The host of Friday’s Java and Juice program was Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency in Jefferson.
The regional AEA serves over 32,000 students in 39 public and 11 non-public school districts. It employs 250 people, with 10-15 employees operating out of the Jefferson location on the northside of the downtown square. Chief Administrator Jeff Herzberg said they recently completed the upper-story apartment of the building. The project began in 2017 after receiving a $25,000 challenge grant through Main Street Iowa. Then after Jefferson Matters: Main Street, Greene County Development Corporation and Prairie Lakes partnered together for the rest of the financing, the Greene County High School construction class did most of the demolition and renovation.
Herzberg talked about having different groups working together to achieve the same goal.
“I think it’s the collaboration of all the entities. It’s really hard to get things done today by yourself unless you’ve just got unlimited resources, which none of us do. So it’s really neat to see people come together and work on projects like this to enhance the community and again give young people the training that they need today.”
Herzberg added the project was completed on July 31st and a family of three moved in August 1st. Check out the before and after photos of the apartment.
