PC Economic Development awarded grant for housing assessment

    Phillips County Economic Development has been granted $12,500 by Colorado’s Department of Local Affairs to cover the cost of a proposed housing assessment.
    PCED executive director Trisha Herman said the assessment will allow PCED to quantify the county’s housing shortage and open the door for winning more grant money in the future.
    “This will be able to prove what we have and what we need,” she said.
    The grant has so far been matched by pledges from the City of Holyoke, Town of Haxtun, Phillips County, Holyoke School District, Melissa Memorial Hospital, Haxtun Hospital District and PCED itself.
    Herman said that, altogether, the pledges and the DOLA grant are more than enough to cover the estimated $25,000 cost of the assessment.
    She also said that the show of community support was instrumental in making the case for funding to DOLA.
    “That was a huge seller, them being able to see that there was a community partnership and that it wasn’t just one group or person.”
    Herman received word March 7 that the county had been awarded the grant, and the news was announced publicly at the March 29 meeting of the Phillips County Board of Commissioners.
    PCED began pushing for a housing assessment last year. At PCED’s On Board meeting in October, Herman sat down with local business leaders who stressed the impact of the housing shortage on growth and hiring.
    Herman said PCED is already in contact with a firm willing to perform the assessment in conjunction with Yuma County Economic Development, although the organization will be submitting a request for proposal prior to the project’s start. She estimated that the assessment will take six months to complete.
    Phillips County was last assessed for its housing needs in 2004.