The $5,000-plus that Barton County officials agreed to pay for membership in an economic development group is a small price to pay, considering what the county gets in return.
Barton County Commissioner John Edmonds commented that the $5.492.80 is a good deal for the work it gets out of Great Plains Development each year.
The off figure is based on county population figures.
Great Plains Associate Director Bob Wetmore told the commissioners that the agency works with 28 counties across the southwest corner of the state and Barton County is responsible for the creation of about a third of all the jobs that have been created in that region in recent years.
“We do a lot of work over here,” Wetmore commented, adding that is done through the Small Business Administration, through state agencies and other developmental offices and efforts.
One of its major efforts, recently, has been with Fuller Brush in the renovation of the company’s website in order to increase Internet sales and that effort alone grew 20.5 jobs.
The agency also writes and administers all sorts of grants and also helps Barton County and Great Bend administer their Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund projects.