This week provides more than normal as we have major issues in front of the Manhattan City Commission and a legislative forum planned.
Hopefully you’ve seen the notices but, as a reminder, we will present a final plan for the Elevate Fund to the Manhattan City Commission on Tuesday. The new revolving loan fund would “elevate” our ability to encourage business start-up and small business growth in the community. This is a project that has been in the works for nearly two years and the Chamber is part of a team of several different organizations making the proposal to fund $750,000 over three years to the fund. This leverages nearly an equal amount from other sources for both the fund and operational expenses.
Another item on the agenda is a proposal from Manhattan Area Technical College to help support their recent expansion. The new facility at MATC greatly enhances our ability to train workers in key industries including construction trades, biomanufacturing and bio security.
In both cases, the requests come from past and current funds dedicated to economic development. These economic development funds have been approved by Manhattan voters for the purpose of creating jobs and developing infrastructure to enhance economic development and we believe both items qualify as such.
One item of note is that the meeting time has been changed to 6:30 p.m. instead of the normal 6 p.m.
Thursday, the Chamber will host our local delegation to the Kansas Legislature for a wrap-up of the 2023 session. The panel is part of the Good Morning Manhattan Series and begins at 7:15 a.m. at Four Points by Sheraton. You can sign up to attend here.
As always, the Chamber will continue to work on those issues important to you including growth and economic prosperity. Please plan to attend one or both of these events to support the organization’s efforts.