The Greene County Development Corporation Board met Tuesday.

Developer Nate Adams gave an update on the former Greene County Middle School conversion to apartment project. He said the overall cost of the project to create 25 apartments in the three-story portion is $6.1 million and so far he has secured over $2.6 million in grants and the last major part of the funding is waiting for the state and federal historic tax credits for $2.1 million. 

Engineer Chris Deal gave an update on several upper story apartment projects in downtown Jefferson. He said the former hardware store, now The Public House, was awarded a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant and another $500,000 CDBG grant was awarded to the upper story apartments at 200 East State Street, where Heartland Bank and Gravitate are located. 

Deal also gave an update on The Forge in Jefferson. He said because of the ongoing pandemic, Accenture, who is operating the building on East State Street, has been closed. However, students with Des Moines Area Community College and Iowa Central Community College have gone through an internship program and some are looking to enter Accenture’s apprenticeship program. 

Greene County ISU Extension Director Lori Mannel talked about a new program that will be at the end of February called Career Readiness. It is for anyone who wants to sharpen their soft skills to enter the workforce or look for a new job. The program is free and it will be three evenings at the Career Academy.

The GCDC Board also heard from U.S. Congressman Randy Feenstra and Adam Schweers, who is the President of the Highway 30 Coalition.