“Sometimes living in a rural community can be an uphill battle, one that we are committed to “winning”.  A business that I was recently recruiting asked me, “Is your community growing or declining?” Almost all rural areas in Kansas have been “declining” in population since 1900, so I don’t think declining is the correct term anymore, I say now we are “FIGHTING”. 

 

Look around, there are communities who are doing what they can to fight to keep their population, their industry, and get new industry to locate there…and then there are those communities that have given up and are gone.  There are many groups in Republic County who have decided to FIGHT, but we cannot do it alone.  We need every single person to do their part in keeping our communities lively.”

 

The above is something that I wrote back in 2004 in my original Economic Development appointment, but when I recently came across this writing, I realized that it still applies today.  By keeping up with Republic County through the Telescope for the last six years, I know that just like every rural area, Republic County has had ups and downs.  But through it all, you have not laid down to “die”, all of you have continued to forge ahead.  The more people we have working toward the goal of economic development success, the better.  We here at JenRus Freelance, Rural Life Marketing division, are excited to be a part of this continued effort and we look forward to assisting all of you through Republic County Economic Development. Here is how you can help:

1. Support and help your local officials – Elected officials have a tough job, so be kind to them.  They need your input in making decisions on your behalf.  If you are unsatisfied with your local representation, are YOU willing to step up and run for office?  If you are unwilling to take action in this or another way, than objections don’t get you as far.
2. Get Involved- Find something that you are passionate about and join a group that supports that.  Use your talents to benefit something in Republic County.
3. Think Positively -  Find the good in the situation and rejoice in the positive things going on in Republic County.
4. Plan for retirement- Republic County has many great, loyal businesses who have operated in the County for years.  If you are an owner of one of these businesses, thank you for your hard work and dedication.  We appreciate you.  If you are looking at retirement in the next ten years, five years, or next couple of years - please let us help find you a successor.  The earlier that you can start planning for retirement, the better chance that you have to find someone to take over your business.  Businesses take a lot of hard work and dedication, don’t let your years of hard work just disappear, let someone else carry on your legacy.
5. Support each other – Have you ever heard the phrase, “who needs enemies when you have friends”?  One of the strengths of small rural communities is that people know and support one another.  Be supportive of your neighbors, friends, and acquaintances.  Be inviting to new people in the community, encourage and help younger people be successful here.

 

Think locally first when you need a product or service.  It has a big economic impact and contributes to the Republic County tax base.    “Locally” can mean in your town or somewhere in your county. “A dollar spent in a retail store could be used by the store owner to pay rent to a landlord, who then might use that dollar to buy gas. The gas station owner may use the dollar to buy something at the local hardware store, and the hardware store owner may use the dollar to buy something at the pharmacy, and so forth. It’s when the dollar is taken outside the county that the multiplier effect dissolves. This doesn’t mean that we need to buy everything locally. After all, as shopping is a social event at times, “shopping trips” can be vitally important to a community’s retail health in bringing in shoppers from outside the community,” source Morgan County Citizen.

 

Republic County Economic Development is here to serve you.  Please contact Jenny Russell or Luke Mahin at rcedc@nckcn.com or 785-527-2310 if we can be of any assistance.  Also, join our new Facebook initiative by searching Republic County Economic Development, which in only two weeks time is already 162 people strong.

There are all kinds of good ways to spend your money.  For instance, “For every $100 spent at a local business, $68 is returned to the community,” The 3/50 Project.   You could spend your money on your favorite charity, you could spend it on a good meal, or you could even spend your cash on a spa weekend.  We do know one place that you won’t need to spend your money though and that is on Republic County Economic Development services.

 

The question that we have been getting fairly often is, “How much does it cost to work with Republic County Economic Development?”  The answer to this question is that it doesn’t cost anything for a business or individual to work with the Economic Development office.  Economic Development is a service paid for by the County and the City of Bellevile as a proactive way to boost the economy in Republic County – a service meant to promote county businesses and quality of life.

