 |
 |
|
"Learn
to help people with more than just their jobs; help them with their
lives."
Business
Start-ups, Retention and Expansion
Incubator: Bob Cole, Chad Jackson with SBDC, Trevor McKeeman with NISTAC, Lyle Butler and John Pagen with the Manhattan Chamber, recently traveled to both Topeka and Hutchinson visiting business incubators. We may jointly explore the feasibility of a high-tech business incubator in the MAMTC building in the old industrial park in East Manhattan/Pottawatomie County, depending on some additional discussions and a determination about likely cost versus potential for success. Custom Wood Products - St Marys and Liberty Inc. - Blue Township have each submitted their previously approved property tax abatement applications through the county appraiser for review and transmission to the State Board of Tax Appeals. MGP Ingredients abatement application to BOTA is still pending, although their request has already been approved by the City of Onaga without objection from the county, school board and hospital taxing districts. MGP Ingredients - Onaga continues its process of upgrading its new plant and hiring employees in Onaga. Bissen Concrete - Westmoreland recently received approval for its USDA Rural Development Loan Guarantee. Bissen will soon start breaking ground for a new office and work staging facility in the Westmoreland Business Park. Thanks go to the following people: Jim Moore for making the land available and issuing the necessary letter of credit for the USDA loan guarantee; Chad A. Jackson, Washburn SBDC for help with business planning; Ron Dickey and Blue Stem Electric Coop for help with the USDA loan guarantee application; and especially to Rob Bissen and his family for bringing their expanding business to our area and Westmoreland Business Park. Proposed street projects: Recent discussions with Caterpillar and city officials regarding the proposed street from the Wamego Industrial Park to Balderson Boulevard led to the following issues being identified: 1.) Possible timing of construction of the proposed street versus timing of the proposed reconstruction of Balderson Boulevard; 2.) Caterpillar's near-term plans; 3.) Routing (may have to go through some of MCM's property); and 4.) Economic effect on MCM, New Dymax, Higgins Stone, Wilbert Vault and R-Tech. The next step is to obtain information from Caterpillar, the other affected businesses and MCM to see if we can make an argument that will pass muster for federal infrastructure cost participation by EDA and/or other funding sources. A similar discussion is ongoing between the corporation, Rees Development and the county engineer, et al, regarding a possible street connecting the east side of Green Valley Business Park with Excel Road. First Trust of Onaga, an affiliate of Morrill and Janes Bank is in the process of preparing for construction of their new office and operations facility on their land just north of the hospital in Onaga. Their official ground-breaking ceremony will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, June 8. This 10,000 square-foot building will ultimately allow First Trust to greatly expand their business and workforce. Business Consulting: Many people contact our office with new small business ideas or help in puzzling out the details of an expansion project. We refer many to our contracted small business consultant, Chad A. Jackson, Washburn Small Business Development Center, for expert help with business planning, market research, financial projections and planning and other assistance. Chad does a great job for us. If you have a business idea and would like his completely confidential assistance at no cost, call our office at (785) 456-9776, or call Chad directly at (785) 587-9917. The (Manhattan) Farmers Cooperative Association is adding approximately $2 million of new grain storage facilities north of their existing plant in Onaga. The Co-op agreed to be annexed into the city of Onaga in order to take advantage of near-term tax rebates under the Neighborhood Revitalization Plan - after we presented spreadsheets comparing near-term tax burdens with and without annexation. A big thanks is due the board of directors of the Farmers Cooperative Association both for their substantial investment and their willingness to add to their long-term support of the City of Onaga. Business Recruitment: We were sent information from a private recruiting firm that may be of use to us in the future, if and when we decide to actively invest in very targeted recruitment of especially desirable new businesses and industries. Cost would range from $20,000 - $30,000 but the prospect is intriguing. They have several Midwest clients from smaller jurisdictions. More on this later if we decide to make an attempt to enter this highly competitive and risky game.
Green Valley Business Park
Phase Three and Four Completion: A final agreement to move ahead with bid preparation for the remaining undeveloped part of the park is pending additional discussions about a possible street from Excel Road into the east side of the park. The county commission agreed we could go ahead if we can solve cost issues and if design is compatible with the design work for Excel Road. At issue is cost-sharing by potential private and public partners. Utility
easements on Lots 19 and 20 for RWA and McDonald Construction
have been completed and filed with the Register of Deeds and delivered
to Westar Energy, so these two companies can get their electric power
installed. Both companies are presently building new facilities for
expanded operations on these adjacent lots.
