Running for a city commission seat has been a natural progression for Jeff Longbine, a third-generation Emporia businessman who filed for the office Tuesday morning in the city clerk’s office.
“I’ve got a goal,” Longbine said. “I want to see Emporia be the best place to live, work and raise your family in the state of Kansas. ... I can remember my father and my grandfather talking about Emporia, and they said people from Lawrence, Manhattan, Salina and Hays, Pittsburg and Garden City were all envious of Emporia. I don’t know that they’re not now. I just don’t know that they are to the extent that they used to be.”
Longbine, who owns Longbine Auto Plaza, has been actively involved in the city’s economic development for about 15 years.
He currently is chairman of the Regional Development Association; a trustee for the Emporia State University Foundation, the Flint Hills Technical College Foundation, and the Jones Foundation; a board member of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of the Flint Hills; a former chairman of the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce; and immediate past chairman of the Kansas Auto Dealers Association.
“I think we’ve got to position ourselves to be ready for growth when growth comes,” he said. “We’ve got some real nice plant expansions on the local level. We continue to work on the national and international level, trying to bring new jobs into Emporia.”
He cited the RDA as an example of the successes that can be achieved when everyone works toward a common goal, and espoused similar collaborations within the city.
“Certainly, you’re going to have differences of opinion, but when it all washes out, you’re all on the same steps, speaking the same voice,” he said. “... It allows you to move forward instead of being stuck in the mud, arguing the issues.”
Now, he said, the city needs to give more consideration to the commercial side of development, in addition to continuing to develop the industrial side.
The turnpike interchange, now under construction, could provide opportunities for the city, but Longbine said that current businesses also must be encouraged and developed.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to help our existing businesses expand and grow, along with complement them with new opportunities to fill gaps where we’ve got gaps, where we don’t have product offerings in Emporia — that makes people go out of town.
“We’ve got to encourage our existing merchants who have the products to have them continue to grow and prosper, so it’s really two-sided.”
Longbine said that his listening skills, combined with business experience, will serve him well if he is elected to the commission.
“I value people’s opinions,” he said. “Because of my business background, I’m a problem-solver. ...I think I understand the business and the financial side very well.”
As a businessman, he said he knows the effects of taxes on local businesses, and the effects that revenues and expenses can have.
“I always look at how you can do things more efficiently, how you can provide more service at a lower cost,” he said. “That’s what business does every day.”
Longbine said that it is essential to the city that its greatest asset, Emporia State University, stays healthy and continues to grow. That goal can be furthered by supporting ESU programs, hiring students and welcoming them to the community.
“There’s just numerous ways Emporia people can be involved with the university and that’s a direction we need to grow,” he said. “...I think Emporia’s at kind of a crossroads. I see good things happening and I want to be a part of it.”
Longbine and his wife, Gwen, are parents of three children, Lauren, Lexie and the late Greg Longbine.