Aug 13, 2020

Marshall: More CARES Act money headed to Kansas

Posted Aug 13, 2020 7:19 PM

By NICK GOSNELL

Hutch Post

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced $2 million in CARES Act Recovery Assistance grants from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration to five regions of Kansas hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Specifically, there's another $400,000 approximately to south-central Kansas," Congressman Roger Marshall said Thursday. "I'll be curious to see what they're going to do with it. I'll bet they're going to use some of it for job training and some technical assistance with local businesses, as well."

SCKEDD has offices in Wichita and Hutchinson. They plan to use the money for strategic collaboration with the state's other economic development organizations. North Central Regional Planning Commission, Northwest Kansas Planning & Development Commission, Flint Hills Regional Council and Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission all also received funding.

"Less than half of the $3 trillion we've appropriated has actually hit Main Street yet," Marshall said. "That's why I'm in no big hurry to spend a lot more money, to borrow a lot more money from our grandchildren until we see where this money lands. The Kansas economy is looking better. Our unemployment rate has dropped to 7%, so things are looking brighter across the entire state."

This is in addition to the $2.5 million awarded to Kansas’ regional planning commissioners in July.