Kooskia, ID

The Old Opera House is for sale. We are in danger of losing this community icon built in 1912. Couple this with 9 other businesses for sale or just sold in downtown Kooskia and you have a community on the brink of economic disaster. The Kooskia Horizons Economic Action Team identified this need early on and partnered with the Upper Clearwater Community Foundation to get a grant from the Idaho Commission on the Arts to do a feasibility study to determine if it would be viable to have this building be purchased by a local 501 c 3 and retained as a community building. The answer was a resounding YES! However, the current owners have an offer in the works so we are on hold. The good news is that the anchor tenant, a local arts cooperative, is moving forward in hopes that this building will be available for rent or that they will look for another location. And thanks to local media coverage, the other businesses for sale have had increased interest.

Communication, communication, communication..
Nothing happens without Communication. Communication is one of the keys to keeping the momentum going to address the issues of poverty in our community. We are communicating through e-mail, blogs, flyers in the local adds, phone trees, newspaper articles, community bulletin boards, and community resource guide. This is not only for Kooskia, and Stites. We are seeking to incorporate and cooperate with other communities so that we do not try to reinvent the wheel that someone else has already done. So… keep the lines of communication open.

It is always one of the critical points of solving a problem.

The Horizons Program has done amazing things for the communities in North Central Idaho. The least of which is encouraging, motivating and supporting all community members.
As Horizons Phase II transitions into a community-based program, the Upper Clearwater Community Foundation (UCCF) will act as the fiscal agent and 501 c3 non-profit organization. The Foundation is an established organization that has provided support to the community projects in the Clearwater Valley for the past 2 years.
With the increased involvement of community members, we are looking forward to Kooskia becoming the embodiment of our community vision.

Study Circle demographics:

The Kooskia Horizon Program was successful in having community input from a wide variety of ages, cultures and economic levels express their concerns for the future of our community. They expressed concern about the need for family wage jobs in a community that is sending all the best and the brightest of the youth to other places to find work. Another concern was that the low income people have little or no ability to find and use the existing resources.
From those Study circles we have formed a community vision statement, then formed action teams to work on the areas of needs. The three action teams are Economic Development, Education, Leadership and Youth, and Communication & Community Service. The wide variety of community members are also reflected in the different action teams. We look forward seeing what will be coming in the days ahead.

When asked about how something is going to be funded, one of the immediate responses is “grants”. But what does this entail? And what happens after you get a grant – grant administration, what is that? In March, two Kooskia residents will be attending a 3-day grant writing class along with other Horizon communities to learn these answers and more. When they are done, they along with fellow newly trained “grant writers” from neighboring communities, will return home and conduct local workshops to develop grant writing teams. And then an informed decision can be made as to if indeed grants are a viable solution to SOME of our needs.

Can you believe that Kooskia is now seeing a change in the people who are involved in community events? As the Horizon’s Leadership Program continues to roll forward, we are now seeing new faces becoming involved. This is an exciting change in our small community! As I have become more involved myself this has been one of the issues that has become apparent as the annual events unfold. Thank you to all of you who are taking action instead of sitting back and watching. Each time we have met at Horizon’s Program Events such as the Steering Committee, Leadership Plenty, Visioning Rally, Commuity Pot-Luck, etc. it has been a pleasure to meet, see, and rub shoulders with people in our community with whom I’ve never met previously.

Kooskia and Stites are partnering together on a Horizons Project. A resource guide for Kooskia/Stites and the surrounding area is definitely needed. Many people don’t know what products and services are available right here in our area. With gas around $3.00 a gallon, why waste our money and especially our time going out of town, when we could buy gifts, arts and crafts, and many services here and support our Local Family. Because of this, Kooskia & Stites have solicited infomation from all citizens to identify all services and businesses in our area. This all-inclusive resource guide will be available to all community members and new arrivals to inform them of everything available in our community.

In response to the rising demand for entrepreneural training in rural Idaho, Lewis Clark State College (LCSC) developed an on-line class. Identified as one of the top needs in Kooskia and upon inquiry with the LCSC Small Business Development about their NxLevel program, the offer was made for interested budding entrepreneurs to test this class. Normally the NxLevel 12 session class is conducted on the LCSC campus in Lewiston, 45 miles away and at a $300 fee; both huge barriers. In two days, 21 participants stepped forward to begin the class. This immediate response reaffirmed with LCSC the need for this class.

In late April, early May Kooskia Horizons will join together will Phase I Horizons community, Kamiah to host a 9 hour entrepreneur workshop locally to provide additional assistance to those taking the on-line course and to other people within the region.

Writing a blog (short for Web Log) is the way people of all ages are communicating on the internet. The Kooskia Horizions Program identified a need in our community to train people how to blog to enable everyone to have a voice in our area.