 

As the Economic Development website at republiccountyks.com states, “RCEDC offers numerous services and resources including business recruitment and retention work, financial resources, site location selection assistance, marketing assistance, state resources and incentives, employment assistance as well as employee training resources.”  So in layman’s terms, here are some of the services that Economic Development can provide at no cost to you:

1. Incentives - Helping Republic County businesses find any possible incentives for a new business venture or business expansion
2. Business Planning- Assisting new businesses in finding resources to develop business plans, marketing strategies, and other necessary components to start and grow a business
3. Site Location – Maintaining a listing of available business properties in the county so that sites can be promoted for business expansion and new business.  Both businesses already located in the County and businesses from outside of the county looking to locate here are eligible for this assistance.
4. Business Assistance -  Retaining our valuable County businesses by providing support and needed information.
5. Marketing – Displaying Republic County in the most favorable light through the Internet, newspaper, radio and other media.  Promoting available jobs to qualified job seekers through these marketing channels.
6. Retirement Transitions – Helping current Republic County business owners retire, by finding a good match to buy the business.
7. Quality of Life Issues – Helping to address housing issues, recreation issues, employment issues, and other quality of life matters

 

These are just some of the many duties that Republic County Economic Development can assist with, all at no additional cost to you.

 

Republic County Economic Development is here to serve you.  Please contact Jenny Russell or Luke Mahin at rcedc@nckcn.com or 785-527-2310 if we can be of any assistance.  Also, join our new Facebook initiative by searching Republic County Economic Development, now at 298 people strong.

Jenny Russell
January 1, 2011

Hollywood likes to portray people who live in rural areas as a stereotype.  They like to think that we are all uneducated, we are all farmers, we all still travel by covered wagon, etc.  In college, I actually had some East coast prospective students ask if we had indoor plumbing, paved roads, and Internet service.  Um, why yes we do, some of these things for 50 years now. 

 

It definitely seems to be acceptable for some people from “cities” to have no understanding about all of us who live out here in “the country”.   However, this doesn’t seem to be acceptable both ways, meaning it is not as socially acceptable for those of us who live in rural areas to have no understanding of cities.  Those of us from the country are expected to know how to use the subway if we go to New York City, know all kinds of etiquette if we go eat at a fancy restaurant, know how to tip properly for all city services, and be able to drive in bumper to bumper traffic in Los Angeles.  If we don’t know these things, we can get stereotyped as “the Beverley Hillbillies”.  But, I would wager that not many city-dwellers know where their food comes from, understand the “reverse commute” that rural citizens make for entertainment, or know how to integrate into the social web of a rural community.

 

There are many things in the past couple of years that I think have the potential or maybe already have changed the landscape of rural living.  One is the increase in wages for agriculture-related careers and the other is the availability of technology.  Both of these things give a new place for our rural-raised, college-educated youth to be employed in rural areas. 

 

Ag-related careers

An article in September 2010 edition of The Progressive Farmer states the agriculture industry is down right hot right now.  Ag industry jobs have risen by 30% in just one year.  Many of these jobs are positions like agronomy, grain merchandising, and food safety.  Positions that aren’t necessarily farming, but serve farmers in the ever-changing agricultural landscape, require a college degree, and can pay $40,000 to $50,000 a year. 

 

This just goes to magnify what many of us already know, we are resilient people and we will adapt.  Forty years ago, we were in the 1970’s, which were banner years for farming.  Then the 1980’s farm crisis happened because of rising land prices due to the 1970’s successful economy, increased lending from financial institutions, and farmer’s going deeply into debt on the assumption that land prices and commodity prices would continue to increase…which these prices did not.  Now here we are again, with increased opportunities in farming.  Republic County can be right on the forefront of these successes.

 

Technology Jobs

Technology is making it even easier to work from anywhere in the nation.  It used to be essential for certain jobs to be based in a larger city, simply because of logistics.  Now documents can be E-mailed, you can use the program Skype to attend meetings with someone on the other side of the country, and many jobs are service jobs that can be done over the computer.  In one recent example, a company actually targeted North Central and Northwest Kansas for work-from-home customer service positions.  All of these positions are positions that can be done from our area because of technology.

 

So, the bottom line is, let’s change the rural stereotype. Rural can now mean educated, smart, peaceful, a more enjoyable pace of life, gratifying, friendly, safe, great values, friends, family, and home.  Be proud of where you live and change others idea of rural by showing them what rural really is.  Roll with the punches, continue to be resilient, be hard working, and be adaptable.

