The group that set up an office on the second floor, above the Star Emporium Downtown General Store, 17 S. Main,  has changed the name, but not services.

 

 

“The partners that made up the Bourbon County Workforce and Entrepreneur Resource Center (BWERC) have decided to name ourselves The Center for Economic Growth,” Jody Hoener, director of the center, said. “We have the same space, model, operations, and services that were provided before.” The one exception is the Bourbon County Commission is not a part of the partnership, she said.

 

“Our mission is to increase access to physical activity and healthy food, promote tobacco cessation, enhance the quality of life and encourage economic growth,” she said.  “We wanted our program and name to tie directly to our mission.”

 

 

 

“The Healthy Bourbon County Action Team Board and our partners re-branded our collaborative efforts,” Hoener said.  “Our work to build healthy communities and address the social determinants continues, with health and economic stability as the focus of the center.”

 

 

“Specifically, we are working with community members and our partners on economic stability,” she said.

 

 

“Priority is given to those businesses owned by low-income, minority, female, or veteran,” she said. “Pittsburg State University Small Business Development Center uses the U.S. Small Business Administration small business definition…typically 500 employees or less with less than $5m in profit in a two-year period.”

 

 

 

 

 

“Poverty and low income are drivers of poor health,” Hoener said. ” Bourbon County is a rural community… with higher rates of poverty.  Our community has seen low investment and low upward mobility in employment.  We are working to create economic opportunities to generate wealth and income for Bourbon County residents.”

 

 

 

The partner organizations are the Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce,  Fort Scott Community College, Kansas Works, Pittsburg State University’s Small Business Development Center, and  BAJA Investments.

 

 

Hoener’s work as the Bourbon County Economic Director ended in March

 

Featured benefits of the Center for Economic Growth include the following:

• • • “Supporting Businesses: According to Smart Growth Strategies, “Supporting and expanding existing businesses and attracting new businesses contribute to economic development in several key ways; helping businesses create jobs, encouraging entrepreneurship, enhancing fiscal sustainability by expanding and diversifying the tax base, and improving quality of life with new services and amenities.”
    • Customized training:  partners work to help overcome barriers and provide on-the-job training.
    • Making Connections: Availability is on-site and through cell phone, text messaging, Facebook Messenger, and email during extended hours to coordinate and connect.
    • Expanding SBDC Presence:  To provide consulting services to help businesses improve their productivity, efficiency, and build their market base.
    • Providing a space, in a central location, for interviews, business meetings, and general business needs.
    • Supporting workers: Smart Growth Strategies states, “The availability of a workforce with a wide range of skills and education levels can help local businesses grow and attract new businesses”
    • Removing barriers by increasing access to high-speed internet and needed devices.
    • Providing a space for distance learning and training events.
    • Cost-effective: A reasonable cost alternative to each of the partnering organizations operating on their own within the community.
    • Support of building a healthier community through economic stability.
    • Reduce conflicting efforts, or spreading resources too thin for meaningful improvement.
    • Frequent face-to-face collaboration and creative solutions.
    • Rigorous evaluation and accountability and continuous program improvement.

The program provides the technical assistance, expertise, training, and tools that are best practices among national, state, regional, and local partners who are trying to solve problems related to economic development goals, she said.

 

Pittsburg State University Small Business Development Center gives technical assistance used to provide information, data, resources, and toolkits which small businesses and start-ups can utilize when evaluating, shaping, and implementing specific plans and programs to promote economic development efforts in our economically distressed county and region, Hoener said.

 

Southeast KANSASWorks utilizes Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funds for strategies that meet employers’ workforce needs, including incumbent worker training, registered apprenticeship, transitional jobs, on-the-job training, and customized training. Employers are given incentives to meet their workforce needs and offer opportunities for workers to learn with increased reimbursement rates for on-the-job and customized training.

 

Bourbon County has disproportionate inadequate access to the internet through device availability and high-speed connection.  The center space provides access to high-speed internet and necessary devices free of charge.

 

“The center fosters ways to give incentives and attract new business ideas and jobs,” Hoener said. “It is more than a jobs or business program, it’s an investment in growing a local and regional economy, that has been historically economically distressed, and enhancing the quality of life.”