew Nash can be reached at andrew.nash@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 ext. 140.
