Murdo Economic Development
Wed, 07/26/2023 - 10:50am
admin

By:
Ashley Geigle, Murdo Area Economic Development Director 605-516-9080 or murdoed@gmail.com
July 17th and 18th the Jones County Thrivers met again in their individual groups. The JC Thrivers has been created by the collaboration of Murdo Area Economic Development, Murdo Development Corp., City of Murdo, Murdo Area Chamber of Commerce, the Jones County Community Foundation, and lead by Dakota Resources. Dakota Resources is an organization that focuses on rural Economic Development support and offers connections for Economic Development Professionals and Organizations.
The JC Thrivers have identified four focus areas to apply strategic work towards. They are: Supporting Daycare: Support and Strengthen our current and growing daycare needs for a sustainable future; Enhancing Community Unity: Facilitating communication and cooperation between various community groups and communicating a vision and excitement for our hometowns; Creating Career Opportunities: Developing and supporting the workforce in existing and future opportunities; Growing Housing Opportunities: Making housing opportunities available by acquiring land/lots for public at cost.
During the conversations about Supporting Daycare, we have seen a focus on how we can assist both families and providers in daycare needs, what does the support look like, and how can we provide both physical and mental support, when needed. In Enhancing Community Unity, we have some fun ideas floating around that I don’t want to give away, so you’ll just have to just wait for more information to be shared. But think of our communities being involved together, laughing, and learning together. Creating Career Opportunities is focusing on how we can attract and retain our graduates and alumni to come back to our community. How can we show support to existing businesses in our communities and what can we do to help aid new business start-ups? Lastly, the Growing Housing Opportunities group is excited for some potential collaborations and identifying vacant lots are available and how we can get movement on those properties as well as assisting the Murdo Development Corp. in advertising and promoting the Governor’s Houses that have been reserved for the Murdo area.
The conversations at these meetings have been rewarding and we have the constant reminder that these meetings are inclusive and meant for the whole community to join when they can. Our next meeting date will be August 2nd and 3rd. If you are interested in joining one of these groups, please reach out to Ashley at the Murdo Area Economic Development office or by calling 605-516-9080.