Wapello County to Benefit from I-JOBS

We ended the day with a visit to Ottumwa, and I must say it was great to be back home.

As many of you know, I grew up in Albia, and raised my family on a farm between Albia and Ottumwa. We had a little extra time in our travels from Creston, so we drove by the farm. I was glad to see it was still there, and I'm sorry that I don't get back down there as much as I would like.

We headed on into Ottumwa, and had a very nice event with representatives from the City and Wapello County.We held our event in their historic City Hall, which is going to get a face lift thanks to a $229,000 grant from I-JOBS. The public entrance to the building is crumbling due to years of wear, and these funds will help repair this grand old building and preserve it for future generations.

But that's not the only I-JOBS funds coming to the area. Wapello County also received funding to the tune of $5.35 million to replace the old and obsolete bridge in Chillicothe, northwest of Ottumwa, and pave the road that connects the two communities.This is real money coming to this area, and these two projects are expected to create or retain more than 70 jobs in the area.

In the coming months, I-JOBS is going to have a real impact on this community.

Once we got back in the car, we got the latest on the weather, and we decided to head for home. It looks like we are going to get quite a bit of snow in the next couple of days and don't want to end up sitting in a ditch along the road. So, we will hit the road again next week, and visit the southeast Iowa communities then. I hope everyone stays safe in this winter weather. It looks like a good night for a fire in the fireplace and maybe a little television watching.

Until next time,

Patty