Last week about 20 Latino business owners visited Greene County as part of the ongoing Nueva Vida en Greene County to attract Latino people to work and live in the area.

Jefferson Matters: A Main Street and Chamber Community Events and Tourism Coordinator Matt Wetrich helped lead the tours and said it was a total effort to not only show the available buildings and land for the business owners to start or expand their companies but they also put their best foot forward to “sell” Jefferson with support of the schools, childcare, tourism, art and culture.

“So we really think that all the cleanliness, and the beautiful downtown of Jefferson and Greene County, we think those are the things that can really tip the scale to help encourage minimally to have some expanded business here but hopefully also move their family here as well.”  

Wetrich points out there was representation from artists, retail and restaurant owners and entrepreneurs, along with individuals from the trade industry that were from Denison, Carroll, Coon Rapids, Perry, Storm Lake and Omaha, Nebraska. Wetrich talks about how this tour impressed the Latino visitors by all the positives that they saw and experienced.

“I think sometimes we lose sight of that here, the average citizen who’s not directly involved sometimes, you kind of take stuff for granted. But we’re doing some pretty cool stuff here and everyone should be proud of that. It’s the outside perspective I think sometimes can wake you up a little, like ‘Oh, cool.’ They see what we’re doing stuff that not everybody else is doing and that’s what brings people in.”    

Other people that led the event included Greene County Development Corporation Executive Director Ken Paxton and Board President Sid Jones, along with Nueva Vida en Greene County Steering Committee Chair Chuck Offenburger and Tower View Team Chair Deb McGinn.