Recent college graduates are finding success in moving to small, rural counties in Kansas to take advantage of an incentive program called Rural Opportunity Zones, which offers $15,000 in loan debt repayment, and in some cases waives income tax for up to five years, Jen Cornreich Geller reports for The Street, an online financial news publication.
Jobs, which are more elusive in other parts of the country, are not a problem in one of the 50 rural counties in the program, Geller writes. According to Chris Harris, program manager with the Kansas Department of Commerce, 98 percent of the 420 people in the program have secured employment. Only 10 percent of the jobs are in farming.
"We need skilled labor in these areas," Harris said. "The population is aging. We need doctors, lawyers, teachers and people to take over small businesses as the older generations retire here. It's an aging and shrinking population and we need educated people to do these jobs."
"Still, there are perils to the programs," Geller writes. "Necessities like housing have proved problematic in some counties." One participant says he has to drive 20 minutes to get to his job, another says it's a 90-minute drive to the nearest Target. "The lack of a social life and opportunity to meet potential partners may limit how long people in their 20s and 30s stay in these areas once they get their loans paid down." (Read more)
Jobs, which are more elusive in other parts of the country, are not a problem in one of the 50 rural counties in the program, Geller writes. According to Chris Harris, program manager with the Kansas Department of Commerce, 98 percent of the 420 people in the program have secured employment. Only 10 percent of the jobs are in farming.
"We need skilled labor in these areas," Harris said. "The population is aging. We need doctors, lawyers, teachers and people to take over small businesses as the older generations retire here. It's an aging and shrinking population and we need educated people to do these jobs."
"Still, there are perils to the programs," Geller writes. "Necessities like housing have proved problematic in some counties." One participant says he has to drive 20 minutes to get to his job, another says it's a 90-minute drive to the nearest Target. "The lack of a social life and opportunity to meet potential partners may limit how long people in their 20s and 30s stay in these areas once they get their loans paid down." (Read more)
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