March 2022 Newsletter
A Month of Cooperation
As February drew to a close, I couldn't help but be encouraged by the month's efforts of our local leaders. Throughout November and December, we had heard rumors of potential state-wide funding programs through federal COVID relief, but not much had been solidified or made public. January changed all of that. The Broadband Acceleration Grant, the State Fiscal Recovery Fund, and the Building A Stronger Economy all opened and provided opportunities for communities across the state. However, all three of these programs ended in February with deadlines stretched over 17 days.
Seventeen days is not much time when each application required significant background information and evidence as well as appropriate support from the community. This is where our community showed its capabilities. During the month of February, we were able to organize and hold two additional joint meetings of the city and county commissions. In both meetings, all ten members were present, despite the fact that they have regularly scheduled meetings, jobs, and families. We had meaningful discussions that addressed the available programs and the potential projects we could propose.
The programs and projects supported by the commissions will be extremely competitive. We have two local applications for the Broadband Acceleration Grant, which received 36 applications state-wide. The Office of Broadband Development has $5 million available and each submission requires a 50/50 match. Preliminary numbers for the other two programs are hearsay, but numbers on the SFRF submission suggest more than 150 proposals for housing alone. The last program--BASE--will be the largest with more than 400 submissions tallied a week before the deadline. The BASE program is offering $100 million in state funds and requires a 25% match.
Both the county and city commissions have pledged funds to locally submitted projects. However, it is important to remember that local funds being earmarked are from the federal ARPA dollars that each entity received, and that should we not receive any awards, the local matches will not be spent.
Grants are unpredictable, and while we cannot be certain that our local projects will be funded, not submitting any projects would have been a sign of inactivity and inaction by our community. That was not the case. Instead, we saw our business community, our city and county staff, and our city and county commissioners working together to improve Liberal and Seward County. No matter what the outcome of these proposals, I see the work begun during February as a great step in the right direction for all of us.
World Ag Expo Generates 27 Leads
Last month, Tulare California hosted its 55th Annual World Ag Expo. This event attracts more than 100,000 people from over fifty countries and provides an opportunity for producers to evaluate new equipment and meet with suppliers and service providers. For the last twenty-five years, WKREDA--the Western Kansas Rural Economic Development Alliance--has partnered with the Kansas Department of Agriculture to purchase booth space at the event and promote Dairy in Kansas. This presence has lead to the relocation of many dairies to western Kansas and the development of several dairy processing facilities and heifer centers.
Liberal and Seward County have sent representatives in the past, and the development corporation supported sending me this year. I joined representatives from Dodge City, Scott City, Sunflower Electric, Department of Ag, and Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center. Together, we represented western Kansas and its economic opportunities for dairy expansion.
While the World Ag Expo includes information and equipment for a range of Ag sectors, WKREDA has always rented booth space in the 80,000sf Dairy Pavilion. For three days, the Kansas crew talked with dairy producers, service providers, and more about what Kansas has to offer them and what it would take to move their operations to our state.
Two conversations dominated my time at the expo. First, dairy service providers want access to Kansas and our dairies. Businesses throughout the expo, but especially those in the dairy pavilion, were talking to us about their products and their desire to relocate to Kansas. Few states have the dairy growth that Kansas does, and they know the market is here. Two, California dairies are looking for a new home. Many of the dairies that remain in the central valley are struggling with regulations, water, feed, and land. We offer better alternatives on all counts.
After three days, we returned to Kansas, but the conversations started at the expo have continued. I've personally communicated with the companies and dairy owners that I met at the Expo, and I'm confident that several of the leads we generated at the event will become new Kansas companies or new Kansas dairies.
Seward County to Host Heartland Together Listening Tour!
The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) is partnering with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (EMKF) to address the systemic challenges that make it hard to start and grow local businesses in rural communities. Heartland Together is rooted in Kauffman’s Heartland Strategy which focuses on growing and strengthening entrepreneur support organizations in the Heartland region–Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas.
In order to better understand the mindset and challenges of rural entrepreneurs, KLC and EMKF will be hosting a listening tour across the heartland region. The Seward County Development Corporation was selected by the Kansas Leadership Center to host one of these events in Liberal. Local and regional entrepreneurs will be invited to participate and share their experiences, struggles, and successes.
This event will provide a great opportunity for our entrepreneurs to network with each other as well as to spark larger conversations about what we can do as a community, region, and state to better support entrepreneurs in the heartland.
