Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Rural County Grant topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board outlines priorities for $200,000 rural grant application, emphasizes workforce training
Summary
Board members said they will apply for a roughly $200,000 rural county grant and plan to reserve $50,000 for workforce and education programs, with an emphasis on trade apprenticeships, CDL training and flexible template wording to apply funds to multiple projects.
The Kane County Economic Development Board discussed applying for a rural-county grant opportunity of approximately $200,000 and emphasized workforce training and flexible use of funds in the application.
The chair told members the grant portal is open and the board must submit its application before the September deadline; he said the application has strict character limits and the board uses a concise template to ensure the proposal remains flexible. “They put character limits… So a space is a character, and you can have 2,000 of them,” the chair said, noting staff maintain a template to keep the application effective and adaptable.
Board members discussed prioritizing $50,000 of the funding for education and workforce development—trainings, apprenticeships and skills development through partnerships with institutions such as Southwest Tech and Utah Tech. The chair said the budget includes $50,000 “for the education component of it for trainings and workforce and things like that.” Members suggested expanding trade and apprenticeship programs (welding, trucking, electric, plumbing and HVAC) beyond high school students into community and adult training.
Members also raised employer-sponsored training (for example, local firms sponsoring CDL courses) and outreach strategies such as hosting booths at job fairs to boost enrollment. The board asked staff to continue outreach to Southwest Tech and other partners to develop fall training offerings and to ensure the grant narrative remains broad enough to cover a range of eligible projects.
Next steps: staff will finalize and submit the rural grant application before the deadline and incorporate feedback from members on apprenticeship and training priorities.
