by PJ Rooks
Landmark reporter
Platte City leaders and stakeholders met on Thursday to discuss the formation, goals and strategies of a potential economic development council.
Irv Jensen, a partner in Des Moines-based economic development consulting firm, Smart Solutions Group, presented key members of the school board, chamber of commerce, the Platte City board of aldermen and the Platte County Economic Development Committee with the results and suggestions of a steering committee appointed earlier this year by Mayor Frank Offutt.
Members of the steering committee included Debbie Kirkpatrick, chairperson and Platte City Board of Aldermen member; Craig Hedrick, vice president, Platte Valley Bank; Betty Knight, presiding commissioner, Platte County; John Kurtz, former alderman and president of park board; Brad Meyer, vice president, Wells Bank; Tony Paolillo, Platte City Board of Aldermen, self-employed; Lisa Rehard, attorney and chamber member; Mike Reik, superintendent, Platte County R-3 Schools; Bob Shaw, Platte County attorney and former school board member; Rich Smith, superintendent, Martin Marietta Mining Operation and chamber member; Ron Stone, manager of Casey's and Platte City alderman; and Cheryl Thorp, Platte County Convention Bureau. Kansas City Power & Light, the only business among several resource team members who assisted the steering committee, also helped the city foot the bill for Smart Solution Group's fees.
Through interviews with community members and public officials, the steering committee set out to establish strengths and weaknesses of Platte City as a marketable product with a customer base of business clients and arrived at the tagline, "Platte City is close to what's important."
Proximity to major highways, the airport and greater Kansas City were listed in Smart Solutions' report as definite selling points. Excellent schools, positive community growth and a small-town atmosphere also contributed to the long list of perks and an excerpt from the Platte City Positioning Statement Core Business and Development Message, reads:
"If you are a business owner or developer, you know the things that could make or break your business. How about access to major highways... close by in Platte City. Access to international air travel and shipping... close by in Platte City. Available skilled work force and cutting edge job training support... close by in Platte City. On every measure, Platte City is close to what's important for business.
"At the end of the day, the most important aspect of life is how you live. Long for a neighborhood that feels like home? It's close by in Platte City. Need the proven best school district for your children? It's close in Platte City. Feel like living in a small town that could reach out easily to big city life? It’s close by in Platte City. No matter how you look at it, Platte City is close by to what's important for living. Some folks use the phrase 'best of both worlds.' Some call it small town living with big city amenities. We simply call it home."
Challenges to growth however, according to the report, include the lack of available land, needed infrastructure and financial incentives for businesses.
The intention of the proposed economic development committee, then, is to form a partnership which will orchestrate the efforts of the city, chambers of commerce and the Platte County EDC to attract targeted businesses, such as retail services, manufacturing and service operations, to Platte City.
"Why are we doing this? Because we want quality jobs," said Jensen. "We want quality incomes, we want a stable tax base and overall we want to give a positive impression of the city as it relates to doing business. Without that, you're at the mercy of just luck and sometimes luck is lucky and sometimes it's not.”
Current goals for the proposed committee will include getting organized, creating a positive environment for business development, "aggressively" marketing Platte City's strengths and ramping up efforts to serve the needs of existing businesses.
Jensen said that the first year might just involve getting the ball rolling and expecting to gain momentum during the second through fifth years.
The five-year goal will be to maintain the current standings and to "generate four new investments creating 150 new high-wage primary employment opportunities," according to the Smart Solutions report.
"This is the size of community that a 20-person white-collar operation could have a massive impact on the community," said Jensen. "A mid-sized manufacturing company could have a huge impact."
Jensen said that it would be critical to have a focused plan.
"Everyone thinks that these things happen by chance, but they don't happen by chance. They happen because someone's organized and someone has a plan," Jensen said.
Implementation would involve a four-way partnership between the city, the Platte County EDC, the chamber of commerce and the school district and, according to the proposed plan, each arm of the partnership would take a specific lead in business development. The city would be responsible for "developing and enhancing the product that is Platte City," the chamber would work to support and retain current business, the EDC would generate sales leads and the school district would keep an ear to the ground, supplying input from the broader community.
To attain the goals of getting organized, polishing and marketing the "product" and maintaining existing business, the steering committee and Smart Solutions assembled a list of immediate tactics, one of the first of which is to establish four key task forces within the partnership.
A business recruitment task force, to be led by the Platte County EDC, would help target the right business prospects so that marketing efforts are focalized. Debbie Kirkpatrick, steering committee chairperson, said that the Platte County EDC handles all development prospects larger than 10,000 square feet but that smaller operations would be handled by the city.
An incentive package task force, to be led by the school district, would be responsible for "facilitating a dialogue concerning the nature and extent of incentive offerings for business development" and a city-led I-29 development task force would work on plans, budgets and timetables for development east of I-29.
"This is something, obviously, the city's been doing a lot of work on," said Jensen of the I-29 project. "Everyone has in many ways."
Aside from the task force, the city would also be responsible for "improving the business development 'product,'" by reviewing current business procedures and incentives and exploring funding for ongoing development efforts.
"The city can look at the product being the land, the business climate and the relationship with the partners in the community," said Jensen.
Finally, a "visioning downtown" task force would be led by the chamber.
"Not just your downtown, but every downtown, they're struggling with this issue," said Jensen. "I think the number one question that I've been asked is, 'When's J.C. Penney coming back to the square?' You know, J.C. Penney's not coming back to the square. I wish that they were, but the reality is that's not going to happen. Reinventing a downtown doesn't necessarily mean restaurants and bars. Some communities are reinventing their downtown as a place of recreation, as a place of involvement--community involvement--and doing different things, unique things.”
The chamber would also be the keeper of the facts on Platte City businesses, maintaining the Location One Information System database and creating a web site, and would also work with area colleges to create an entrepreneurial initiative in the interest of retaining and growing hometown businesses.
"We take these four, just as examples," said Jensen, "and the important thing is really, when it says 'chamber-led,' they don't do it. They lead a dialogue and foster more and more cooperation and communication. So when it says 'lead,' someone's going to be the organizer--the person that says, let's get together and talk about this.”
Jensen said that when businessowners turned to Platte City as a potential place to set up shop, the partnership would ensure that they didn't have to go it alone.
"The partnership would be assisting them where they need, but we don't want to make something so cumbersome that you can't get something done when you have to. So they don't have to get approval, but we wanted some clarity on where people might go to get some assistance on particular types of business development," said Jensen.
Jensen said he would send out a resolution to establish that all prospective member agencies were on board.
Mayor Frank Offutt said he would like to see the process move forward, adding that communication would be important among the different departments, all of whom already have their own "turf.”
"(If) we're all in this to prosper, we're going to have to coordinate our activities and our efforts," said Offutt.
City administrator, Jason Metten encouraged participation, adding that working the plan might increase resources in the future which could then be used to move the plan further forward.
"I like this plan, I support it," Metten said. "I don't know if there are other like-minded people, but I think right now, this plan represents the best of all solutions available to us."
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