Salina Area Chamber of Commerce

My Memories of the Illinois Senate

Many eyes are on Springfield Illinois and the impeachment of their Governor.

My career has given me the chance to work with legislators in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana (don't ask how I ended up there for a work related item!) and Illinois and both sides of the capitol building in Washington DC. I've also watched the Minnesota legislature work when I was in high school. In each of these cases, I've been in the gallery to watch legislators work.

BAR NONE…the loudest and what appeared to be the most un-organized legislature to watch was in Springfield Illinois. Usually legislators keep things down to a "dull roar" when another legislator is talking. In Springfield, I watched one legislator try to speak while the Senate was in session. Finally, the person at the chair had to gavel and YELL AT FULL VOLUME to ask legislators to reduce the noise. The Senator got less than ten seconds into his speech and was again lost in the volume.

Watching the action in Springfield reminded me of that experience.

The new Governor of Illinois is Pat Quinn. He seems to be a very sincere and honest man. He once traveled to western Illinois and spoke at a luncheon that I attended. I was flattered and humbled that he thanked me by name for working with the people in Illinois to work on a regional transportation issue – that certainly benefits Illinois, but probably does more to help Iowa grow.

Good luck to Governor Quinn.

Meeting Economic Development Prospects…

Aaron White and I are currently out of state. We met this morning with someone who owns property in Salina. Good meeting followed by a productive lunch discussion. We are currently back at the hotel for some work before meeting with more professional site consultants this afternoon.

More meetings are on the plan for Thursday with the highlight of an event hosted by the Kansas Department of Commerce and numerous professional site selection consultants from the metro area.

On Friday, we'll be traveling to another part of the state we are in to meet with the home office of a factory located in Salina. Our purpose is to "fan the flame" of their interest in adding more jobs and investment to their Salina facility.

 

 

2009 Annual Meeting Preview

…Just got off the phone with Bob Costas as we conducted a pre-annual meeting "meet the speaker" time for local media.

Very down to earth and sounds like a very nice man.

Except for the part where he hung up on us…clearly his fault.

Our 2009 Program of Work…in 600 words

There are a number of strategies the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce will implement in 2009 to help the community grow. Here are some of our priorities:

 

Continue an aggressive approach to job creation and capital investment

We've added staff to help existing employers grow. This strategy of working with existing businesses has help blunt local impact of the national economy problems. The size of our workforce has increased since January 2007.

 

However, we still need more and better paying jobs. We have several active projects looking to expand operations or to move to Salina. Some things are on hold due to the economy and others are moving forward. Some are multi-million dollar projects with many jobs and others involve only a handful of jobs, but each one is progress.

 

In late January, chamber staff will travel to a specific out-of-state corporate headquarters to influence their decision to add jobs in Salina – and we will make more of these outreaches in 2009. In 2009, chamber staff will increase the number of meetings with retailers, service firms and health care businesses for detailed discussion about investing in Salina. Since January 2007, our meetings with manufacturers have helped secure $3,396,209 of direct funding to employers.

 

The new Manufacturing Skill Certificate will help businesses secure needed talent - and can help those seeking employment receive valuable training. Look for more initiatives in 2009 as we've have added new chamber staff specifically to recruit people to work in Salina.

 

Conduct an "Inter-City" visit

In 2009, a city will be indentified that represents what Salina aspires to be and a fact-finding trip will be organized to that locale. We will work to understand the best practices and lessons learned in that city. This information will help as we continue to grow. We welcome public input about a city that we consider that Salina should study.

 

Work on communicating to everyone

We desire that everyone understands the priorities of the chamber. Our website (www.salinakansas.org) features a link to our interactive blog so everyone can interact with chamber staff about our work. We are planning new strategies to enhance communication with members, tourism prospects and the broader community.

 

Increasing the value of tourism

We will continue an aggressive outreach to book new significant meetings and events that bring visitors to our local economy. Marketing the region as a motorcoach and group destination will be a priority in 2009 and we will continue to target sports and special events to make Salina a destination for visitors.

