🎥 Grow Hays requests city funds for first time in 2 years

Doug Williams, Grow Hays executive director, requests city funding Thursday as Karen Dreiling, board chair looks on from the audience.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

Four outside agencies each requesting funding from the city of Hays in 2020 presented their requests to city commissioners Thursday night. Following each presentation, the representatives of the four groups – Grow Hays, Fort Hays State University (FHSU), CARE Council, Downtown Hays Development Corporation (DHDC) – were thanked by the commission for their community support and involvement.

“It’s light years ahead of where we’ve been and your board and staff has worked very hard these past 18 months,” Mayor Henry Schwaller said to Doug Williams, executive director of Grow Hays. The group has operated the past two years without any funding from the city.

For many years it was known as the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development. The coalition was criticized by city and Ellis county commissioners for not being responsive to the governing bodies’ directives for some time.

Since January 2018, the organization has changed dramatically. The number of board members has shrunk from 24 to 18, has a new executive director, and has relocated to BriefSpace in downtown Hays.

What hasn’t changed is its mission – business creation, business retention and expansion, and business recruitment.

“I’m proud to report to you I believe we’re hitting on all cylinders at this time,” Williams told the city commission.

He said the city of Hays is an “integral partner” of Grow Hays for funding and projects. “They’re not going to happen without the city.”

A 2020 operational plan for Grow Hays included information about economic development funding by peer Kansas communities, including Dodge City, Garden City, Salina, and Phillipsburg. “They are significantly funded in greater amounts than we are,” Williams pointed out. …”Partly because they have to. We operate with some advantages that they don’t have.”

Grow Hays does receive funding from the private sector. “I believe that’s important because they need to invest in the process, as we all do,” he added.

Commissioner Sandy Jacobs appreciates the basics of economic development that are underway. She also wants to see more succession planning in the business community.

“A lot of people may be sitting around waiting for something grand to happen – the new manufacturing company bringing 300 jobs. … I think there’s so many things you can do for that.”

Jacobs gave an example of a local electrician working at her home recently who told her he’s unable to plan his retirement because he has no one in his company or outside of it wanting to take it over.

“I think that’s a way to bring people back to this [our] communities,” suggested Jacobs. “Maybe that’s a way to match up people who want to come back or haven’t even thought about their succession planning yet but need to think about it.”

Grow Hays is requesting $100,000 from Hays. “Without you, we are not sustainable.” A request for funding from Ellis County of $50,000 was reduced to $27,500. “Given their budgetary challenges, I consider that a very generous funding amount from them,” said Williams. “We had asked for $50,000 because that’s what we need.”

Also making a funding pitch was FHSU for renewal of the $100,000 City of Hays Scholarship Program for Scholastic Achievement.

Sherry Dryden, United Way of Ellis County exec. dir., reported the CARE Council is now assisting two new agencies, the Western Kansas Child Advocacy Center and the Center for Life Experiences.

CARE Council is requesting $168,000 for social services funding, an increase of $4,000 from last year. The CARE Council is also asking the city to budget $60,000 in Special Alcohol Tax Funds for 2020. The monies for drug and alcohol prevention programs come from a portion of the local alcoholic liquor tax. That money is divided equally each year between the CARE Council, the special parks fund, and the general fund.

The $50,973 request by DHDC is down five percent from 2019.

A discussion of the renewal of property/casualty/liability insurance coverage was also presented. Midwest Public Risk (MPR) offered the lowest cost option for the renewal of the city’s package, with a two percent increase.

A 30-minute executive session was requested by Mayor Henry Schwaller for discussion of attorney/client information by the commission, City Manager Toby Dougherty and Assistant City Attorney Todd Powell, who was substituting for City Attorney John Bird.

No action was taken following the executive session.

Commissioner Ron Mellick was absent from the work session.