The following stories from this week appeared on www.jamestownsun.com and in The Jamestown Sun.
The Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. Board of Directors unanimously approved on Monday, Nov. 10, $35,000 in additional funding for the Internship Reimbursement Program.
If approved by the Jamestown City Council and Stutsman County Commission, the program will be funded on an 80-20 city-county split, with the city's share being $28,000 and the county’s share at $7,000.
The JSDC’s Internship Reimbursement Program will now be called the Workforce Pathways Program.
Alyssa Looysen, business development director at JSDC, said changes to the program include a requirement for a full-time position being available for the intern to transition to, expanding employer questions to help better understand how the internship supports long-term workforce development goals, industry skill needs and mentorship opportunities, updated branding to reflect the focus on workforce development and a new evaluation rubric.
Digital campaigns aim to turn travel interest into Jamestown visits
Jamestown Tourism has been focusing on raising awareness about the community as a destination and turning that into visitors who are actively planning a trip to the area, according to Warren Abrahamson, marketing manager for the organization and the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We wanted to extend our marketing through the travel season and beyond a little bit more and improve our return on investment,” he said.
Abrahamson spoke about Jamestown Tourism’s marketing efforts and the impact of that work at the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. Board of Directors meeting on Monday, Nov. 10.
The JSDC board approved a Jamestown Tourism request of $125,000 for continued support to help tourism sites, events and other recreational entities that generate economic impact by bringing visitors to the community.
If approved by the Jamestown City Council and Stutsman County Commission, the city of Jamestown’s share will be $100,000, while the county’s share will be $25,000.
Abrahamson said the funds have allowed Jamestown Tourism to increase its digital presence to reach more people who might be interested in visiting the community.
The co-chairs of the James River Valley Library System Board of Directors will start working on a draft for a new memorandum of agreement for the city of Jamestown and Stutsman County to provide joint library services.
City Administrator Sarah Hellekson, a Stutsman County appointed member to the library board, said at the library board meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 12, that work on a draft of the new memorandum of agreement will begin Thursday, Nov. 13.
On Nov. 3, the Jamestown City Council approved having Hellekson work with Jessica Alonge, county auditor/chief operating officer who is a city appointed member to the board, to draft a new memorandum of agreement for joint library services for the city and county.
The draft of the new memorandum of agreement could be ready for review by the City Council and the Stutsman County Commission before Jan. 1.
Once the draft of the agreement is completed, it will be sent to the James River Valley Library System’s attorney, Abbagail Geroux, for review.
The city of Jamestown and Stutsman County have provided joint library services under the agreement after voters approved a measure in 2008 to combine them.
he Jamestown Salvation Army’s food pantry is running low on food and is in need of donations , said Candy Laube, social service lead coordinator.
“Our food pantry depends on donations from the community,” she said, adding that they’ve been low recently. “... with the cut in the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits, more people are depending on the pantries, and we have an influx of people, so our pantry is just low on food.”
The federal government shutdown, which began Oct. 1, also affected payments for federal SNAP benefits.
More people have been needing food since about mid-October, and the demand has grown in November, Laube said.
In 2022, the most recent statistics available from the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services, 2,071 people in Stutsman County received assistance from SNAP, The Jamestown Sun reported on Nov. 1. That amounts to 9.6% of the county’s population based on the 2020 U.S. Census.