Economic Impact and Sales Tax Collections – Highlights RCED Annual Report
Major projects on the east side, west side, and center of the county highlighted the 2023 Annual Meeting for Republic County Economic Development (RCED) held at Los Primos Mexican Restaurant on February 19, 2024. From a board goal-setting meeting earlier in the year, 2023 goals included Entrepreneurship/Small Business Development, Industrial Development, Housing Development, and Business Recruitment.
Notable 2023 highlights included hosting twenty-four high school students at the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge and restarting Launch & Grow after a break from COVID-19. Republic County businesses and organizations showcased exceptionally well at the To the Stars Kansas Department of Commerce Business Awards in Wichita where Grandpa’s Best Hay and North40 Architecture took home regional awards in their respective categories.
Industrial Development also had significant advances. The High Banks Wind Farm was completed in the Cuba area, the Central Valley Ag train loading facility groundbreaking made news in November in western Republic County, and Rolling Hills Electric Cooperative started work on their new facility in the NCK Industrial Park in Belleville.
Noteworthy enhancements were also made in housing. The Republic County Commissioners should be commended for investing $400,000 in the Republic County Housing Program which grants $25,000 per housing structure for builders that utilize local banks. RCED pursued and received another $200,000 for the program from the Dane G. Hansen Foundation. Thank you to Dane G. Hansen for this investment in our communities. The program was used for eight homes, one twelve-apartment building and one eightplex apartment building. Total spend for these structures based upon the minimum square footage requirement is $5,070,000.
North Central Regional Planning also implemented additional Hansen investment through the NCRPC Housing Initiative which provided money for demolition, and moderate-income housing rehabilitation. RCED assisted the City of Belleville in implementing two Rural Housing Incentive Districts to spur development in parts of the City.
RCED was also the recipient of a $60,000 Recruitment Incentive from Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center (Innovation Center). Fourteen participants were sponsored through the program, with family members it totals thirty-five people to the community and fourteen kids to the school systems. This translates to a $243,012 benefit to our schools. The Recruitment Incentive can be secured by businesses by filling out the application on republiccountykansas.com. The incentives have been spread between banking, law enforcement, education, agriculture, and HVAC.
Sales tax collections for the County were up 64.7% between 2022 and 2023. With all programs put together, the work that RCED produced in 2023 yielded a $547 Million impact back to the County. Thank you to the RCED board and community partners for their work this past year.
