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The Student News Site of University of Central Missouri

Muleskinner

The Student News Site of University of Central Missouri

Muleskinner

County working to attract industry through Enhanced Enterprise Zone

By ALEXANDRA LAMBDIN
(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) – The Johnson County Commission is working on a plan to bring more jobs to the area, starting in the Warrensburg area.
The Johnson County Economic Development Corporation met Thursday morning with the Johnson County Commission at the courthouse to discuss the beginning steps of creating an Enhanced Enterprise Zone.
An Enhanced Enterprise Zone is a real estate tax abatement program designed to help attract new businesses to a community by providing tax relief for a certain number of years.
“(It is) a tool on the shelf so that we can attract industry,” said Dee Hudson, JCEDC board member.
The county is still working to put together a seven-member board before applying to the Missouri Department of Economic Development for the Enhanced Enterprise Zone. School boards in the county will caucus to name their representatives.
“In order to put this into motion, we have to have the county pass this resolution that says we will name, in essence, this Enhanced Enterprise Zone committee board that will start working on it,” Hudson said.
Maps of the eligible area were pulled from the 2010 census. The maps include the cities of Knob Noster, Warrensburg, Holden and the Crest Ridge area. The JCEDC board would like to start by implementing a zone in the Warrensburg area, Hudson said.
The EEZ is applied to a zone when there is economic distress due to lack of development. The EEZ provides tax benefits for new or expanding eligible businesses within the zone. These are businesses with the potential to create sustainable jobs in a targeted industry.
Tracy Brantner, JCEDC executive director, said it is uncertain how many jobs this zone would create. It is also unknown what the necessary criteria would be for businesses to qualify for benefits within the zone since the county has not made its application to the state yet.
A viewable map of the proposed EEZ area can be found at www.trailsrpc.org/jcedc. For more information, contact the Johnson County Economic Development Corporation at 660-747-0244.

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County working to attract industry through Enhanced Enterprise Zone