For more than a decade, the Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corporation has been helping local entrepreneurs turn business ideas into reality—and in August, that effort reached a significant milestone.
For the first time in its history, PCEDC’s revolving loan fund surpassed $1 million in active loans to local businesses.
PCEDC will host candidate forums this fall, in preparation for the General Election taking place on Tuesday, November 3rd. The forums will take place in Westmoreland and Onaga on September 21st and 23rd, respectively.
Ground has officially been broken on the North Ridge Apartments Expansion, a project that will add 48 new housing units in two new buildings, including units earmarked for senior housing.
When rural communities begin considering data centers, much of the discussion naturally centers on what might happen. Pryor Creek, Oklahoma, offers something that few communities can: more than 15 years of experience answering those questions in the real world.
Q2 stats for Pottawatomie County show an anticipated summer-time boost in home sales, and continued sales tax growth. The number of building permits issued in the county outpaced permits issued in 2025; this pattern follows from the first quarter. In addition, the workforce numbers for both Pottawatomie and Riley counties remained steady. Generally, the indicators point to positive growth for the county throughout the first half of the year.
With childcare shortages and rising costs putting pressure on employees, and even keeping some out of the workforce entirely, employers have a unique opportunity to attract talent with childcare benefits. For employers that may be interested in offering these benefits, there are tax credits available to help fund that effort.
The initial economic data for Pottawatomie County is strong, with a steady labor force around the upper 13,000s (although it peaked to 14,001 in February), and sales tax revenues increasing over the same quarter last year. Home sales were also fairly strong for the early spring months, with the Q1 2026 home sales count outpacing the same from 2025 by ten sales.
Public interest in Beltline Energy’s proposed Pottawatomie County data center project has generated a number of questions from residents and elected officials. To help address those questions and provide additional information to the community, Beltline Energy submitted written responses. We are sharing those responses below to help inform the ongoing discussion.
Data centers have become an increasingly important part of modern infrastructure as more aspects of daily life, business, and government operations rely on digital technology.
From streaming movies and storing photos online to cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), online banking, healthcare systems, and remote work, many of the services people use every day depend on data centers operating behind the scenes.
Site selection is typically based on several factors, including power infrastructure, fiber connectivity, land availability, tax policy, water access, and local planning processes. In Kansas, Pottawatomie County and the Greater Manhattan region contain several characteristics that may align with some of those criteria.
