Print edition: 
NEWTON — Two south-central Kansas economic development groups are cooperating on a regional project to create and preserve rural jobs.
Patty Clark, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's rural development director for Kansas, awarded more than $250,000 Tuesday afternoon to the South Central Kansas Economic Development District and the Harvey County Economic Development Council.
The awards were announced during an afternoon ceremony at the Harvey County Courthouse.
SCKEDD received $172,000 to create a revolving loan fund for public agencies and nonprofit organizations to loan money in support of business and community development in south-central Kansas.
"This is about access to capital for our entrepreneurs and small businesses," Clark said. "We intend that (the grant) be circulated and recur to provide access to capital and small businesses in the multi-county region."
Bill Bolin, SCKEDD's executive director, said the award will be used to make larger loans to entrepreneurs in a 14-county area, including the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area.
"We have two other interim lending programs we make loans from, but we found we just didn't have enough money to make these larger loans," Bolin said. "We really appreciate the award."
The second award Clark announced, for $82,500 to the Harvey County EDC, will be used to study the viability of establishing a rural innovation accelerator in south-central Kansas.
"This is about job creation, business creation and entrepreneurship support," Clark said.
Previous programs have provided small cash awards to communities and counties, Clark said, without the desired results.
"So we think this program very much and clearly goes to the state's initiative of growing your own businesses. They're more likely to stay in the region, the community and the state if they're grown here."
Jim Heinicke, the president of the Harvey County economic development board, said the money is essential to developing entrepreneurs.
"I think about in our economy, how people get on the Internet and how information is changing hands at the speed of light," Heinicke said.
"So anything we can do to get innovation from an idea to the marketplace is a great idea."
John Waltner, the Harvey County administrator, said the programs are the latest example of governments working together — the regionalization his county and the city of Newton have advocated.
"In so many ways, the success and strength of driving the economic engines in our part of the world have a great deal to do with our ability to cooperate with one another," he said.
