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Officials say housing shortage is constraining Sheridan County workforce
Summary
Participants agreed housing affordability and availability are the biggest constraints on workforce growth; local leaders used ARPA funds and a housing board working with Habitat to develop about 33 attainable housing units.
Sheridan County participants identified housing as a principal barrier to maintaining and growing the local workforce. One participant said the county and city used ARPA dollars to create a housing board (housed within Habitat) that has so far built five or six homes and expects roughly 33 attainable units once infrastructure and lots are completed. "We teamed up with the city to put some ARPA dollars together that we then turned over to a housing board that we created," the participant said.
Discussion emphasized that the constraint is not solely regulatory: several participants argued market incentives matter because contractors can make more by building higher-priced homes. One participant said contractors prefer projects that maximize return, which can disincentivize lower-cost housing construction. Participants discussed streamlining permits and other regulatory work but returned frequently to the market-incentive issue as a core challenge.
