According to Tim Beims, Executive Director of the Economic Development Agency of Cloud County, population has been in a slow, steady decline due to changes in rural economy in northern Kansas. To combat that trend, Cloud County implemented the County Level Incentive Program, known as CLIP, funded by the Innovation Center and Dain G. Hansen Foundation. “And the goal, the ultimate goal, and it’s a grand objective, is to ultimately increase population throughout the Northwest Kansas region,” Beims said. The program offers money incentives to individuals, especially recent college and trade school graduates, from outside of northwest Kansas if they accept a job in Cloud County. “We hope that that’s a strong recruiting tool for our county employers to be able to really motivate and incentivize prospective employees to accept positions and relocate to Cloud County,” he said. “As well as bring our native sons and daughters who went to trade school or college, bring them back home to build their lives and build their careers in Cloud County.” Beims said he thinks Cloud County is in a strong position to draw and retain population growth, with the help of this grant. Recipients can receive up to $10,000 per individual under this program, which can be paired with Cloud County’s housing incentive program.
More information about the CLIP program can be found at the Cloud Corp Cloud County Development official website.
Read more: KCLY Radio
