Report: Investment in Emporia is soaring
Capital investment
By Joey Berlin
Friday, December 14, 2007
Tremendous growth in capital investment highlighted the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas’ 2007 annual report this morning.
Association president Kent Heermann delivered the report during the the group’s annual membership meeting. Heermann began by telling fellow association members that his written report would come “when the dust settles” on the Hill’s Pet Nutrition plant project. He said the Hill’s plant had garnered most of his attention since April.
“It’s been an interesting and wild ride,” Heermann said, “with a lot of cooperation from a lot of businesses and individuals here to get it pulled off, and somehow, we’ve managed to do it.”
The impact of the Hill’s, Renewable Energy Group and Westar plants could be seen in the capital investment numbers Heermann cited.
The association was created in 1993 but essentially began operation in 1994, Heermann said. From 1995 to 2000, total capital investment was $49 million. For the next five years, it increased to $97 million. But in the two years since then, 2005 to 2007, total capital investment ballooned to more than $511 million.
Heermann said $330 million of that 2005-2007 total was a result of the Westar plant.
“That was a tremendous project to get for Lyon County and Emporia,” he said. “In the future, it will help the tax base for Lyon County, which will help the community.”
Another impressive example of growth: In the first 10 years of the association’s existence, total capital investment was about $150 million. In this year alone, it has been $165 million. That number includes both the REG and Hill’s plants, even though construction on those facilities isn’t complete.
Total capital investment for the existence of the association has been $658 million, Heermann said.
Before the annual report, each member of the association’s board of directors present at the meeting delivered their thoughts on the year 2007. A joke by Jeanine McKenna succinctly summed up the city’s economic successes.
“I think it’s been a great year in Emporia/Lyon County, instead of a great day,” she said. “The RDA side has been extremely busy this year, and I think ... what Kent and Robin (Nelson) and the board and many volunteers have shown this year is that we’ve got an excellent group of people working for this community to improve it.”
Julie Johnson said she thought it was important for the board to ask hard questions of both each other and of people offering growth prospects to avoid leading to “unpleasant experiences.”
“I think there is great interest in this community in economic development that will bring more white-collar workers to the area,” she said. “I hope that we can pursue those kind of opportunities very aggressively.”
City Manager Matt Zimmerman, in attendance at the meeting, cautioned that he thought 2008 would be a slower year economically.
“I hope I’m wrong,” he said. “I have a feeling we’re going to be working twice as hard to have success, just because of the national economy. But I think that we have a good group that’s poised to keep putting ourselves out there.”
During its monthly board of directors meeting preceding the annual membership meeting, the association approved a motion to appropriate $10,000 to put toward the Buxton retail development study.
In the board of directors reorganizational meeting following the membership meeting, the board voted to defer the election of its 2008 officers until its Jan. 11 meeting.