Housing and workforce development will continue to be major focuses for governing bodies in the months to come.
During a joint meeting between the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas, Emporia Enterprises and City and County Commissioners Wednesday, RDA President Kent Heerman presented an overview of both agencies’ progress over the past several years. Heerman also noted the major issues that are currently creating a roadblock for future development in the community.
Heerman says the two major issues at this time are workforce and housing shortages. On the workforce shortage, Heerman says the COVID-19 pandemic has made the issue more severe over the past 15 months namely due to certain benefits that have been made available in that time.
Lyon County Commissioner Scott Briggs says the issues are directly linked meaning you cannot address one without addressing the other. He says the problem, however, is that no one seems certain which issue has to be addressed first.
Several potential solutions to both issues were addressed during the meeting. On the topic of housing, Emporia Enterprises Vice President Jamie Sauder stated that the focus should be placed on building up existing infrastructure rather than starting from scratch.
On the workforce issue, Emporia Mayor Rob Gilligan believes there need to be more conversations between local higher learning institutions and governing bodies to increase the amount of trade job education within the local community.
Discussions on both topics are expected to continue in the coming months.
