(Guthrie Co) Midwest Partnership provided an update and funding request to the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors this morning.
Karen Varley said Midwest Partnership Economic Development is a non-profit that serves Guthrie and Adair Counties. Their focus is on business retention and business expansion or attraction to generate economic stability and growth in their region.
Varley said right now what they are hearing from employers is their biggest challenge is finding employees.
Varley said the second project they did with an IEDA and Workforce Development funded grant was to help employees attain a CDL, which is a chronic need for many businesses and organizations in the area.
The third project is their communication and leadership development program. Varley said one part of that program is to give people the opportunity to work through the Toastmasters curriculum to improve their comfort not only with public speaking, but with conflict resolution and interpersonal communication and running a meeting effectively.
Varley said they also continued work on some long term initiatives around childcare access and working with communities that are developing housing for their workforce.
Varley said their budget is approximately $150,000 per year.
The Supervisors approved their annual contribution of $35,127 to Midwest Partnership.