May 21, 2002, Topeka, Kansas-- Wichita County is beginning its fifth year in administering a ten- year USDA Rural Development grant to combat loss of population. Eliminating the void in employment opportunities is the major objective in reversing the trend of graduating students who leave and are forced to locate in metropolitan areas with greater employment potential. Outmigration is a serious problem in many of the Kansas rural communities. The Enterprise Community Initiative offers communities financial leveraging tools to use in developing projects that will aid in gaining long term sustainability in declining rural areas.

Randy Gibson and Sharon Colbert, with the USDA Office of Community Development (OCD), Washington DC, accompanied by Chuck Banks, State Director, USDA Rural Development, toured projects and met with local leaders in Wichita County, the State's Enterprise Community, and Vicki Berning, Administrator of Wichita County Health Center, to share many of the local success projects.