The north wing of the Bourbon County Courthouse has been reconfigured to house the county clerk, treasurer and commission offices.
The Bourbon County Commission’s Economic Development Director has launched a survey to gather information from business owners to develop a strategic plan.
The survey began March 1 and will end April 19, 2019.
“Our goal at the county is to make Bourbon County the place people want to live, work, and play,” said Jody Hoenor, the county’s economic director. “By increasing our population we can lessen the weight of taxes on the individual with more citizens sharing these costs. By being strategic in our planning and involving the community in the process, we believe we will be able to lower taxes.”
The survey is sponsored by the Bourbon County Commission, the Kansas Department of Commerce, with assistance from the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce, Live Local Bourbon County and the Healthy Bourbon County Action Team.
Survey results will inform the county on how to develop an economic development strategic plan and process.
” We will develop measurable goals with actionable items and report progress to the community through several communication channels,” she said.
“Like any other community, there will be many opportunities that will be identified in the survey,” Hoenor said. ” We do not have the capacity or resources to address every single issue. Through a transparent process of gathering community input through both a community perception and business retention and expansion survey, soliciting feedback from focus groups all over the county, and analyzing primary and secondary data we will be able to articulate how the priorities in the strategic plan were identified and determined by Bourbon County citizens years from now.”
The target people for the Business Retention and Expansion Survey, is Bourbon County business owners, CEO’s, and upper management, she said.
“That is everything from at home, e-commerce, farmers, ranchers, long term businesses, to our new healthcare providers,” Hoenor said.
She listed the objectives of the survey as:
“Obtain a source of primary data to develop a measurable county-wide economic development plan.
Aggregated regional survey results will be used to inform regional strategic planning with the Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission.
Voices of business owners will be used to participate in the process of improving the business climate, validate local needs, and advocate for regional, state, and federal resources.
Build and maintain strong relationships with businesses.
Develop a better understanding of the concerns, problems and opportunities of businesses in the area and leverage perceived strengths with perceived barriers within the community.
Confidentiality: Information will be protected closely so no one will be able to connect responses and any other information that identifies businesses. Responses will be combined with those of other firms to form an overall aggregate result in percentages, sums, or averages at the county and regional levels.
Final Report: A copy of the summary of findings will be available to all firms that participate in the survey.”
Jody Hoenor, Bourbon County Economic Director.
Interested survey respondents should contact Hoenor at [email protected] for a link to complete the survey.
Hoener’s office is located at 210 S National Ave., Fort Scott, KS 66701 and she can be reached at 620-223-3800 or 620-215-5725 Mobile or www.bourboncountyks.org
