Connection was the theme of the Washington Economic Development Group annual presentation to the Washington County Board of Supervisors. 

WEDG Executive Director Mary Audia shared on the successful year of projects that the group had, “We have housing and workforce meetings that WEDG hosts once a quarter. All of which directly supports workforce retention and attraction. At the same time, your partnership and collaboration has enabled key workforce, childcare, and leadership that extend beyond brick and mortar. Educational grants, that is one of the things we are excited about right now. So, we give educational grants to students that are going into the trades. Things we need as we go along. We are onto student-built project number three in Kalona. And also we started a 501c3 childcare support group that’s called Creative Sprouts.” 

The rest of Audia’s report at Tuesday’s supervisors’ meeting highlighted business retention and expansion, housing, childcare, and community support for the county. They placed a funding request of $23,000 to the Board of Supervisors for the continued contribution to the County, which is the same amount requested as the previous year.