What will it take for Starke County to be designated a Regional Stellar Community?
That is the question that was answered Thursday night when various county, city and town officials met at the Starke County Economic Development Foundation Office to find out what steps they can start taking in order to submit a competitive application in the future. Continue reading
A business opportunity is being offered by city officials to help revitalize the downtown area in Knox.
When the City Council met last Thursday, Mayor Dennis Estok shared that the Redevelopment Commission has purchased a building that will be utilized for a proposed pilot program. He said the goal of the program is to provide some incentives to try and induce some business downtown. Continue reading
Starke County’s population continues to decline. Ron Gifford with the Starke County Economic Development Foundation discussed the recently-released 2017 population estimates with the Hamlet Town Council last week. Continue reading
Last month’s Starke County Job Fair was a success. That’s according to Ron Gifford with the Starke County Economic Development Foundation. Continue reading
A public hearing over a petition for annexation was held when Knox City Council members met on Thursday. Starke County Economic Development Foundation Special Projects Coordinator Ron Gifford spoke on the behalf of the petitioner, J.W. Hicks Holding LLC.
Gifford explained that the Hicks organization previously purchased some property on the corner of Pacific Avenue. He said that when the company started looking into potential expansion, some records were reviewed and they discovered the property to the south, formerly the Hewlett property, was never annexed into the city. Continue reading
Local officials hope an Opportunity Zone designation could bring benefits to the Town of Hamlet. The census tract containing Hamlet was recently nominated for the federal program by Governor Eric Holcomb.
Those looking for work will have the chance to meet with several local employers tomorrow in Knox. WorkOne Northwest Indiana and the Starke County Economic Development Foundation are teaming up to host a job fair at the Knox High School Gym.
Starke County’s representatives in the U.S. 30 Coalition project met Wednesday night to get for statistics on traffic data.
North Judson Town Council members will open bids for the cemetery mowing contract when they meet tonight at 6:30 p.m.
Members are also expected to consider an amended owner-engineer contract with Common Wealth Engineers. Continue reading
Starke County Community Services recently received a plethora of food donations thanks to the “Bluegrass Jam” event hosted by the City of Knox on March 25th.
At Tuesday night’s Knox City Council meeting Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston mentioned that the entry fee for the event was a food donation. Although he didn’t have an exact number for how much food was collected, he said the event was very well attended. He added that many people also provided compliments about the upgrades to the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center.
During his report, Houston also filled members in on the Starke County Economic Development Foundation Community Retreat that he attended with Mayor Dennis Estok and Councilman Jeff Berg. Continue reading
A variety of local representatives gathered Tuesday morning to learn more about development opportunities during the Starke County Economic Development Foundation’s Community Retreat.
Those in attendance included members of the Starke County Chamber of Commerce as well as local officials from the communities of Bass Lake, Hamlet, Knox and North Judson. Continue reading
As the Town of Hamlet looks to attract housing development, town officials are learning about some of the challenges they’re likely to face. During this week’s town council meeting, Ron Gifford with the Starke County Economic Development Foundation discussed a report from Purdue University.
The Starke County Economic Development Foundation has decided to keep Larry Wickert as its executive director. Wickert has been serving as interim executive director since the beginning of the year. Now, the foundation’s board of directors has decided to make his appointment permenant, according to a press release issued Wednesday.
Amendments to the existing curfew ordinance for the City of Knox will be considered during tonight’s city council meeting at 7 p.m.
According to the council packet provided by administrative assistant Peggy Travis, the curfew ordinance currently in place was originally adopted in October of 1989.
City council members are also anticipated to receive a presentation from Starke County Economic Development Foundation Special Projects Coordinator Ron Gifford. As usual, a monthly progress report will be provided. Continue reading
The Starke County Economic Development Foundation will be holding a community retreat at their office in Knox on Tuesday, March 20th from 7:30 a.m. until noon CT.
Interim Executive Director Larry Wickert spoke to the North Judson Town Council members about the session during their meeting Monday night. He cleared up some confusion about the focus, stating that the event will be open to all municipalities in the area and will not solely be about development in North Judson. Continue reading
North Judson Town Council members will discuss the cemetery mowing advertisement when they meeting tonight.
Members will also hold the second reading over an amended salary ordinance. At the final meeting in February, members held the first reading over a salary ordinance that would not include a 3 percent raise for the town council members.
At the beginning of the year, members signed off on a salary ordinance that essentially gave a 3 percent raise across the board. However, Town Attorney Justin Schramm explained that since the salary ordinance was approved in January of 2018, the members couldn’t approve a raise for themselves since it wouldn’t look good to the State Board of Accounts to approve a raise in the same year it is given. Continue reading
Gary Poppins will be in production very soon.
Larry Wickert from the Starke County Economic Development Foundation told the Starke County Commissioners on Monday night that brand new popcorn popping machines are in the building along with some other new equipment. Wickert also said a few contractors were at the facility getting things ready to start production soon.
North Judson Town Council members decided on a few potential dates to recommend for a SCEDF workday when they met Monday night.
Starke County Economic Development Foundation liaison James Young reminded council members that Executive Director Larry Wickert is attempting to set up a session of some kind so members can brainstorm some ideas for potential development. Continue reading
Funding for the Starke County Economic Development Foundation and the SCILL Center was discussed by the Starke County Council members Monday night.
The Starke County Council members want more information about what will be offered to Starke County in the proposed U.S. 30 freeway project before they pay $10,000 toward consultation fees for coalition efforts.
Councilman Dave Pearman asked Larry Wickert from the Starke County Economic Development Foundation about the payment as it was requested. The funds would come out of the commissioner’s County Economic Development Income Tax Fund. Wickert explained that six out of the seven counties involved in the proposed U.S. 30 project pay into the coalition. La Porte County is the only county that doesn’t pay. Wickert believes that U.S. 30 would stay rural in La Porte County and not see an impact. The county has the toll road for a focus.
