The E-Community group is moving to the Economic Development Advisory Group in Geary County.

Mickey Fornaro-Dean, Economic Development Commission (EDC) Director, said that the move is in an attempt to create more momentum for the E-Community project.

“E-Community is a division of Network Kansas, and that’s where we raise the money for the tax credit to have some funding; we actually have a pool of funding available for entrepreneurs to apply for loans if they’re a startup or a small business.”

Fornaro-Dean said that there’s been a good core group, but they have struggled to gain momentum and get more involvement. “We decided we’d pull into the Advisory Committee that way there’s a meeting that’s regularly scheduled and people are involved; so [they] will act as kind of the overseeing group for E-Community to help push that forward.”

Fornaro-Dean said there will be a more concerted effort to promote entrepreneurism in Junction City/Geary County, including two workshops for small businesses.

“Thursday, August 17th from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm and Saturday, November 18th from 10:00 am until noon – we’ll be having two workshops on either how to start a business, or business planning and business growth.”

The EDC has been working closely with the Small Business Development Center and providing support for the needs of the community’s small businesses.

In addition, Dean will take part in a trip to the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) annual convention in Washington, D.C. and a regional economic development trip with other local officials/leaders from Riley, Pottawatomie, and Geary Counties to Ames, Iowa.