The Sumner County Economic Development Commission (SCEDC) has been awarded a grant in the amount of $9,000.00 to provide training opportunities for Sumner County businesses and entrepreneurs.  This grant was provided by the South Central Kansas Economic Development District (SCKEDD) and is funded in part by the Rural Business Development Tax Credit Program.

"We are pleased to have been chosen as a recipient of this grant funding.  This will allow us to offer classes either free or at a greatly reduced cost to our Sumner County businesses," stated Janis Hellard,

A merger of First National Bank in Wellington and Caldwell State Bank in Caldwell has been approved.  The banks opened on April 2, 2012 as Impact Bank.  Impact Bank will now be Sumner County's largest locally ownd, community bank.

"The name 'Impact Bank' was chesen to communicate the historic and ongoing commitment to positively impact the financial lives of our customers, " John T. Stewart said, Chairman of the board and local philanthropist.

The new substation will connect BP Wind Energy's new Flat Ridge 2 wind farm to a 345 kV transmission line.  The construction began in January and is expected to be completed in July.  Once construction on the 13-acre substation is complete BP Wind Energy will hand over the building to Westar Energy.

Flat Ridge 2 will be a 419-megawatt wind farm that stretches across 66,000 acres.  The wind farm will also create 500 jobs during construction and another 30 permanent operational jobs once it is completed in the fall of 2012.

This is