Amy Roe Is County’s Community Coordinator
February 11, 2022 at 3:14 a.m.
Amy Roe Is County’s Community Coordinator
By David [email protected]
“We’re super excited to have her on board. She’s going to be our new county coordinator. Basically, to implement the HELP (Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program) grant that we were awarded from OCRA (Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs),” Groninger said. “This is a program that we’re excited about and it’s really doing something we can continue with making our rural towns in our county even more of a higher-quality place to live. We’re super excited to have her on board and see what this program can do for our community.”
Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation issued a news release shortly before the Council meeting on Roe and the HELP program. The release states Roe will be based at the offices of the KEDCO.
“Kosciusko County is one of three communities selected by the Indiana (OCRA) to participate in the first cohort of the HELP program. The program encourages communities to develop strategic investment plans focused on four pathways: advancing e-connectivity, enhancing quality of life, promoting community wellness and strengthening local economies. The state program will utilize the $1.28 billion allocated directly to Indiana communities from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds through the American Rescue Plan Act,” according to the release.
The towns of Etna Green, Mentone, Milford and Pierceton are participating with Kosciusko County in the 12-month HELP program, which commenced recently with in-person training for local officials involved in the effort, and will include interactions with other cohort participants Jay County and the city of Auburn, according to the release.
Thursday, Groninger told the Council Roe is from Fulton County and will be a county employee. The reason she will be working out of KEDCO, he said, was because “some of the other functions KEDCO does, we wanted to surround her with people that are doing like-minded things.”
Groninger said the cool thing about the program and where the county’s at is, “We’ve been through Hometown Chats, we’ve almost been through our FORWARD Kosciusko, through our strategies, through our broadband study, all these different things. All these things are kind of stacking up to this final HELP program. I think I explained it when we got the award down state: This is the rocket fuel. We’ve kind of built the rocket, built the pad. This is going to be the rocket fuel to kind of launch a lot of these projects or opportunities we’ve seen here in the community, so I’m excited to have her.”
Council Vice President Joni Truex asked Roe to tell them a little about herself.
Roe said she was born and raised in Fulton County.
“I actually first learned about Warsaw because I went to Grace College, from 1998 to 2002, and then came back and actually was asked by Jeff Carroll to help him put together his social services department for Grace Village when he was CEO,” she said.
After working there three years and helping launch the social services department, as well as helping Cerulean get started, she moved to Greenville. There, she learned what she knows now about economic and community development.
“They were very adept with public/private partnerships. Way farther than I realized a lot of other people are now. I thought everybody did what they did because I was young, and I didn’t know any better, but it was an opportunity - about 10 years - to learn a lot of things, which I brought home then to the chamber as the chamber director to transition our chamber in Fulton County from a city chamber to a county chamber. So I was the president of tourism, the president of the Main Street organization as well as the chamber president,” Roe stated.
She said she learned a lot in Fulton County about building coalitions and relationships in small communities.
“It’s very exciting to be here,” Roe said as the Council welcomed her. “I’m honored to be in this position. I’m excited and nervous.”
She’s been working in the community coordinator position for two weeks.
Groninger then requested the Council approved an additional appropriation of $50,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act funds for the community coordinator’s salary. Part of that money - $20,000 - will be reimbursed by OCRA in the first year.
The Council approved the additional appropriation and then a salary ordinance to pay the community coordinator $25 per hour.
“We’re super excited to have her on board. She’s going to be our new county coordinator. Basically, to implement the HELP (Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program) grant that we were awarded from OCRA (Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs),” Groninger said. “This is a program that we’re excited about and it’s really doing something we can continue with making our rural towns in our county even more of a higher-quality place to live. We’re super excited to have her on board and see what this program can do for our community.”
Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation issued a news release shortly before the Council meeting on Roe and the HELP program. The release states Roe will be based at the offices of the KEDCO.
“Kosciusko County is one of three communities selected by the Indiana (OCRA) to participate in the first cohort of the HELP program. The program encourages communities to develop strategic investment plans focused on four pathways: advancing e-connectivity, enhancing quality of life, promoting community wellness and strengthening local economies. The state program will utilize the $1.28 billion allocated directly to Indiana communities from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds through the American Rescue Plan Act,” according to the release.
The towns of Etna Green, Mentone, Milford and Pierceton are participating with Kosciusko County in the 12-month HELP program, which commenced recently with in-person training for local officials involved in the effort, and will include interactions with other cohort participants Jay County and the city of Auburn, according to the release.
Thursday, Groninger told the Council Roe is from Fulton County and will be a county employee. The reason she will be working out of KEDCO, he said, was because “some of the other functions KEDCO does, we wanted to surround her with people that are doing like-minded things.”
Groninger said the cool thing about the program and where the county’s at is, “We’ve been through Hometown Chats, we’ve almost been through our FORWARD Kosciusko, through our strategies, through our broadband study, all these different things. All these things are kind of stacking up to this final HELP program. I think I explained it when we got the award down state: This is the rocket fuel. We’ve kind of built the rocket, built the pad. This is going to be the rocket fuel to kind of launch a lot of these projects or opportunities we’ve seen here in the community, so I’m excited to have her.”
Council Vice President Joni Truex asked Roe to tell them a little about herself.
Roe said she was born and raised in Fulton County.
“I actually first learned about Warsaw because I went to Grace College, from 1998 to 2002, and then came back and actually was asked by Jeff Carroll to help him put together his social services department for Grace Village when he was CEO,” she said.
After working there three years and helping launch the social services department, as well as helping Cerulean get started, she moved to Greenville. There, she learned what she knows now about economic and community development.
“They were very adept with public/private partnerships. Way farther than I realized a lot of other people are now. I thought everybody did what they did because I was young, and I didn’t know any better, but it was an opportunity - about 10 years - to learn a lot of things, which I brought home then to the chamber as the chamber director to transition our chamber in Fulton County from a city chamber to a county chamber. So I was the president of tourism, the president of the Main Street organization as well as the chamber president,” Roe stated.
She said she learned a lot in Fulton County about building coalitions and relationships in small communities.
“It’s very exciting to be here,” Roe said as the Council welcomed her. “I’m honored to be in this position. I’m excited and nervous.”
She’s been working in the community coordinator position for two weeks.
Groninger then requested the Council approved an additional appropriation of $50,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act funds for the community coordinator’s salary. Part of that money - $20,000 - will be reimbursed by OCRA in the first year.
The Council approved the additional appropriation and then a salary ordinance to pay the community coordinator $25 per hour.
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