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TOPEKA – Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland announced today $500,000 will be available under the Emergency Response Historic Economic Asset Lifeline (Emergency HEAL) program to bring rural downtown buildings back from likely demolition or collapse and rehabilitate them into productive commercial use.Emergency HEAL was created to provide...
Building new and expanding existing facilities are complex undertakings. Companies face myriad decisions in first selecting a site and then in the long-term challenges of managing ongoing operations. A labor market analysis is a critical step in the site selection process, as the company needs to understand the local demographics...
The U.S. manufacturing sector has been quietly undergoing a resurgence as the widespread disruptions caused by the pandemic brought into sharper focus the criticality of having secure, resilient, well-functioning supply chains. Accelerated by legislative incentives such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, this paradigm shift...
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Farah Ahmad today announced that USDA is strengthening its partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a network of 25 organizations to help people in rural and underserved communities access affordable, modern and safe wastewater infrastructure.The actions being...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched an online application for Direct Loan customers. More than 26,000 customers who submit a Direct Loan application each year can now use an online, interactive, guided application that is paperless and provides helpful features including an electronic signature option, the ability to...
Governor Kelly Announces $5M to Expand Access to High-Speed Internet in Rural Kansas Communities
Nov 27 2023Governor Laura Kelly today announced that $5 million has been awarded to eight internet service providers (ISPs) in the latest round of Broadband Acceleration Grants for 2023. The awards will be paired with an additional $6.6 million in matching funds, resulting in an investment of nearly $12 million for high-speed...
KANSASWORKS, a division of the Kansas Department of Commerce, is taking significant strides to empower justice-involved individuals across the state through the Re-entry Specialized Employment Counseling & Training (ReSpECT)WORKS program. This program provides intensive case management and career navigation for eligible individuals released from the prison system in Kansas.The ReSpECTWORKS...
The entrepreneurial journey often begins with an idea, passion, and, quite frankly, a limited budget. While the digital age has ushered in numerous opportunities for aspiring business minds, capital remains a primary concern for many. But worry not because the current market landscape is brimming with low-cost startup ideas that...
WASHINGTON, November 1, 2023 - Today, President Biden will travel to Northfield, Minnesota to visit Dutch Creek Farms to lead his Administration’s Investing in Rural America Event Series and highlight investments from the Biden Administration in Rural America. During the visit, President Biden will announce over $5 billion in new...
It has been a continuous refrain since the pandemic upended many understandings about how the American economy is supposed to work: Across widely varying fields of work, there just aren’t enough people to fill all the available jobs.The reality, though, is that while the pandemic may have exacerbated the problem...
Closing the Workforce Gap: How Economic Developers Can Address Shortages in the Job Market
Oct 23 2023The modern job market is evolving rapidly, driven by technological advancements, shifting demographics, and changing economic landscapes. As a result, many regions across the globe are facing significant shortages in the workforce, posing challenges to economic growth and development. However, with the right strategies and initiatives, economic developers can play...