Town halls being held for community input on Grundy economy

The Grundy Resiliency Project is seeking public input, and it is asking residents of Grundy County to attend one of three town hall meetings at either 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 23 or 8 a.m. Wednesday, July 24 at the Wesley Center, 111 W. North St. in Morris. There will also be a virtual meeting at noon on Zoom Tuesday, July 23.

The Advancing Grundy Town Hall Meetings will be an interactive event asking the public about their vision for Grundy County’s economy. The town hall meetings are a part of the Grundy Resiliency Project being done by the Grundy Economic Development Council and the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Registration is requested and can be done at resilientgrundy.com.

“At the town halls people will be given a summary of the Advancing Grundy project and its goals,” Chamber President & CEO Christina Van Yperen said in a Tuesday news release. “They then will be asked questions to provoke comments and thoughts regarding the hopes and ideas our community has for Grundy’s future.”

The first 20 people to attend each meeting will receive a $10 Grundy County Chamber of Commerce gift certificate, which can be used at any of the Chamber’s 550 member businesses and organizations.

“We need to hear from the people who live here, those with families here, as well as business owners and our local leaders,” GEDC President & CEO Nancy Norton said. “Everyone’s input is necessary for us to gather information to create a strategic plan to diversify our future economy.”

This stage of the project is to create a roadmap for Grundy’s economic future. The organizations were given a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration in 2023. These grants help nuclear host communities plan for and build more diverse, resilient economies. Grundy’s grant is being matched 20% by Grundy County, and North Central Council of Governments is assisting as the grant administrator.

In the spring, the GEDC and Chamber contracted with TIP Strategies, Inc., an economic development consulting firm to conduct the Economic Diversification and Resiliency Plan to identify, recommend, and justify key initiatives, action items, and market-driven opportunities for economic diversification in Grundy County to enhance the county’s economic prosperity and resilience. Upon completion, this diversification and resiliency plan will be used as a tool to inform and guide comprehensive planning, business attraction, infrastructure investments, and marketing.

The completed diversification plan is expected in the fall. The scope of the project is over 24 months overall and includes future steps of researching the decommissioning process of nuclear plants and an implementation plan for the Resiliency Project.

The Morris Herald-News is committed to keeping readers up to date with business happenings in the area. Much of our reporting relies on what we see and hear, but we’re also reaching out to readers for tips on business items. If you have a tip to share for Eyes on Enterprise, email news@morrisherald-news.com.