Elizabeth Althoff
It’s that time again when we pick a city, county or a region of the state to feature the economic footprint of LAGERS. With the holidays upon us, I found myself thinking close to home and realized that we had yet to do a feature on my home county.
I live in Moniteau County, Missouri. It’s not a place folks are typically familiar with, but you may have passed through at some point in your life and noticed the “Black 8 Ball” water tower in Tipton, or picked up a package of Burger’s Smokehouse bacon at your local grocery store, and caught the ‘Made in California, MO’ label. It’s a rural kind of place, where the biggest town in the county has one-stop light and a sleepy way about it. It’s home to me, the place where I’m raising my kids, and where I’ll gather this Thanksgiving with my family.
As I flipped through our Economic Impact reports, I realized the reason I’ve never featured it is because the number of LAGERS members and retirees -59 to be exact- pales in comparison to some of our larger counties or employers. But then I realized there are counties and towns like this all over the state; small, rural places that make up the fabric of who we are as Missourians. These places are easily overlooked, and while the handful LAGERS members in Moniteau County may not be headline-worthy for most, they are terribly important to me- and I’m grateful for each and every one of them. I’m grateful that even though we are a small community with limited resources, that our public servants still have access to a retirement tool like LAGERS. I’m grateful that these public servants – through their care and dedication- make our small community a place to call home. And I’m grateful these individuals can someday afford to retire and continue to contribute to an economy that will enable my community to grow and flourish for generations to come.
This Thanksgiving, I am feeling particularly thankful for not just my community, but for all the small towns and rural public servants, who though often forgotten, make every corner of this state something to be proud of! If you’d like to explore the economic impact of LAGERS in your local area, download the full report!
