The building that formerly housed Orscheln Farm and Home in Trenton was sold last week to Jason and Shayna Hostetler of Trenton.
North Central Missouri Development Alliance Executive Director Scott Sharp says the sale process started a few years ago when former Executive Director Micah Landes reached out to individuals in area counties about bringing business to Trenton.
Sharp reached out to some of those same individuals after he had new information on people leaving the community to buy groceries in the surrounding area. He comments he told those individuals how successful they could be in the community.
Sharp uses Placer AI software that he says involves information based on cell phone data. It shows how many people move around and where they go.
The information shows that people are traveling to shop there.
Sharp says the Hostetlers plan to have things at the new store in Trenton that someone could find at the surplus store in Jamesport.
Sharp notes it has been difficult to bring another full-scale supermarket to Trenton.
The Trenton City Council approved a utility incentive last week to attract the new business. It involved three years of discounts off the Trenton Municipal Utilities electric rate. There will be five percent off the first year, 15% off the second year, and 25% off the third year.
A tourism group was started several years ago to provide information on events happening in Daviess, Grundy, and Sullivan counties. North Central Missouri Alliance Executive Director Scott Sharp says the North Missouri Tourism Commission was created in preparation for the future Roy Blunt Reservoir in Sullivan County.
He reports Jackie Soptic, who worked at the Green Hills Regional Development Corporation at the time, wrote a grant to start a Highway 6 heritage tourism group. The group looked at Highway 6 as a pipeline for traffic from the Kansas City area.
Sharp says the North Missouri Tourism Commission puts up community calendars in the area at places like gas stations, hotels, and restaurants. There is a new calendar every quarter. The group also tries to put up calendars in some places along the highway outside of Daviess, Grundy, and Sullivan counties, so other people can know what is happening in the area.
North Central Missouri Development Alliance Executive Director Scott Sharp reports Trenton did not receive an American Rescue Plan Act grant for $250,000 from the Missouri Department of Economic Development regarding tourism.
The grant application sought funds for wayfinding signs, two downtown murals, downtown planter boxes, picnic tables, and the enclosure of the Tom Brown log cabin.
Sharp says Trenton met the grant qualifications, but it was a “very competitive” process.
It was previously reported pledges included those from Main Street Trenton, the Trenton Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Hoover Foundation, Wright Memorial Hospital, the Trenton Park Board, the City of Trenton, the Trenton Area Chamber of Commerce, Peter Trombley, the Grundy County Museum, and BTC Bank.
Sharp plans to go to those who pledged money to see if they would still consider pledging funds to do the signage portion of the project.
He says he has been told Trenton is not a “super easy” city to navigate because it has different angles of streets.
Sharp comments having wayfinding signs also “dresses up” a corridor.
North Central Missouri Development Alliance Executive Director Scott Sharp looks for grant opportunities to benefit Trenton.
In an interview April 19th, Sharp said he is looking into reapplying for a Union Pacific grant for Main Street Trenton/the Trenton Downtown Improvement Association. He explained the organization has received the grant in the past, but they have to “pin down” the project they will use the grant for.
There has also been discussion with multiple entities about the need in the community for daycare and daycare expansion. Sharp said there have been recent articles about the region being a daycare desert. He wants to understand what the problems are and the best way to try to solve them.
He noted there are ratios for daycare facilities on how many children they can have per staff member.
Sharp said there are also housing developers who want to build in Trenton.
Sharp commented that more than 100 houses have been torn down in Trenton in the last decade.
Questions can be directed to Sharp at 660-654-1511.
