Civil Municipal Magazine Aug 2023

228 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 8 an ideal position, as Rodgers points out. “We’re really in a great location,” she opines, “as the Mayor says. You can have that quality of life out here, that small-town charm. But we’re close enough (to St. Louis) to also take advantage of all the things a big city has to offer, whether that’s jobs or supply-chain matters. We also have people who like to live out here.” Rodgers also praises the strong schools of the Lincoln County School District, and she cites the recent acquisition of the local county hospital by Mercy Hospitals Systems (now Mercy Hospital-Lincoln and Mercy Urgent Care). “They’re able to provide so many more services that weren’t offered before,” she adds. “There are so many positive things that are just really growing in the right direction.” The next generation Another example of this right direction, Rodgers continues, was attracting Ranken Technical College into the Troy city limits, last year. According to college representatives, this is the school’s fourth such location. Ranken has been serving the St. Louis region for more than a century, with education and training in a variety of technical disciplines. Ranken’s local campus offers students a technical education without going far from their homes. Then there’s the residential slice of the economic pie. Sconce says a new apartment complex is slated to come up in downtown Troy. Also, the Missouri Department of Transportation is overseeing an overpass project that Sconce says will alleviate traffic problems. Rodgers notes that Troy has a rosy future ahead of it. “We want to focus on local, good-paying jobs,” she says, “and a good quality of life, so that when our students finish here, they want to stay here.” Sconce concurs. “For our town to survive,” he says, “we want to keep people here.” PREFERRED VENDOR/PARTNER n Ro-Mar Supply Inc. www.romarsupplyinc.com