 

2010 Census

The chamber and City of Salina are working closely with the Salina Area United Way to prepare for this important event. Everyone in Salina counts and a broad base of citizens are needed to help us prepare for the 2010 census. Interested volunteers should call the United Way office to become involved.

 

Strengthen civilian and military relations

We will create a Military Affairs Council that will enable Salina and Saline County leaders to better coordinate and support job growth related to the military. Local support is needed for continued federal and state funding for construction projects, recruiting personnel to Salina, adequate housing allowances for soldiers and local road improvements.

 

Our complete 2009 Program of Work is available at www.salinakansas.org . Readers of our interactive blog are able to communicate directly with chamber staff about our work to help Salina grow.

 

We look forward to 2009 with expectant and positive attitudes. We are committed to working hard to help the continuing economic and community development of the Salina area.

Great meeting!

Standing room only for our initial meeting of would-be entrepreneurs.

About 60 people are here!

dennis w. lauver sent from my cell phone thanks to alltel for their support!

Lessons from previous economic recovery/stimulus acts?

In the spring of 1993, Congress was considering a $16.3 billion economic-stimulus package offered by President Clinton. The idea was defeated and The White House regrouped for a smaller bill.

I remember something that happened in May 1993. I was the lobbyist at a chamber of commerce for a community that had over 100 people travelling to Washington DC. Three states were represented, which meant six senators and three members of the house. Meetings with nine different elected people were on the agenda.

Every stop we made at the Hart/Russell/Dirksen senate office building was met by gloom and "well, since the economic stimulus package was defeated, we probably won't have money for your priority project." Over in the Cannon/Rayburn and Longworth house office buildings we were told "well, since the economic stimulus package was defeated, we probably won't have money for your priority project."

The next day, we had a meeting at the Economic Development Administration offices. Before we started out with our presentation, we were told "well, since the economic stimulus package was defeated, we probably won't have money for your priority project."

I remember people in delegation joking that it was amazing how the defeat of a $16.3 billion dollar bill was going to be blamed for around $50 billion dollars of spending not occurring.

It will be interesting to see how the Obama administration handles this "economic recovery" bill.

I still remember the reaction in the Economic Development Administration office when we explained that "we didn't really need any money. We are asking for any money. We just wanted to know if we could pay off a loan from the federal government ahead of schedule. We had a loan to help with a small business incubator and we were ready to get out of debt.

You could hear a pin drop.

Finally, we were informed that a mechanism didn't exist to pay off a loan ahead of schedule.

Speaking with legislators re: transportation

This morning, a delegation from Saline County spoke to legislators about a new ten year transportation plan. 

I've posted a draft of my comments previously on this blog and I made only slight changes when it was time to actually talk.

The first four speakers generated a total of one or two quick questions from the legislators. Our comments generated questions from six different legislators.  Mike Fraiser, city public works director and Neil Cable, county engineer, provided great insight as they answered questions.  We all felt good about the presentation and the response to our observations.

I'm sure that not everyone in the room liked everything I had to say. The comment about "moving our road system from the 1800's approach to something right for the second decade of the 21^st century" probably bugged a few people in the audience. Those who made decisions based on the "how will this impact my re-election?" probably don't want to make changes.

After the presentation, I was told about a county in Kansas where EVERY township in that particular county has its own road grader (usually around a quarter of a million dollars). This is a crazy use of money and certainly not a cost efficient, operational efficient or businesslike approach to road dollars. The same county had representatives at the meeting pleading for more money.

A stringer for the Salina Journal was there and talked with us afterwards.  I am anxious to read the paper on Friday morning to see what is reported. 

Waiting...

About to speak @ transportation hearing at the state capitol.

''interest groups'' and ''lobbyists'' starting to fill the room. Still waiting for legislators to arrive.

dennis w. lauver sent from my cell phone 785.452.8944 thanks to alltel for their support!

A reminder for manufacturers in Salina/Saline County

With the start of the tax season, I thought this would be a good time to send out a reminder to all manufacturers in Saline County to be sure and apply for your utilities sales tax exemption.  

