09/01/2022
From the desk of the Economic Development Coordinator
Wow it’s been a while since I’ve had, made, the time to sit down and give an update on what’s going on in and what’s important to Hayes County. My apologies for the delay. So let’s get right into it.
Since my last significant update in 2020 when have experienced a lot in Hayes County. The on-going mess that is Covid and it’s impact of daily life and the global supply chain, up to our current drought. But there are many positives to point to as well.
Looking back at the community economic development meetings held in February of 2017, it is exciting to see how many items discussions have come to fruition. Some key items we identified from those meetings were: keeping the newspaper and grocery store in business, securing a daycare provider to meet community need, credit card gas, opening a restaurant, adding/improving housing, community clean-up, grain storage, and recruiting a mechanic. Of those nine items all but two have progressed, that is an accomplishment of which this community and county should be very proud. To be clear, I am not seeking to take credit for any of this progress, but simply pointing out all that has been accomplished in Hayes County. In addition to all that was listed above, we have seen a nice increase in the enrollment numbers of our school over the last 5 years. In August 2017 the school had 99 students enrolled K-12, in August 2022 that number is up to 124 students K-12. An impressive increase for sure, now we need to continue to work on sustaining and potentially improving that number going forward.
It feels like time for us to gather back up as a community and figure out the next steps we want to take in order to keep Hayes County “A Great Place to Grow”. So, in the near future be on the lookout for information about vision meetings for the County. Start thinking about ideas and ways we can continue to build our community.
Switching gears a bit, let’s take about the challenge that is funding for community improvement initiatives as well as funding for basic community services (think Fire and Ambulance services for example). Rural communities, especially smaller ones like ours, struggle to generate the tax revenue or to generate private giving in order to sustain basic services. For example, the current 2008 Ambulance that Hayes County Fire and Rescue uses was funded by a private donation when it was purchased as the Ambulance service doesn’t generate enough call volume to purchase an Ambulance on it’s own. Yet having a group of volunteers with the necessary training and the right equipment to respond to medical needs in our community is a minimum need for our community to remain viable. We’ll circle back to that topic shortly.
In 2021 the Nebraska Community Foundation conducted a study about the significant transfer of wealth taking place in Nebraska https://www.nebcommfound.org/news/transfer-of-wealth-study-reveals-massive-opportunity-in-nebraska/ . The study indicates that over $100 billion in wealth will transition from one generation to the next in Nebraska from 2021-2031. And over the next 50 years that number will exceed $950 billion. Much of that wealth was generated in Nebraska but is passing to those that no longer live in the communities they grew up in.
A couple of significant things from the study really stuck with me:
“when we leave some of our wealth to the places where it was made and accumulated, we can ensure a more prosperous future for our Nebraska hometowns” The Nebraska Community Foundation issued a challenge called “Five to Thrive” where they say the following:
“Think of the Nebraska hometown you love. This is your opportunity to enrich its future. We’re asking you to consider leaving just five percent of your assets to your favorite Nebraska hometown or to Nebraska Community Foundation to benefit all of our communities. When you leave just five percent to a community’s endowment, you can secure your family’s legacy and help your hometown thrive.”
Remember once our wealth leave the community, it’s gone forever.
I encourage you to review the study at the address above and reach out if you have thoughts or questions. Hayes County has a couple of significant current needs for funds:
1. Hayes County Fire and Rescue needs to replace it’s back-up ambulance, a 1990 van body with a 1983 refurbished box. It is currently the oldest in the state that is still in service. The cost of purchasing and equipping a new replacement ambulance is approximately $400,000. The department is working on some grant opportunities and hopes to achieve a 50-50 grant to assist with the purchase, meaning the department needs to raise $200,000 to move forward.
2. Housing continues to be the biggest need for us as a community. In 2020 there were several homes on the market for some time. Now in 2022 houses are frequently off the market within days or hours of being listed. We’ve had several families interested in locating here but have struggled to find them available housing. For some time we’ve been investigating options on how to build adequate housing to attract additional resident. Our revolving loan funds can’t be used on housing, so we need to seek out additional funding sources to build houses. The desire is to put together $300,000 in order to build a 1,500 square foot home on an unfinished basement to sell and then turn around and build another. The desire would be to repeat this several times over the next ten years.
3. Hayes County Fire is seeking to replace multiple trucks over the next several years to remove older trucks in an attempt to improve the department’s ability to safely and effectively fight fires in Hayes County and throughout Nebraska as part of the Southwest Mutual Aid Strike team. The typical life of a wildland fire truck is 15 years. The first priority is to replace a 1990 Ford F-350 type 6 (grass rig) with 205,000+ miles. Replacement of this truck will cost approximately $130,000. The second truck to replace is a 2001 Chevy 3500 type 6. Its replacement will also cost approximately $130,000.
Those are three top priorities for Hayes County. Others will hopefully be generated when we get the community together for vision casting sessions in the near future. A lot has changed in Hayes County since February 2017 and I’d like to say thank you to all of you who have invested your time, talents, and dollars to making a positive impact on our County.
If you are interested in applying for revolving loan funds or have questions, comments, or ideas about local economic development efforts, feel free to contact the economic development coordinator at 308-286-3477, or any of the members of the economic development board.
Hayes County is a Great Place to Grow and we look forward to actively working with all of you to make that a reality!
Nebraska Community Foundation's Transfer of Wealth Study documents more than $100 billion passing between generations in the next decade.
