Area businessmen gathered here Tuesday for a briefing on Project 17’s progress toward restoring prosperity in southeast Kansas.
Continuing a theme of regionalism over localism, Jeff Tucker of Advance Manufacturing Institute, a Manhattan-based engineering and business solutions firm tapped by the four state senators responsible for the revitalization effort, said the key to improving economic conditions in the state’s poorest region is “cultivating a dynamic and synergistic” business climate throughout the project’s 17-county reach and making sure all stakeholders have a voice.
“We are in a business ecosystem, whether we want to call it that or not. Information is what is needed to make this all run,” he said. “We want to make sure we are being inclusive.”
With three specific goals in mind — sprouting new startup companies, attracting sustainable businesses and growing existing economic engines — Project 17 hopes to connect communities and businesses to new growth opportunities and align workforce development to specific business needs.
Building new networks “within and beyond” southeast Kansas will create an economic climate that breeds innovation, Tucker said.
“It’s not just about ‘What can I give to this community from this community?’ It’s about ‘What can I deliver to the world from this community?’” he said.
For Project 17 to make any headway, the 16-member executive committee appointed in January will need to find local wealth, tap into the best ideas and build a competent workforce, Tucker said.
Not uncommon in areas with high unemployment, atrophying population and a poor health ranking, southeast Kansas has dozens of organizations working to better individual counties, cities and townships, he said,
“(Project 17) is about adding a layer of connectivity to all these things to find out how to make them work together,” Tucker said.
Like with anything else, it takes money to make money and developing means to effectively nurture the region’s economy has a price.
Gov. Sam Brownback included a $500,000 appropriation in his proposed budget last month but, like all other taxpayer dollars, is vulnerable to the legislative process. Also in the works is a $1 million leadership training grant from the Kansas Leadership Center to equip as many as 400 southeast Kansans with the necessary skills to tackle the region’s most pressing problems.
And the leadership grant could go even further.
“We have the possibility of applying for a federal grant that could bring in anywhere from a half million to a million dollars,” said Sen. Jeff King. “The way (the KLC) grant is structured, it would constitute matching funds, allowing us to draw down this federal money.”
But because Project 17 is expected to be a seven- to 10-year effort and the funds being pursued now will last only two to three years, Sen. Pat Apple said finding sustainable resources beyond government and private grants should be a priority.
“At the end of this two-year process, we want a self-sufficient organization,” he said.
