Community development
Community Development Academy!!!
The Community Development Academy is a series of workshops that will provide community leaders the assessment and strategic planning information necessary to devise participatory community development plans and strategies. Participants will gain the information, resources and new ideas for planning to create quality sustainable communities. There are scholarships available for registration from multiple groups, which include: Hansen Foundation Scholarship (through Huck Boyd Institute), wKREDA , Rural Telephone, Golden Belt Telephone and Blackhills Energy. It is strongly encouraged to have at least four (4) individuals to make up a community team. A county, town, or region can form a team. This academy will be starting on September 22 for the Community Team Leaders. The official schedule, scholarship information links, and dates can all be found on the K-State Community Development Academy website.
The first academy workshop will be held in the middle of Western Kansas, at FHSU in Hays, Kansas. This is close to home for Phillips County community residents, so don’t miss out on this opportunity. A group has already been forming for Phillipsburg and one representing Phillips County, but any other town in the county would sure benefit from taking this information acquired back to their own town and making exciting development projects happen.
If you have any questions, please contact PCED staff at 543-5809. The deadline for the Academy is coming up soon, so if you are even slightly interested, please consider leading a team from your community.
Jeff Hofaker -
Northwest Kansas Development Roundtable
The Northwest Kansas Development Roundtable meeting will be held at the Huck Boyd Community Center on March 16 at 10 am through 3 pm. This meeting will be hosted by Phillips County Economic Development (PCED) with Midwest Energy, INC sponsoring the lunch and providing information on their How$mart program. The meeting agenda, discussion points, education and speakers will be facilitated by Kansas Commerce’ s business development regional office, the office of rural opportunties, Network Kansas, and the Kansas Small Business Development Center. This meeting is open to business and community leaders across the eastern nine counties of Kansas Commerce’s Northwest Section, which includes: Norton, Phillips, Smith, Graham, Rooks, Osborne, Trego, Ellis and Russell counties. The following day, a similar meeting will be held in Goodland to host the western counties of the Northwest region of Kansas Commerce. We are very fortunate to be one of the counties chosen to host this event for Kansas Commerce this year and encourage business leaders and city/county representatives to become a part of this roundtable of ideas, program education and organizational networking.
Posted by Jeff Hofaker – PCED Director
Majestic Community Theatre Receives $125,000.00 Grant from Kansas Department of Commerce
Six rural Kansas communities will share $500,000 in Small Communities Improvement Program funding from the Kansas Department of Commerce, officials announced today.
The cities of Phillipsburg, Rossville, St. Mary’s, Tribune, Udall and White City were each awarded funds through the program, which is designed to assist communities with populations of 5,000 or less. The seven communities will provide $681,690 volunteer time, labor and materials toward their projects.
“We are excited to provide funding to these deserving communities and organizations,” said Secretary of Commerce Bill Thornton. “The Small Communities Improvement Program was created especially for our smallest communities, those communities that sometimes struggle to secure other funding sources. SCIP funding is a great tool for us to encourage rural community development in Kansas.”
SCIP allows communities to apply for funds for projects and determine which parts of the project they can complete on their own. The community acts as the general contractor, organizing local labor and equipment and coordinating work done by a subcontractor. The SCIP provides direction, technical assistance, guidance and support to make it happen. Self-help and volunteerism must produce savings of at least 40 percent of the project’s marketplace price. This year’s six winners were chosen from a pool of 14 applicants.
For more information, visit www.KansasCommerce.com/SCIP or contact Joe Monaco, Public Information Officer with the Kansas Department of Commerce, at (785) 296-3760 or jmonaco@kansascommerce.com.
The communities receiving grant awards are as follows:
City of Phillipsburg ($125,000)
Funding will go toward the completion of Phase II improvements to the Majestic Theatre. This award will allow for the restoration of the historical building housing the theatre. The community will provide at least $142,700 in labor and materials.
City of Tribune ($59,265)
The funding will go to the City of Tribune for the restoration of their community carnival. This award will provide for renovation the individual rides, the purchase of a tilt-a-whirl and the completion of a building for storage. The community will provide at least $39,777 in labor and materials.
