One federal senator recently learned about a new recruitment tool that one Greene County organization is trying to take advantage of to grow its workforce and population base.

Senator Joni Ernst met with representatives with Greene County Development Corporation, major employers, as well as Carlos Aurgello with Latino IQ to bring the Latino population to come to Greene County. Aurgello pointed out three major issues that they are addressing, including fulfilling the over 200 available jobs within the county, a sense of community, both in terms of the community itself and housing; along with a play aspect, with opportunities for entertainment and things for families to do. 

Aurgello said Latinos are the fastest growing demographic in Iowa and they are looking within a 30-60 mile radius to help transport Latinos that want to work in Greene County, but don’t want to make the commute themselves until the housing shortage has been addressed to get them to move here. He told Ernst that later this month, Latino entrepreneurs are coming to Greene County to look at potential locations for new businesses to locate in the community. 

Other employers, such as Wild Rose General Manager Travis Dvorak said he is still 50 employees short of being at full capacity, which limits the hours for the restaurant to be open, and the number of casino games and concerts that can be offered. Scranton Manufacturing Vice President of Operations Jim Ober expressed their dire need for employees to help with their record number of sales and the ability to make parts for their garbage trucks, or will have to continue to import certain products from Mexico. Finally, Greene County Medical Center CEO Chad Butterfield said there are jobs they still haven’t hired for when he took over as CEO last year, however, they have hired seven latinos since the Neuva Vida en Greene County first launched last fall. 

GCDC and Latino IQ have applied for a $500,000 Rural Innovation Stronger Economy (RISE) grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ernst wrote a letter of support for the grant application and she talked about why she did that.

“I think this is really important. We want to see many of our rural communities not just surviving, but we want to see them thriving. And a community like this when they’re willing to look at other opportunities and ways to grow, I think it’s really important to be supportive.” 

The grant notifications will be announced in September, as GCDC has enough funding in place to continue the project until December.