By DAN STEFFAN
Regional Project Manager
Kansas Deppartment of Commerce
Business and Community Development Division
I read with interest, the article on the Ellis Co. Commission and the City of Hays Commission combined meeting. As a resident of Hays and having spent the majority of my career in the field of Economic Development and Business Development with the Discover Financial Services and the Kansas Dept. of Commerce, I wanted to comment on the discussion of the direction of the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development, for the benefit of the Citizens of Hays and Ellis County, if not for the County and City Governments of Ellis County.
“It was suggested that the Two Governments work together to outline clear objectives for the Coalition,” was a statement that puzzled me. Isn’t that the purpose of having representatives of both the Cities (Hays, Ellis and Victoria) and the County Government, on the Board of Directors for the Coalition?
Also, as a reminder, which is all too often forgotten in the discussion of the day, Economic Development is an umbrella term. Economic Development encompasses Business Development, Community Development, Trade Development, Workforce Development and Travel & Tourism Development. While the Hays CVB has been charged with Travel & Tourism Development (and rightly so), the Ellis Co. Coalition is charged with the remainder of these efforts.
Business development is a three legged stool and includes start-ups/entrepreneurial development, expansion and diversification of existing businesses, as well as retention and recruitment. Retention efforts go unnoticed and unrecognized, because this effort is primarily all done behind the scenes. Remember that every Communities major employer is another Communities biggest prospect! Over the years, I have assisted the ECCED with the retention of three major employers in Ellis County!
Recruitment has changed drastically over the last 20 years, as rather than cold-calling on businesses to recruit them to a Community, Site Selectors (or Site Eliminators, as I like to refer to them) have created a Niche for themselves as consultants for businesses looking to expand or relocate from their current location. Retail developers have become the same as Site Selectors for Retail development.
Quite frankly, Land prices are a major obstacle to further retail development in Hays. Another is the unemployment rate (2.6% in March), which also impacts Site Selectors in seeking a Community with an available workforce. Some say that 3.2% of the population is unemployable, thus in Ellis County, we are already employing the unemployable!
Housing and more appropriately “Wage Appropriate Housing” is also an issue in Hays and impacts economic development efforts. As finding and meeting labor needs is one issue for businesses, but meeting those prospective employee’s housing needs is another. The Median Wage in Ellis County is: $15.44 per hour ($32,117 Annual). Take this into consideration when looking at housing availability/affordability in Ellis County and the impact housing has on economic development efforts.
Community Development includes everything from infrastructure to “Quality of Life” issues which are all a part of the overall economic development effort. A major factor in the decision for a business to locate an expansion and/or relocate to a particular Community, includes the amenities that the Community has to offer. It is NOT all about incentives!
Trade Development is about expanding markets for Kansas products outside of the State of Kansas and the United States, and of course, as previously mentioned, Workforce Development is a BIG issue in the area of business development. Meeting labor needs effectively for existing businesses, as well as those being courted and developed locally.
Primary Job creation; that being those jobs created in the area of Kansas basic industries include; manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and interstate transportation. Wholesale trade, financial services, business services and tourism activities, if primarily undertaken for out-of-state markets, are also considered to be Kansas basic industries, as well as research and development of new products, processes or technologies. This should be the primary focus of any business development effort in the realm of economic development, as well as the retention and expansion of existing businesses that fall into the Kansas basic industries categories. These are the areas of business development that the Kansas Dept. of Commerce is able to provide incentives for, based on Job creation, wage levels and capital investment.
The Economic Development Directors I work with on a daily basis, within the Regions of N.W. and N.C. Kansas, hear this mantra from me on a regular basis. But struggle with local boards, citizens and special interests, in keeping their focus on the overall effort of Economic Development being an umbrella term encompassing a lot more than most people realize. As Economic Development is a Process and NOT a Program.