The Blog training will be presented to our community by local youth because during the training given by the Horizions to the community, our youth ran circles around the rest of us.

Keep an eye our for the training schedule!

The Horizon’s Program through U of I held a multi-community Summit meeting in Grangeville on Thursday, January 24th, 2008. Our community had 5 representatives in attendance. The focus of this meeting was to have each community partner with other communities, groups, organizations, and representatives. This was a success for the representatives from our community. We were able to make contact with organizations such as Velocity Business Inc., The Hingston Roach Group, Inc., Lewis-Clark State College, Idaho Heritage Trust, University of Idaho Outreach Program, Rural School Community Trust, Clearwater Economic Development, USDA Rural Development, and approximately a dozen others. Each of these organizations has a specific focus in assisting communities like ours. The communities also had about 15 minutes each to present their successes, set-backs, progress, and further plans. Through these presentations we were able to discover other ideas that may be implemented for our community. We were also able to meet many of their key individuals in their Horizon’s group. This opportunity has now given us a key part to creating a better community. Personally, I was also asking for information regarding groups or organizations who will help fund private business ventures. There have been a few ideas passed around that will help establish an economic foundation for our progress. This has been an area of focus that will require more development.

The Greater Kooskia Chamber of Commerce is starting out the new year with a new look. Some of the new board members transitioned from leadership roles in the hHorizons Program to leadership positions in the Chamber. In addition, the Chamber has moved thier meeting time to evenings to accomodate a wider variety of members and businesses.

The lastest group to partener with the Chamber is the Student Council/Student body of Clearwater Valley High School. This exciting move will increase the participation of youth in our community activities.

We look forward to some great events from these groups!

Finding information in Kooskia is as easy as walking down the street!
Kooskia Main Street is the place to go to find the information you need. With the revamping of the Community Bulletin Boards, information is available for those looking for housing assistance, food bank contacts, utility assistance, job placement, odd jobs and community events.
Check out the new bulletin boards on Main Street in Kooskia, across from City Hall, next to NAPA Auto Parts.

To get the answer to this question, the Economic Development Action Teams of the Kooskia and Stites Horizons groups contacted the Universtity of Idaho to request assistance for a survey of our area to determine what businesses would be successful and how to market our area to attract those businesses. We are looking forward to the start of this survey in Spring/Summer 2008.

When Horizons guest speaker David Buerle came to Kooskia for our visioning rally I was very excited to see that over 100 members of our community participated. I was also astonished that when Mr. Buerle asked if Kooskia had a newspaper, NOT ONE PERSON had responded with the answer yes. Wow! Did anyone realize that THE CLEARWATER PROGRESS was their community newspaper?

With Kooskia feeling they had no connection to the community newspaper, THE CLEARWATER PROGRESS, even though this newspaper covers sports, events, obituaries, organizations, city and other news that directly relates to Kooskia, I wondered what can be done to make the connection.

I took the information from the rally back to the editor of THE CLEARWATER PROGRESS. After a few months of brainstorming as to how we can better serve Kooskia and the rest of our Clearwater Valley residents, the decision was made.

Beginning the first week in February 2008, THE CLEARWATER PROGRESS NEWSPAPER, will become a FREE community newspaper. It will be delivered to EVERY mailbox in the zip codes that belong to Kooskia, Kamiah and Stites. How exciting is that?!

The folks at the paper are excited too. They feel that they are offering a quality product that is relevant to the whole Clearwater Valley. They will be keeping the community informed and they recognize that their contribution will help reduce poverty in our region.

The newspaper is taking a huge risk by going against the grain. But they are also a forward thinking bunch. How better to reach their consumer than by distributing the news for free? How cool is that?

Once you receive your free paper, recognize that it is a direct result of the Horizons program. Do your part and read the news, participate in community discussion and patronize local businesses.

The Greater Kooskia Chamber of Commerce recently met with the Clearwater Valley High School Student Council. They spoke about a future partnership between the two to get Kooskia youth more involved in the community. Out of that meeting plans for 2008 Kooskia Days were discussed. Based on Student Council input more youth activities will be included during the annual Kooskia Days event. Youth will be involved in the monthly planning meetings, event setup and as volunteers during the event. Kooskia Days will be the first of other Chamber/Kooskia youth endeavers. This is creating opportunities for future leaders of our community.

Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend the Kooskia Horizons Community Potluck on Saturday, January 19, 2007, from 12:00-1:30, at the Kooskia Community Center at City Hall.
This event is to update the community on where each Action Group is now and what the plans are for the future. Come & visit with your friends and neighbors, bring a dish, and discuss the future of Kooskia!

Our next Steering Committee Meeting will be held, Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. at the Valley Bible Church in Kooskia. All members need to be there, as we will be discussing our Potluck and many other important issues along with some changes. See you there!