 

Republic County Economic Development is here to serve you.  Please contact Jenny Russell or Luke Mahin at rcedc@nckcn.com or 785-527-2310 if we can be of any assistance.  Also, join our Facebook initiative by searching Republic County Economic Development, now at 379 people strong.

October 14, 2010

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Republic County Economic Development Corporation (RCEDC) announces that the position of Economic Development Coordinator has been fulfilled.  Jenny Russell and Luke Mahin of the firm JenRus Freelance, Rural Life Marketing Division, have been hired for the position.  The company plans to aid Republic County Economic Development with business promotion, business support, quality of life issues, public relations, and tourism.  Extra emphasis will be placed on using new technologies and social media promotions like Facebook to give Republic County the advantage in today’s Economic Development environment.

 

Jenny (Ahlvers) Russell was Republic Economic Development Coordinator in 2003 and 2004, until leaving to work in private business and to get married.  Russell worked with the Republic County Economic Development Board on many projects including obtaining a $100,000 grant to extend the sewer line on the west side of U.S. Highway 81, assisting officials in communicating with Lambert Vet Supply to occupy the former Precision Dynamics building, and many other projects throughout the County. 

 

After working with Republic County Economic Development, Russell worked for Brush Art Corporation for four-and-a-half years doing advertising and marketing work for clients around the United States.  In 2008, Russell started JenRus Freelance as a way to be more flexible in taking care of her son.  JenRus Freelance provides Internet Marketing services including rural life marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization, and website services.  This includes things like Facebook promotion, Internet advertising, and getting a website to rank higher in search engines like Google.

 

Luke Mahin is from Courtland, is a 2005 graduate of Pike Valley High School, and is a 2010 graduate of Fort Hays State University in Communications/Advertising. Mahin has worked for JenRus Freelance since June 2010 and will be a large part of promoting Republic County Economic Development initiatives. 

 

“I have always enjoyed the people and way-of-life in Republic County. It is something worth fighting for and keeping.  I also believe in the efforts and dedication of the volunteers, city officials, programs, and County Commissioners that work together in RCEDC. That is why, when the opportunity arose to come back to Republic County Economic Development, it was something that I had to pursue”, Russell stated. She went on to say that, “Luke Mahin was the perfect addition to our JenRus Freelance staff because he is a success story of what Economic Development strives to achieve.  He was raised in Republic County, got his college degree, and now is able to use his skills in a rural area.”

 

Jenny Russell grew up in Glen Elder, Kansas, graduated from Waconda East High School, and Bethany College with a degree in Business/Communications/Marketing.  Her husband, Jay, is originally from Courtland, is a graduate of Pike Valley High School, and has his degree from Fort Hays State University.  Jay has worked in banking since 1998 with teller, branch manager, and Vice President positions through Central National Bank and the State Bank of Downs.  He has been hired by and will be working with another Pike Valley alumnus, Troy Newman, at Ag Marketing Partners LLC, which is an introducing broker for MF Global Inc.  Ag Marketing Partners has operated a Courtland office since 2007 and provides agricultural marketing services to farmers around the nation.

 

JenRus Freelance, Rural Life Marketing division, has been hired on a contract basis.  Contract work is a departure from the full-time and part-time working arrangement that Republic County Economic Development has traditionally used.  However, a contract arrangement provides some distinct advantages, including offering a comparable full-time or part-time commitment without the expense of providing benefits.  “We will basically be performing the exact same duties that I performed for Economic Development in 2003 and 2004, these duties will just be performed by two people in a company with slightly less financial strain on Republic County and the City of Belleville,” Russell added.

 

Jenny Russell, her husband Jay, and son Owen are currently in the process of moving back to Republic County.  JenRus Freelance will also be relocated.  Thus with this hire, Republic County Economic Development was able to meet some key goals by:

• Attracting four new residents, who are under the age of forty, back to the county
• Helping to create three new jobs in county
• Bringing one new business to the county
• Attracting two county alumni back to the area
• Adding one child into the County school systems

 

Republic County Economic Development looks forward to great successes through the continued hard work of volunteers, dedicated organizations, and new work through JenRus Freelance.