City of Udall ($124,615)
The funding will go to the City of Udall for the revitalization of its City Park. This award will assist in construction of an amphitheatre, a playground area and a restroom. The community will provide at least $298,801 in labor and materials.
City of Rossville ($75,000)
The funding will go the City of Rossville for improvements to its community playground. This award will provide for new playground equipment, improved accessibility and safer surfaces. The community will provide at least $71,825 in labor and materials.
White City ($61,285)
The funding will go to White City for its Centennial Park Improvement Project. This award will allow for the removal of old playground equipment, construction of a new park building, a walking trail and the refurbishment of existing structures. The community will provide at least $49,121 in labor and materials.
City of St. Mary’s ($54,835)
The funding will go to the City of St. Mary’s for its Riverside Park Renovation. This award will assist the community in purchasing new playground equipment to replace the unsafe existing equipment. The community will provide at least $79,465 in labor and materials.
FREE COMMUNITY MURAL PROJECT:
Mid-America Arts Alliance, in partnership with the Kansas Arts Commission, seeks communities and artist-apprentices to apply for a community mural-making project led by Kansas artist David Loewenstein. One Kansas community and one-to-two artist-apprentices will be selected to participate in the July — September 2010 project. For more information and to apply, visit www.maaa.org/muralproject. This information was acquired through the Office of Rural Opportunities Director, James Foster.
Murals are a fantastic way to improve the atmosphere of your community, while at the same time encouraging youth and residential involvement. Walk through your town and see what walls are available for the posibility for painting a mural.
"Come Home" Campaign
Attention Phillips County residents:
The Department of Commerce is producing a video that will express the impressive quality of life in Kansas. The video will be used as a recruitment tool for the “Come Home” campaign and will feature Kansans telling their story about how they live, work and play.
They are looking for people who will be engaging candidates to interview for the video. They would like any person interested to review the profile of the types of subjects they want in the interview.
They really need your help to get a diversified representation of testimonials from across the state. If you have questions or want to be a potential candidates, please contact Lori Church at 785-296-6878 or lchurch@kansascommerce.com no later than Wednesday, April 22, 2009.
Once finalized, the individual interviews will be available for use by companies and communities across the state in their own promotional materials in addition to being utilized in a promotional state video and on ThinkKansas.com. Having Phillips County represented is very important, so if you have a positive story to share, consider this opportunity.
Kansas Sampler Foundation introduces song to promote Kansas Small Town's
The Kansas Department of Commerce Travel and Tourism division and the Kansas Sampler Foundation are partnering to bring the Explore Rural Kansas project to our small rural communities.
The Explore Rural Kansas Partnership is expected to rely heavily on rural tourism and heritage alliances throughout the state. The program is specifically aimed at attracting a particular kind of tourist who sets out to understand rural culture.
A catchy song with a driving beat will help launch this initiative promoting small Kansas towns. Click here to listen to “Come and Get It (Feed Your Heart)”.
Lyrics to this song are:
In the car – radio – windows down – hit the road!
Clean air – open space – small towns – I just gotta go
It’s calling me – what to see – enchantment around every turn
County fairs and the best chicken fried steak in the world!
Chorus:
Come and get it – Feed your heart
All for you! Come on – Come and Get It, Feed your heart …
Café – spend a day – the mem’ries and peace you can find
Simple ways and hardware stores, the old fashioned kind
No traffic mess – leave the stress – and see with new eyes
Explore Kansas anew – Hey! It’s waiting for you!
Come on, come and get it – Feed Your Heart
All for you! Come on – Come and Get It, Feed your heart …
Picture the faces welcoming you
Smiles and miles and miles of things to see and do, just for you –
(Repeat chorus)
About the musicians:
Song by Wichitan Jim Farrell
Vocals: Farrell and 17-year-old Wichitan Megan Boldea
Musicians: Farrell, Richard Crowson and Stu Stuart
Recorded at Jim Farrell Studios in Towanda
Copyright Kansas Sampler Foundation and Farrell and Music/BMI