The Greene County Development Corporation Board voted to keep the same officers for next at their meeting earlier this week.
Chris Nation of West Central Cooperative will remain as president, Sid Jones of Home State Bank was re-elected as vice-president, Jim Ober of Scranton Manufacturing is the treasurer and secretary, Norm Fandel of Midland Power Cooperative continues as past-president, Jim Daubendiek with Jefferson Telecom is the at-large seat, Guy Richardson with Greene County Abstract represents the Board of Supervisors, Rick Morain is an advisor and Ken Paxton will continue as executive director.
The Board also voted to accept two new members to its full board. Bill Raney and new Greene County Extension Coordinator Lori Mannel will replace outgoing coordinator Michael Cooley on the Board.
Greene County Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Carl Behne gave an update on the building expansion project. He said brick walls are up on the south wall and they’ve started putting brick on the east wall. The roof has been put on the new addition before the snow started so they can finish pouring the cement floors. They are still two months behind the construction schedule and are anticipated to open the new wing by next summer.
Jefferson Matters: Main Street Program Director Alan Robinson gave his update of the local main street organization. He mentioned that they will be hosting a tour of empty buildings in the downtown district next April. The purpose of the event is to generate interest from potential buyers or business owners to fill the empty buildings in the downtown area. Another event that is going to happen in December is the second annual Christmas tree lighting event.
Greene County Chamber Board President Ben Yoder gave a report about the Chamber. He said that they will be starting a series of Chamber Coffee events where people can find out about a business and tour the facility and learn about what a business does in the community. The inaugural Chamber Morning Coffee Talk will be held tomorrow at RVP~1875 at 7am. He also reported that they will be sending out Chamber membership mailings to all businesses and he explained the benefits of being a Chamber member to the GCDC Board. He briefly gave an update to the welcome center. He said they are starting on the renovations of the inside of the building on the southeast corner of the downtown square and will be notifying the public about how they can make a donation to get the necessary funds to complete their project.
Executive Director Ken Paxton reported that he will be at the tourism trade show in Des Moines today where he will unveil part of the county’s new marketing plan to attract travelers and more tourism to the county. And on November 19th, the American Legion vice-commander from Kansas will be visiting the county to tour manufacturers and meet area veterans in those facilities.