Seminars and Conferences We hosted
a second discussion on ethanol production at The Columbian
Theatre May 8. It was very well attended with more than 45
participants who listened to an encouraging presentation by
representatives from Goodland who are in the ethanol and bio
fuels business. There will be significant followup to this
discussion. |
||
Marketing
to Newcomers, Visitors and Tourists |
||
|
• Decide which route to pursue, beginning with the segment between Wamego and St. George. • Contact remainder of land-owners along the selected route and identify any remaining issues. • Prepare an RFP and solicit bids from at least three engineering firms for detailed engineering study and cost estimates for first segment. • Receive and review bids for engineering study/cost estimates. • Select vendor. • Raise remainder of funds necessary for engineering study/cost estimates (grants, donations, local governments, etc.). • Engage engineering firm to complete engineering study/cost estimates. • Receive and review results. Key players met again May 12 and discussed the feedback from the meeting May 1 and what routes people wanted to see started first, etc. It was decided to proceed with the segment connecting Wamego with St George first. Deliverables from the scoping study were reviewed and fundraising alternatives for trail design and construction were also discussed. Kansas Sampler Festival: Erin attended the Kansas Sampler Festival in Garden City along with Betsy Riblett and Ellie Kootz from The Oz Museum, who helped set up and man the booth for Pottawatomie County. Close to 8,000 people attended the festival. There were a mix of visitors to the booth – those who had heard of Pottawatomie County and those who had no idea where it was. The Oz Museum interested a lot of people, as did the camping/outdoor activities in the county. This was a good marketing opportunity at which hundreds of people were spoken with, given brochures and encouraged to visit. It was an especially good opportunity to market to K-State grads living in southwest Kansas and who frequent K-State ballgames, etc., but have never visited Pottawatomie County. Between Fences: This is a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition that will be at the Wamego Historical Museum Complex from Dec. 8, 2006 to Jan. 21, 2007. "Between Fences" weaves the history of fences into the story of America. Whether it is barbed wire, white picket, post rock, split rail, electric wire or a patio privacy fence, America's fascination with fences is evident along any highway, county road or city street. Local community exhibits, speakers, film festivals, book discussions and fence-building activities are all part of the exhibit. Contact the Wamego Historical Museum Complex at (785) 456-2040 directly for more details or visit www.kansashumanities.org for the full schedule of events. Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area: There are five more counties in Missouri that wish to be added to the Bleeding Kansas Heritage Area. The bill to designate the Bleeding Kansas National Heritage Area is moving forward in the U.S. House, but may undergo some significant changes due to one Missouri representative, Ike Skelton, who has several demands. Jim Ryun is working in the best interests of the committee and the project. What the bill entails and what the area is named now lies in the hands of these two officials. Self-guided Heritage Tours: We have contracted with an historian, Dale Nimz, to recommend how best to use our unique historic assets to develop commemorative self-guided walking tours throughout downtown St. Marys and Westmoreland, and a commemorative self-guided driving tour along the route of the Oregon Trail between St. Marys and Westmoreland. Nimz recently met with people in Westmoreland and St. Marys to gather ideas for self-guided tours. He and Erin will discuss upcoming tasks after June 1. This is a cooperative project with the Chambers of Commerce in St Marys and Westmoreland, the Oregon-California Trail Association, the County Preservation Committee and interested individuals. Flint Hills Tourism Coalition : Dr. Eva Horne with the Konza Prairie shared with our 22 county coalition recently what goes on at the prairie in regards to burning, grazing, etc. Funding for the Web site (start-up, maintenance, etc.) was discussed at the last meeting. Story boards and the new logo will be revealed at the meeting in June. In addition, Erin is working with a subcommittee to finalize the initial “Tour the Flint Hills” promotion that will be conducted this fall by the Kansas Lottery Corporation. The subcommittee is finishing plans for four Flint Hills Tours, each valued at about $10,000, and each designed to be a three-day, two-night tour. The four distinct tours will be offered as prizes by the Kansas Lottery. The four tour themes are: “Golf,” “Working Ranch and Horseback Riding,” “Arts and Culture,” and “Heritage.” There will be extensive statewide radio and television marketing of these Flint Hills Tours and some of our own attractions will be included in three of them. More details as plans are finalized with our 21 other Flint Hills partners. Future promotions will be designed after lessons learned from this initial experience.
|
||
|
Transportation
and Community Development |
||
Tri-County
Matters
RKG Associates: The initial RKG report on the projected impact of Fort Riley will be finished in August this year. Among its many useful projections of impacts in regional population, housing, transportation, health care, social services etc. will be a recommendation for the creation of a formal regional planning organization. A follow-up grant from the Office of Economic Adjustment (Defense Department) through the City of Manhattan will help the three most affected counties begin to devise action plans for each of the several areas of impact. Included in the initial grants scope of work are Housing, Quality of Life, Social Services, Airport, Land Use, Medical, Child Care, Workforce, Education, Infrastructure and Transportation. Discussions continue on what this may mean for Pottawatomie County in the future; what ultimate powers will be conferred on any formal regional planning organization that is ultimately formed and how it might be financed in the long run. More on this as the situation unfolds. Other
Regional Matters
Bob attended the training seminar sponsored by the Kansas Health Foundation May 10 - 11 and sent a lengthy summary of its proceedings to each of the members of the board of directors of the Kansas Rural Communities Foundation and the Wamego Community Foundation. The Kansas Rural Communities Foundation has been officially recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a charitable non-profit corporation, now able to host Funds for any eligible community purpose in Pottawatomie County. More on this as the Foundation continues to get organized and develops its website and informational materials prepared and presented. If you would like more information now, please contact our office at (785) 456-9776. |
|