About this Section
Every year in June, the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter takes a look at the State of Ellsworth County. Over the years, we have chronicled the life of Ellsworth County in a 24-hour period and tracked the use of technology. Our focus in 2019 is retail.
In particular, we look at downtowns in Ellsworth and Wilson and several of the businesses that sustain them. In this special section, you also will find interviews with long-time Ellsworth County commissioner Kermit Rush and Stacie Schmidt, executive director of the Smoky Hill Development Corporation, the county’s economic development arm.
In recent weeks, Ellsworth County has added several new programs and projects to its development tool box. Here is a partial list:
• In April, Joiner Construction of Ellinwood broke ground on its Kansas Housing Resource Corporation Moderate Housing project along Prairie Lane west of the First Bank Kansas building in Ellsworth.
The project is expected to cost between $700,000 and $750,000 and include two townhomes totalling four units. Two of the units will be three bedroom, two baths, and the other units will be two bedroom, two bath.
Owned by Joiner Brothers Property Group, the townhomes will be offered for rent, with the two bedroom units renting for $950 per month and the three bedroom units renting for $1,050.
• In June, Ellsworth County was one of five communities selected by NetWork Kansas to participate in its Entrepreneurship (E-) Community Partnership. The others were Harvey, Miami and Bourbon counties and Kansas City, Kan.
The E-Community partnership, now in its 12th year, has grown from six communities in 2007 to 64 in 2019. To date, E-Communities have provided $18.9 million to businesses, leveraging an additional $88.1 million. This funding has sparked the creation or retention of many jobs in these communities and has immeasurable positive effects on the entrepreneurial ecosystems of these participating areas, officials said.
• As of Wednesday, June 19, six homeowners had qualified for the Ellsworth County Home Ownership Pilot Program. The $100,000 program, with a goal of eight homeowners by the Aug. 31 deadline, provides $12,000 per applicant in down payment and closing cost assistance.
If Ellsworth County hits its limit early, requests will be placed in a “queue” that will be processed on a first come, first serve basis beginning Sept. 2. Any requests placed in the “queue” should have a purchase contract with a closing date of Sept. 15 or later unless the bank is willing to provide interim financing at its own risk. The Home Ownership Program is offered by the Beloit-based North Central Regional Planning Commission.
• Ground is to be broken later this year on 12 rental houses in Ellsworth and two in Kanopolis as part of a tax credit package recently approved by the Kansas Housing Resource Corporation.
The energy-efficient single family houses are expected to cost about $130,000 to build. They will have three bedrooms, two baths and one-car garages. There will not be basements; however, plans include a storm shelter inside each of the 1,200-square-foot houses.
A combination of the state-sponsored tax credits and $4 and $5 million in private investment is included in the financing plan.
The proposal calls for the homes to be rentals during a 15-year tax credit compliance period, at which time the houses will become available for sale. Monthly rental charge is expected to be about $600 and income restrictions apply.
For information on these and other programs, call Stacie Schmidt at the Smoky Hill Development Corporation, (785) 472-9204 or visit the organization’s website at