By City Times staff

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Wood County will receive assistance in creating and implementing a county-wide economic development plan through the Rural Economic Development Innovation (REDI) initiative.

County Board Chair Doug Machon said that the county was in the top eight of 84 applicants and that the grant will give the community an opportunity to work together toward development.

The REDI initiative is open to rural communities with 50,000 or fewer people.

Partners, Purdue University and the University of Kentucky, will work with local leaders to “implement an economic development plan that includes evidence-based assessments, quantifiable goals, plans to improve the local and regional economy, and metrics to track progress.”

In September 2018, the USDA awarded $1.2 million to four organizations that helped create and finance the initiative. In June, Wood County was one of 47 communities to be selected for the REDI initiative.

More information will become available in the upcoming weeks.