Rural county hopes to lure newcomers with grants
Source: kansas.com, by Associated Press
January 18, 2007
JETMORE, Kan. - Hodgeman County officials want to make it a little easier for residents and newcomers to put down roots.
Hoping to stabilize and even grow their populations, the western Kansas county and its two cities are offering grants totaling $10,000 to anyone - newcomer or longtime resident, family or developer - who builds a three-bedroom home in the county.
"We've got a good hometown environment here and a very strong school system," said Jeff Hillman, a Jetmore insurance and investment agent who helped craft the Hodgeman County Land Rush incentive plan. "It's a great place to raise your kids."
What Hodgeman County doesn't have is a lot of in-migration.
Although Census figures show the county grew from 2,085 residents in 2000 to 2,110 residents in 2005, the longer-term trend has been a loss of population. The county had 4,157 residents in 1930, but the figure dipped to 2,177 in 1990.
Late in 2005, a cross-section of county residents started a series of meetings to discuss strategies to keep the county from withering away, forming a group called Hodgeman First.
The county's two communities, Jetmore and Hanston, are home to just 914 and 593 people, respectively.
The Hodgeman County grant initiative takes its cue from other Kansas communities' efforts to attract newcomers, like land giveaways, Hillman said. But since the local governments here don't have any real estate to spare, local boosters decided on a cash grant instead.
Under the program, qualified applicants can get up to $5,000 from Hodgeman County and $5,000 from the cities of Jetmore or Hanston, depending on where they build.
Not just any home will do, however.
To qualify, a new house must be built on a fixed foundation, measure at least 1,100 square feet, have at least three bedrooms and have an attached two-car garage. Hillman estimates that such a house could be built for $150,000.
Initial targets of the campaign will be people from Dodge City, 25 miles south of Jetmore in Ford County, and Larned, 34 miles east of Hanston in Pawnee County.
"We want as many qualified applicants as we can get," Hillman said.
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