Throughout 2011, industries in Emporia have been expanding and increasing their workforces, pointing to a slow but steady economic recovery for the local economy, Lyon Couny commissioners learned on Thursday. Kent Heermann, president of the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas provided an overview of the organization’s annual report during Thursday’s commission meeting.
“Overall the economy remains sluggish and soft, but we’re starting to see some glimmers of business activity picking up again,” Heerman said.
Businesses like VEKTEK, Detroit Diesel, Sauder Custom Fabrication, Camoplast, Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Norfolk Iron & Metal and Simmons Pet Food ramped up their hiring in 2011.
During the year, unemployment in Lyon County saw a summertime high of 7.2 percent and an autumn low of 5.7 percent, Heermann said. According to figures he provided, 16,868 people out of a workforce of 17,896 were employed in the county.
The RDA continued to work with biosciences with the animal food plants in town, Heermann said. One possible outcome could be the development of a program at Emporia State University with an emphasis in food safety. The RDA also helped a business get started in Cottonwood Falls. Green Dot, which is considered a bioscience company, has developed renewable bio-based resins to be used for plastic products made from soft plastics. The RDA assisted by arranging key meetings between representatives of the company and organizations such as the Kansas Bioscience Authority and the Pittsburg State University - Kansas Polymer Research Center.
“They’ve developed what’s called a flexible polymer, and this polymer is made from corn starch and some other components,” Heermann said. “It’s one hundred percent biodegradable and one hundred percent compostable.”
Other projects the RDA worked on in 2011 include attempts to move Fanestil Meats out of the floodplain, helping VEKTEK with an expansion and meeting with Tyson representatives to discuss the future of the company in Emporia.
On the retail side of the Emporia economy Heermann mentioned two bright spots in what could have been an otherwise dismal year. One was the announcement by Spangles that it would buy the land and construct a restaurant in Emporia at the site of the former Coburns Restaurant. Another restaurant that will open soon at the Flying J Truck Stop is Huddle House, a 24-hour restaurant.