The Emporia City Commission pledged its support for an economic development grant during an action session Wednesday afternoon.
The i6 Economic Development Grant is a program of the Economic Development Administration that was identified by Commissioner Rob Gilligan as an opportunity to bring more tech-based jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities to Emporia.
The $750,000 grant requires matching funds. The city has tentatively pledged $225,000 over three years toward the grant.
Mayor Jon Geitz said the goal was not to take away from the work that Emporia Main Street or the Regional Development Association already do in attracting businesses to the region, but rather to build on those successes.
“It is part of our economic development program,” he said. “Main Street does a very good job with entrepreneurship. Obviously, we don’t have much of a tech industry; this is an industry where we could maybe partner with ValuNet and utilize the ValuNet network. It’s something that’s thinking outside the box of the city’s economic development efforts.”
(Read more: Emporia Gazette)