If you are an entrepreneur who would like to participate or know someone who is, please email Eli (eli@swks.org) or Raquel (raquel@swks.org) to get signed up. Space is limited.
Local E-Community Awards Its First EMPOWER LOAN
Part of the Seward County Development Corporation's role in the community is the E-Community Board. This committee works with Network Kansas to offer board-certified programs like Ice House and Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge as well as to provide gap financing to businesses looking to launch or expand. In 2021, our E-Community was selected to participate in Network Kansas' pilot program for the EMPOWER LOAN.
In February, our local E-Community Board awarded its first EMPOWER Loan. Funds will be used to support the expansion of a business in Liberal. A full spotlight on the growing business will be included in the April Newsletter. To learn more about this program or to apply, please visit our website.
What we're doing this month!
The majority of our work at the development corporation consists of supporting local entrepreneurs and businesses as they start or expand their operations. Through our partners, we can provide the expertise and the funding that these ventures need in order to be successful. These same partners and networks also connect us to resources outside of Seward County. This month will bring new opportunities for learning and networking that can help the businesses and communities here at home.
- March 4: Development Corporation Monthly Board Meeting
- March 9-10: WKREDA Quarterly Conference
- March 21: Heartland Together Community Listening Tour
- March 22: Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge
- March 23: Kansas Sampler We Kan! Conference
City of Liberal Economic Development News
Cindy Wallace: City of Liberal Economic Development Director
Liberal Comprehensive Plan Being Updated
The Building and Planning/Zoning Department with the City of Liberal is working on updating the City of Liberal Comprehensive Plan. The last plan was done in 2003 and many things have changed in the last nineteen years. The last plan had information about demographics, existing conditions, goals and objectives, future land use plan and Implementation. There were other sections with mapping and financing ideas.
Issues identified in the 2003 Plan dealt with Land Use and Infrastructure, Quality of Life, and Economic Development. As the Economic Development Director with the City of Liberal, I am working on updating that section and would welcome any comments on this section. The top 4 issues identified in 2003 were: (1) Establish and use a fair tax abatement/deferment policy; (2) Assume a reasonable/low risk approach to incentives; (3) Evaluate opportunities to reduce the cost of housing construction and create affordable housing; (4) Attract higher paying jobs/professionals.
Under the fair tax abatement/deferment policy many people do not understand or appreciate the actual role that incentives play in encouraging new business activity. Businesses may only defer some of their taxes for a fixed period of time and more public communication is needed of the community’s tax abatement policies. Is this still an issue to address for 2022?
The second issue was to assume a reasonable/low risk approach to incentives. People did not want to “sell the farm” for economic development incentives. Should this be tied to number of jobs created and capital investment or should incentives be given? What are your thoughts? How would incentives be funded?
The third issue concerned cost of housing construction/affordably. Strategies to encourage more competition, reduce construction costs, etc., needed to be considered to increase Liberal’s housing stock and lower the cost of building new private development.
The fourth issue back in 2003 concerned higher paying jobs/professionals. Business recruitment efforts was needed on jobs that had higher wages whenever possible.
Many of these issues are still relevant today. We all want to bring in new businesses and jobs to the community. Many people want different things though. I hear comments that we need more restaurants and more retail development. This is an ongoing effort of any economic development organization and while it doesn’t usually bring in the higher wages, it does improve quality of life. Industries that provide higher wages and jobs are also priorities of the City Economic Development office and in the last 18 months our office has answered fifteen requests of proposals from companies looking to locate or expand to Kansas resulting in three site visits. This will always be an ongoing effort from our office. Many factors go into where a company will locate and that will be another topic for another newsletter.
One factor not addressed in those issues back then was workforce attraction and development. I think this is a vital issue that needs addressed. Many companies, not only in Liberal and Seward County, but nationwide, are looking for a quality, trained workforce. Having an available workforce is now rating higher than incentives given to companies looking to expand or relocate.
I welcome your ideas on what you would like to see the Economic Development office to prioritize. I will be setting up a meeting with some of our business leaders in the near future to prioritize the economic development issues and ways to implement them, soon. Your comments are welcome and encouraged for me to collect. Remember, no idea is a bad idea! Please submit your ideas by March 18th.
Email me your comments at cindy.wallace@cityofliberal.org, visit with me in my office at City Hall, or call me at 620-626-2256.
