HUMBOLDT — Unique businesses staffed by employees with welcoming attitudes would go far to make Humboldt a commercial destination, Vada Aikins observed.
Her comments and others occupied a 90-minute session of Allen County Tomorrow, a monthly get-together led by Thrive Allen County’s Damaris Kunkler here Thursday afternoon.
Aikins is a long-term Humboldt council member, and not bashful about expressing herself.
“We have to build on our assets and have a better mindset,” she added.
Focus of conversation was the March 1 Humboldt Re-Imagining Summit at which better than 80 residents were challenged to find ways to invigorate Humboldt’s downtown, an outcome of a countywide meeting of two years earlier.
But, allowed a couple of respondents, the March 1 summit didn’t center on downtown, rather development of a youth center, various activities and housing in the form of a hotel or bed-and-breakfast.
“That’s where the people wanted to go,” Kunkler, program director of Thrive, said of the March 1 conversation, adding that keeping a community’s youth engaged is a common outcome of such meetings.
Barbara Anderson, an Allen Countian who works in economic development for the Kansas Department of Commerce, proposed Humboldt has much to offer. She mentioned its role in the Civil War and a walking tour of sites; “that baseball player,” Walter Johnson, whose homestead is marked north of town; the Neosho River Park; “so many things. You need to let people know about them. Lots of locals don’t even know about all you have. You have to get the word out.”
Anderson predicted day trips and weekend visits — if short-term housing such as a bed-and-breakfast or cottages were available — would arise if Humboldt’s features were promoted on a wider canvas.
“I’ve created a Facebook page for the Neosho River Park,” Aikins said. “You’d be surprised how many likes it has had. From California, from other states, from all over.”
Heather Bosler, stepping out of her role as a Humboldt Union reporter, dwelt on social media. “We don’t have social media marketing,” which Bosler predicted would reach a broad audience.
She suggested the historic bandstand on the square — one of the few squares in Kansas not interrupted by a courthouse or large building — and Neosho River Park could be marketed as destinations for weddings.
“We’ve had five or six wedding in the river park, and three, I think, at the bandstand,” Aikins said, in support of Bosler’s comment.
Marketing as a key ingredient of growth arose often. “You can market RV parking (in Camp Hunter Park in the southwest part of town) and much more,” Kunkler said.
Bill Maness, now director of economic development for Thrive, suggested a three-pronged approach, such as unfolded for Iola after its summit. “Iola has groups working on marketing, recreation and infrastructure,” Maness said. A focus on recreation is to attract tournaments and such activities to bring people to town.
“List and advertise what you have,” Kunkler said. A sign placed near the race track east of Humboldt could list all that’s available and might work wonders, Aikins said, noting major races draw fans and participants from many states.
