Grundy Resiliency Project meetings focus on county's strengths, future

The Grundy Resiliency Project held three meetings this week with residents to discuss how they feel about the Grundy County economy, what the most important issues the county faces are, and what they want the economy to look like in 10 years.

Jeff Marcell, a Senior Partner at TIP Strategies and Mishka Parkins, a consultant with TIP Strategies, walked a group of nine people through their process Tuesday evening.

“Our goal ultimately is to create an actionable plan,” Parkins said. “Not just have pie-in-the-sky ideas, but to actually have strategies that can be implemented.”

Parkins said the goal is to ensure there is prosperity and resilience within Grundy County that would protect it in case a major business closes. The grant funding that made the Grundy Resiliency Project possible came about because of the potential closure of the Dresden Nuclear Station a few years ago.

Overall, the group of residents were optimistic in tone about the future of Grundy County.

Christy Kelly, a small business owner who also works for the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce, said Morris is a friendly community that goes out of its way for each other. One of the things that makes her proud of the community is that locals went out of their way to shop at small businesses during the pandemic, and none of them had to shut down.

That sentiment was echoed through the group: Everyone agreed that Grundy County is a nice place to live.

That doesn’t mean Grundy County is without its problems, however.

“There’s a very drastic shortage of both rental and purchase properties,” said Ken Buck, the Director of the Grundy County Veterans Assistance Commission. “We don’t have large subdivisions being built here. We have small ones-and-two homes built here and there. I’ve been here almost 20 years, and I don’t know of a single apartment building or apartment complex that has been built in the county.”

Ken’s wife, Julie, who is the director of the Community Foundation of Grundy County, said she’s seen in the town Facebook groups people struggling to find a rental for $1,500 a month.

Education was also somewhere residents want Grundy County to improve. Joliet Junior College has a campus in Morris at the former Shabbona School, but there’s still a need for more nurses.

“Nursing programs in our region struggle because nurses make more money as a nurse than as an instructor,” Julie said. “That’s a problem here.”

There’s also concerns over travel in the future: Elaine Ward said she lived in San Francisco without a vehicle for 10 years and regularly used transportation. It’s beneficial, but she had to adapt and be aware of her surroundings, especially when coming home at night.

It’s about 10 years down the road, but a Peoria-to-Chicago train line could reconnect Grundy County with Chicago for the first time in decades.

Julie said Grundy Transit is also in need of expansion that would allow those in Grundy County a way to get to work if they can’t drive.

The meetings covered a lot of ground of concerns for the citizens, which Marcell will be taken into consideration and put into an actionable plan that will be drafted later this year.