to 300 positions. “We have very good access to a workforce with all of the soldiers getting out of the military, which is a huge asset for us,” Giordano observes. Small business development receives attention through partnerships with the Area Development Corporation and Chamber of Commerce. “We have what they call business classes where you sign up for classes and they talk about taxes and insurance and employees and just different things that you need to know,” Giordano explains.“A lot of businesses fail because they don’t understand the business aspect of it.” The Veteran EPiC competition exemplifies innovative approaches to entrepreneurship. Veterans and their families participate in business training culminating in a Shark Tank-style competition. “That was really successful. They had 12 or 15 applicants,” Giordano reports. TOURISM, RECREATION, AND QUALITY OF LIFE Milford Lake anchors Geary County’s tourism strategy as Kansas’s largest reservoir. The lake has earned national recognition, including hosting prestigious fishing tournaments and producing the current Kansas record smallmouth bass at 6.88 pounds. Acorns Resort serves as the lake’s premier destination. “Acorns is the only full-service resort,” explains Raquel Cinco, Director of the Geary County Convention & Visitors Bureau. “They offer lodgings with cabins, yurts, a lodge room, they’ve got 60 RV spaces. They also have a restaurant on site called the Cove and an event center space that can hold events for up to 250 guests.” Additional lake amenities include Thunderbird Marina, Flagstop, and the state park with cabins and RV facilities. Historical tourism represents another significant draw. The county serves as a major stop for Run for the Wall, an annual motorcycle ride.“We host one of the stops for Run for the Wall and that’s a ride that starts in California, goes all the way to Washington, and we are one of their major stops,” Cinco notes.“That helps host a ton of riders that are all veterans or families of veterans.” Public safety initiatives support residents and visitors through comprehensive law enforcement services. Both the sheriff’s department and Junction City police are pursuing national accreditation through CALEA, with the sheriff’s department positioned to become the first accredited sheriff’s office in Kansas. The Safe Streets for All program funds comprehensive road safety assessments. “We get with this grant basically the funds to get an engineering firm to review our local road safety action plan,” explains Administrative Services Manager Kalyn Ross.“They’ll dig deeper and enhance our safety action plan in hopes that in the future we can apply through another grant and get more funding for actual construction work.” VISION FOR THE FUTURE: INTEGRATION AND COLLABORATION Geary County’s leadership envisions continued 41 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 09 GEARY COUNTY, KS
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