County job growth 3rd-highest in Kan.

The Fort Scott City Commission heard some good news regarding local employment during their regular Tuesday night meeting.

Director of Economic Development Heather Griffith provided the commission with recent employment figures compiled by the Kansas Department of Labor Statistics and also talked about recent employment figures reported earlier this month by the Topeka Capital-Journal, which showed that Bourbon County was one of three Kansas counties that showed the highest increases in employment between 2012 and 2013.

Bourbon County showed the third highest employment increase during that period, with 365 jobs, trailing Brown County with 444 and Coffey County with 773, according to the Capital-Journal report, which showed that Kansas bucked a national trend with employment figures in rural areas increasing between 2012 and 2013.

With the local labor force growing, the local unemployment rate has fallen 1.2 percent to 4.1 percent, Griffith said.

"Everybody who wants to work is working in Bourbon County right now," she said.

The Capital-Journal analyzed employment data compiled and sorted by The Daily Yonder, which covers rural news online, and obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for most U.S. counties from October 2012 and October 2013. The Capital-Journal then reported in a Jan. 11 article that Kansas added 3,112 jobs in its rural counties during that period.

Griffith attributed the rise in Bourbon County employment to several factors, including local companies growing and expanding, and the city's workforce development initiative with local schools, which could address a shrinking local labor pool.

"We're getting out and meeting with businesses and talking with them about incentives, helping with internet needs," she said after the meeting. "We've gotten a lot of community support."

Griffith said the keys are "long-term sustainability" and "job growth."

"It says a lot about our overall community getting behind, not only getting citizens employed, but also businesses who we really have to support and take care of," City Manager Dave Martin said of the recent Bourbon County employment data. "Most people are employed but we still have jobs available."

While the employment numbers are encouraging, and with most people in the county working, officials agree the challenge locally is finding skilled workers to fill specific high-skill jobs and jobs added in the future, which is an issue the workforce development program with area schools and Fort Scott Community College is meant to address.

"With workforce development, we're working with the high school and college and helping our students who have a desire to stay here and don't have any intention of going after a four-year degree. There are open jobs and more to come," Martin said.

Martin mentioned how several local businesses are expanding or preparing to grow. Last year, Carlisle Transmission Products shut down a plant in China that employed 350 people and moved operations to the Fort Scott plant where production increased.

"A majority (of local businesses) are planning on adding employees; we've got to be prepared for it," Martin said.

Griffith said Bourbon County became a rural opportunity zone in July 2013, which is a "pretty exciting tool to get people to move here."

In the ROZ program, new residents who move here from out of state would be exempt from paying income tax for five years and students would be allowed to apply for partial forgiveness of student loans.

As an example of local company growth, Micheal Bryant, representing Cobalt Medplans, appeared before the commission to discuss the company's growth since coming to Fort Scott in 2011. The company started in July of that year with three employees and currently employs 113 people, Bryant said.

"It's great for our community, it's great for our company," he said. "The city, BEDCO (Bourbon County Economic Development Council) and the chamber have played a huge part in our ability to grow. We're committed to growing."

Bryant commended the new workforce development program, saying that effort is "big."

"To go after high school students who stay to work," he said. "The labor pool is dwindling quickly ... hopefully we can continue the growth."

Mayor Cindy Bartelsmeyer said during the meeting she thinks the workforce development program "will fill jobs."

In other business Tuesday, commissioners:

* Approved the consent agenda, which included appropriation ordinances totaling $630,193; a modification order to remove one 175-watt mercury vapor street light at 765 Hill St., and install one 70-watt high-pressure sodium street light at that address; a resolution and notice of hearing with reference to an alleged unsafe and dangerous structure located at 1405 S. Margrave St., and set a public hearing date of 6:15 p.m. March 4; and three resolutions and notices of hearing with reference to alleged unsafe and dangerous structures and accessory structures located at 1109 S. Margrave St., 113 Steen St., and 1708 E. Wall St., and set public hearing dates of 6:15 p.m. March 4.

* Approved a new five-year contract with Incode, the city's new software vendor.

* Approved a change in renewal time frame for the city's ordinance concerning garbage collection and transportation. Each permit shall be effective Jan. 1 of the calendar issue they are issued and shall expire Dec. 31 of the same year, according to the ordinance.

* Approved an engineering agreement with Professional Engineering Consultants for a grading plan survey at the west lake at Gunn Park.

April 7 hail storm.

Codes Manager Brent Crays told the commission that although the April 7 hail storm that battered Bourbon County caused much damage and was "bad" for the community -- there was a "silver lining."

"A lot of houses look a lot better," he said, adding the city has handled more than 2,000 building permits since the storm "for roofs alone," with a valuation totaling more than $18 million.