MITCHELL COUNTY

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Vision With Values

Our mission is to provide economic development opportunities for our businesses and community. We have many people and organizations ready to help us take these steps.

One of the first entities that can step up to assist you is the City of Beloit. The City will play a key role in meeting your utility and infrastructure needs.

Solomon Valley Economic Development will also play a key role in supporting your business. This is a not-for-profit organization comprised of business people from throughout our region who are working together to help existing businesses expand and to assist new businesses to locate in our area. SVED has started development of a new business park. They also have an “employment” web site to list available job openings in our area. This will be a free service to assist you in connecting with available workers in our area. We will also be able to assist you with making connections with the proper media outlets.

North Central Kansas Technical College can also be of great assistance in many areas. Not only would their students be a great source for employees but they have a very impressive curriculum for many important business trades.

We are in a unique position with three locally owned and operated financial institutions. The Guaranty State Bank & Trust, Farmway Credit Union along with First National Bank. Their local ties give them great flexibility in addressing the needs of our local businesses. They are great partners in our economic development efforts.

Beloit is a hub in the north central Kansas region. In fact Mitchell County has been ranked in the top 10 “job centers” in the state. (See Report) Many people either live here or drive here for their employment. Our hospital and medical services are vital to the entire region. The Technical College brings in students from all over Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and other areas of the country. The school is always looking to identify the needs of our employers in training future workers for their businesses.

In terms of housing, Beloit has some newer upscale housing developments as well as a variety of rental housing and single family residential housing units that are for sale. Just last year we had a ribbon cutting for Porter House Apartments which is a 30 unit housing development in the former Porter Hotel. It’s a beautiful historic building located in the heart of the downtown area. As you can tell we have a wide variety of housing opportunities to fit the needs of employees at all levels of your business.

We have a 9-hole golf course with a country club. In addition to the restaurant and bar at the Beloit Country Club, there are a many local places to eat. There are very nice upscale restaurants within a short drive in both Manhattan and Salina.

We have some of the best school systems in the state. In Beloit there are two schools. The public school district (pre-K through 12) and St. John’s Catholic schools (pre-K through 12) both have excellent staff and are recognized across the state. We also found it very encouraging to see that the performing arts, specifically orchestra and community bands, are very popular and well supported locally.

Our community is growing and building up our amenities. Our hospital, Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems recently completed a huge expansion which included the addition of three new surgical suites, expansion of the reception area, gift shop and business office area.

The city, hospital and technical college recently partnered to construct a new “NCK wellness center” on the grounds of the college campus. This facility compliments the indoor swimming pool that is already there and available to the public. The public library rose over $500,000 towards their goal of a new library. The public recently supported a ½-cent sales tax to upgrade infrastructure in the City of Beloit. Hersey Street was paved last year. Last year the city began paving Mill Street in the downtown business district and replacing the old water, sewer, storm water and electric system in this area. They are also adding decorative antique style lighting. Substantial improvements are planned for the municipal airport and the cities utility systems.

Our business community is also stepping up to help our economic development efforts by assisting in finding jobs for spouses who may be moving here. We have also started a campaign to attract former residents back to the community for employment.

In closing we want to say our community is well poised to welcome new business and residents. We are more than willing to work with you to capture all local and state business incentives that we can. As the electric, water, and wastewater service provider, the City of Beloit is in a unique position to offer certain utility-related incentives when appropriate.  These incentives can take on many forms, depending on the specific needs of the business. The state of Kansas offers many incentives including job creation tax credits, business creation tax credits, business machinery and equipment credits plus a variety of sales tax exemptions and job training funds. We feel our size is also an advantage. A small community such as ours can be very flexible and creative in working with businesses.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to call (785) 738-2717.