On March 25th, the ED/ Chamber Alliance hosted an Economic Development Forum at the Riverfront Community Center. The ED/ Chamber Alliance is made up of representatives from the Basehor Chamber of Commerce, the Tonganoxie Chamber of Commerce, the Leavenworth/ Lansing Chamber of Commerce, Leavenworth Main Street, LCDC, the City of Leavenworth and the City of Lansing.
There were four featured speakers for the evening event that included: Tim Cowden with the Kansas City Area Development Corporation (KCADC); Howard Kirk with Cubic Defense Applications Group; Bob Hatch with Cereal Ingredients; and Professor Art Hall with Kansas University. The event was moderated by Steve Jack with LCDC. Nearly 50 people were present and engaged in several economic development topics presented by the speakers.
Bob Hatch started the evening off with his take on the successful relocation of his business from Missouri to the Gary Carlson Business Park in Leavenworth. The Leavenworth County Port Authority provided land in the business park in return for a promise of 55 jobs. Cereal Ingredients now employs 74 workers, and its initial investment of $3.5 million in 2005 has grown to a total of $12.9 million through 2008. That incentive, the Small Business Administration 504 Loan Program, and interest in an available building created an environment that drew the company to Leavenworth County and has allowed the company to grow.
Dr. Art Hall spoke about the growing Kansas City region and noted that Leavenworth County is one of the few in Kansas that is drawing in more people than it is losing. His research shows that among "58 peer counties," Leavenworth County is in the 68th percentile in business formation. Dr. Hall pointed to three things that matter to businesses:
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Businesses want a cost-effective operating environment.
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Businesses want to begin operations as quickly as possible. Time is money.
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Businesses want predictability with regard to "the rules of the game."
Howard Kirk described a very important sector of the local economy - defense contractors. Cubic Applications, Inc. employs 301 people in Leavenworth with an annual payroll locally of more than $20 million. Cubic's number one challenge is finding skilled people. About 80% of its employees have military experience and strong analytical skills. Mr. Kirk stated that quality of life issues are very important in attracting skilled employees.
Tim Cowden described the role of KCADC in marketing the entire Kansas City region, including Leavenworth County, to businesses and site location consultants. Mr. Cowden pointed out the importance of available buildings and sites as well as the ability to be flexible in order to respond quickly and effectively to different business opportunities.
The speakers took questions and comments from an engaged audience for 30 minutes after the formal presentations. All agreed that while there are challenges to be addressed, there are many opportunities for growth in Leavenworth County.
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Recently LCDC announced the selection of marketing firm PTK. LCDC is partnering with PTK to roll out new marketing materials.
More than two dozen community leaders met at the Lewis and Clark Center on February 13th to review a variety of economic development issues with a representative from Ingram's Publications.