Board readies $200,000 rural grant application, sets aside $50,000 for workforce training

The Kane County Economic Development Board discussed plans to apply for a $200,000 rural county grant with an application portal currently open and a September 1 deadline for submission. The Chair said the county’s timely reporting enabled eligibility and emphasized the portal’s character limits for application narratives.

“We got all our reports in, which enabled us to apply for the next round of rural county grant funding for 2025, 2026. So it's 200,000 and the grant portal... it's open right now for us to apply,” the Chair explained. The Chair said the board wants an application flexible enough to apply to multiple potential projects while reserving specificity where required.

Board members discussed the grant’s broad allowable uses: workforce training and skills development, business recruitment/expansion/retention, and economic development infrastructure/capital improvements. The Chair proposed and budgeted $50,000 of the potential $200,000 specifically for workforce education, including trainings, apprenticeships, and expanded community-accessible trades programs.

Members suggested partnering with Southwest Tech and local employers to expand programs such as trucking, welding and CDL instruction beyond high-school offerings, and discussed outreach and employer sponsorships to meet course minimums. The board also flagged two workforce gaps—reduced childcare capacity and first-responder staffing shortages—that could be considered for training investments under the grant.

The Chair asked members for input before finalizing the application and noted staff will work on concise application language to meet character limits while keeping the request flexible for future projects.