A new year has begun, bringing with it challenges and opportunities. Members of the Emporia City Commission all agree that the economy will be the major challenge for Emporia in 2009, but they see many opportunities for the city as well. Here are some of their thoughts about what challenges and opportunities Emporia will face in the next year:
Julie Johnson
“As is always the case, or always seems to be the case, I think the economic situation, both nationally and locally, will be one of the major opportunities or challenges. We want to continue to develop jobs in the community so that we can be a viable community economically.
“I think the challenges and opportunities are one and the same thing. I think the process we’re in the midst of as far as retail development will be significant, and it will be interesting to see how it all develops and if we are indeed able to develop some retail opportunities in the community.
“One of my areas of interest, and I think this is very important for the community, is the continued development of downtown. The opening of the Granada, I think, has illustrated to us all that there are some significant plusses for the community if we can maintain a viable downtown. The Granada and the arts council and that whole area certainly is an opportunity for us to no only interest Emporians in the downtown but also to bring people from out of town in and hopefully get them to consider Emporia as a destination point for cultural events and some shopping and those things as well. ...”
Jim Kessler
“I think the challenges will be, like every year, finances. Being able to meet the budget, not knowing what will happen with the sales tax issue. But hopefully we’ll be able to meet those and I think we’ve done a good job the last few years getting ahead of the game. That was part of the reason for (the sales tax) was so that if shortfalls came along we’d be able to take care of them.
“I see a lot of opportunities. Of course, the big question for everybody in the country is, ‘When is the economy going to turn around?’ But I think we have some opportunities, some projects. Hopefully the Lowe’s project will go through, and they’ll be able to start on that and it will be successful. And that was the idea, that hopefully something else will come along because of that, as well as some of the other projects that have already started. They’re tearing down the old hotel there (on north Merchant Street), and hopefully that project will get built this year, and (the residential development) there at Commercial and Eighth, and the arts council. So I think there are a lot of positives that could very well happen that could mean jobs and property tax, sales tax and all those things that make us go.
“So while we have our challenges — nobody knows what the economy’s going to do — I think at least here in Emporia we do have some opportunities, at least to get started on, and hopefully it will snowball from there.”
Jeff Longbine
“One of the biggest challenges is always the budget, and I think we’ve really got to pay attention to that based on what the economy does and when it rebounds and that type of thing. I think by far that’s probably going to be our biggest challenge. Economic development will continue to be a focal point. I think once we get the sales tax going then we can put that money for infrastructure items, and that’ll be good. Those are the main things I see.”
Kevin Nelson
“First off would be the budget. The budget drives everything. The way the state’s talking and the way we expect property taxes to start going the other way in value, you’re going to have some budget issues, and that’s going to have to be handled when we review the budget this spring. That would be my main concern. Until you know what you have to spend, you can’t see what you’re either going to have to cut or what you can move forward with.
“Obviously there’s still going to be industries out there that want to grow, new ones that are going to be coming forth with the new incentive packages that are going to be offered by the federal government to stimulate the economy. It will be good to have a connection to information that can allow people to know what we have to offer here in town as far as industrial property and some of the commercial opportunities that we have. We’ve also got some empty buildings and available ground that could be utilized.
“Obviously we’re right in the midst of working on the Lowe’s project, and if that comes to fruition it could be a big impact, because there’s not a lot of communities that are going to be getting new business, and one with the name of Lowe’s and one that can also help the surrounding area that we’ve lost to grab some of that back up and bring it back to town.
“I could go on with the cost-cutting measures that will have to take place, as well as other costs that have risen that may come back down ... it’s a balancing act.
“I think it’s important to stay positive as a community and spend our dollars at home and continue to work hard for new opportunities as a community. I think that will be a bright thing. There’s always going to be negativity to look at, but you’ve got to look at the bright side and continue to work hard to keep things together as a community.”