POCATELLO — Bannock County has opened its Youth Development Center that will provide resources to youth in the area and serve as an administrative hub for the Bannock County Events Complex.

The ribbon-cutting for the center, located at 10588 Fairgrounds Road, was held at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The building features a classroom, serving area, laundry room, conference room and offices. It cost $2.6 million and was funded through ARPA money.

Scott Crowther, director of the Bannock County Events Complex, said he is grateful to the Bannock County commissioners for their support in this project.

“Their support for our community has proven vital for successful operations,” Crowther said. “I also want to thank Director Matt Olsen and his team for helping to make this building possible.”

Crowther said this new facility is a place where the community is brought together. It will be a place for students at risk of expulsion to learn and for county officials to plan events.

“This is a partnership that I really look forward to building and working on over the next few years,” Crowther said.

It will be the center of Bannock County’s 22-acre event center complex, and it represents the heartbeat of all operations.

“Here at the complex, we run thousands of events every year,” Crowther said. “This is where our events start and really come to fruition.”

This facility will provide Crowther and his team with a new place to hold meetings where they can plan events. He looks forward to planning more events in the future.

“We’re excited about next year and all the possibilities it has to offer,” Crowther said. “I’m grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait to get to work and bring a great season next year.”

Once Crowther finished his remarks, Bannock County Commissioner Ernie Moser addressed the audience. He said the county received a total of $17 million in ARPA funds and that there were several ideas for how to use them.

“As commissioners, we sit back and we study and we evaluate,” Moser said. “We ask how can we make this money go the farthest?”

The commissioners wanted the funds to go toward something that would last for a long time. This new building was one of many projects that was made possible thanks to that funding.

“If you were ever up here before and got a ticket to one of our events, we had three of our employees in one little cubicle,” Moser said. “Now, when I walk into their offices, they’ve got big smiles on their faces.”

Moser said he and the other commissioners had the opportunity to tour the old facility at the previous county jail, and they knew they needed a new facility.

“For these kids and for our staff to be where they were at, it broke my heart,” Moser said. “That’s not where our staff should be teaching their kids. This is the type of facility where those young people need to be taught.”

Moser said he is excited about this new facility and that it will be beneficial to youth throughout the county.

“We’re going to let Bannock County’s light shine in both of these facilities,” Moser said.

Tonya Wilkes, director for athletics and student support services for the school district, also made some remarks at the ribbon-cutting.

“It took a lot of good people to get to where we’re at today,” Wilkes said. “Ten years ago, we had some visionaries come together.”

Wilkes said the people who made this possible cared about the students. They knew that dropping out of high school would have a negative impact on the lives of these youth.

“Bringing kids an opportunity to receive their high school diploma that otherwise would never be given is pretty awesome,” Wilkes said.

Everyone involved with the Youth Development Center, from Bannock County to the school district, has made a difference in the lives of not only these students, but in the lives of their families as well.

“This partnership began with a simple but powerful goal,” Wilkes said. “To ensure that every student, no matter what challenge they were facing, could continue their education and see a path forward.”

Many of these students were dealing with issues such as homelessness, family instability and trauma that made it harder for them to continue their education.

“We believe that students deserve stability, support and a safe place to keep learning,” Wilkes said.

The Youth Development Center has a teacher from the school district who creates an educational environment where students receive personal instruction, emotional support and academic guidance.

“This is not just a classroom, it is a lifeline,” Wilkes said. “In the past decade, we’ve had close to 100 students graduate from YDC.”

The impact the Youth Development Center has had is not limited to the classroom. Everyone in the community benefits in some way when these students succeed.

“Graduating even one student who once felt hopeless creates a ripple effect, strengthening families, lowering dropout rates and building a healthier, more resilient community, our partnership sends a powerful message,” Wilkes said. “No obstacle is too great when a community stands behind its students.”

The school district looks forward to continuing this partnership with the Youth Development Center and helping even more students succeed.

“When we invest in our young people, we invest in the future of Pocatello and the future of Bannock County,” Wilkes said.