The Starke County Commissioners and Starke County Council members received a draft agreement for funding the Starke County Economic Development Foundation and the SCILL Center when they met last month
Foundation Executive Director Lisa Dan said funding will stay the same in the proposed draft which is $159,000. She noted that more students are participating in SCILL programs which increases funding so not all of the previously approved $80,000 would need to go to SCILL, but the rest of the funding could be used for another type of program to assist businesses. That aspect of the contract is still under negotiation. Dan said two separate agreements between the entities will be coming in the future so things are split, which was a previous request to separate the two.
Dan said the number of board members has been reduced from 28 to 19 through attrition and other means, where the council will have two representatives and the commissioners will have one on that executive board.
SCILL Center Director Ron Gifford has stepped down from his position there and a new director will be hired soon. In the meantime, Dan said Knox Community School Superintendent Dr. William Reichhart is serving as the interim director.
The agreement will be decided prior to March 1 when the current agreement expires.
Dan added that an industry survey of six participating manufacturers found that the manufacturing community in Starke County has 60 available jobs with an average starting hourly wage of $16.71, which is up 14 percent since November 2019.