This exemption allows a manufacture an exemption from sales tax on all utilities consumed in production, i.e. water, gas, electricity.  The dollars involved can be substantial.  Representatives from the Kansas Commerce Dept. have told me that few of the eligible companies in Salina have taken advantage of this program.

I would urge you to pursue this program.  I have the appropriate forms available electronically, and would be happy to provide them to you.  If you are unsure if your business qualifies, give myself or Larry Powell a call, and we would be happy to answer any questions. 785-827-9301.

I wish all of you great success in the year to come.  If there is anything I can do to help your business succeed, please don't hesitate to call.

Regards,

Aaron J. White 

DRAFT of comments re: T-Link & transportation planning in Kansas

Here are my draft comments for the January 8^th meeting in Topeka about transportation planning in Kansas. Our plan is to separate ourselves from some of the others who will be speaking but avoiding "death by power point." There will be relevant handouts put together by the County, the City, Airport Authority and the chamber.

 

I welcome your input…

 

1.       KDOT is considering a new business model for decision making. This is a good thing. A model for making hard choices exists.

Economic development projects have to consider things such as labor, access to suppliers and customers, land plus their transportation needs.  A project may easily have highway, rail, transit and aviation needs.  Building separate "silos" around each of these modes of transportation does not reflect the reality of site location/expansion decisions.  A new KDOT decision making model should match thinking with the logic of employers.

   

Kansas has the fourth most paved roads in America. We aren't the fourth largest or the fourth most populated.  A new approach is needed.  An aspect of decision making is making tough decisions. A good model is exists for critical thinking.  The Saline County non-city road and bridge system was based in the late 19^th century.  The system is now moving toward a 2-mile grid system designed for the second decade of the 21^st century.  The Saline County commissioners and their staff used a decision making model that others in Kansas can copy for making tough decisions.  The approach was logical and reflected critical thinking.

   

We need an appropriate response from the State.  Saline County's road system is going to be "healthier" because the percent of deficient bridges has declined. KDOT policy must reward this behavior and should not punish Saline County because it is "healthier" by reducing state assistance for roads and bridges.  If the state's response is "the patient healed themselves so here is significantly less money.", then no other county will follow Saline's lead.  A funding formula needs to be both "carrot" and "stick". This approach will not punish counties that make tough decisions – yet it realizes that not ever county (for various reasons) is able to make the same decisions as Saline County has done.  Legislators and KDOT should ask Saline County leaders for input.

 

 2.       A Shorter Planning Cycle = Transportation Infrastructure that Stimulates Job Creation

   

Transportation infrastructure must meet the unique needs of industrial targets.  For example, a company making windmill blades might have 160 foot trucks to ship product to customers. Ninety degree left hand turns are a real problem.   The ideal site for a windmill manufacturing operation will have very gradual on/off ramps from the Interstate. There should be minimal turns and immediate rail access.

   

Ten years ago, the windmill industry was not booming. A shorter KDOT planning cycle (the cycle is currently a decade) will allow Kansas to identify the transportation needs unique to high growth industries and position Kansas to attract capital investment.

 

I know of one state that has a designated "wind doctor" because these projects have unique transportation needs.  They have attracted windmill makers – and those jobs.  A shorter planning cycle will help Kansas be more flexible and aggressive to attract growth, whether it is wind energy or the next emerging industry.

3.       The Money to make it Happen

The Secretary of Transportation should have discretion and sufficient resources to help fund significant projects.  Think about the Great Plains Regional Training Center. The evolution of the Smoky Hill Bombing Range from a military facility to a military and civilian training center is profound.  Civil defense teams across Kansas prepare for train derailments, winter search and rescue operations and other situations.  The transportation needs around the range and center are quickly changing.  Improving the roads near the bombing range now has statewide impact because it is no longer just a Saline County road; it is the entrance into an important military and civilian training installation.      

   

Consider an economic development project needing transportation infrastructure improvements.  KDOT provides a $500,000 low interest loan to fund enhancements. For the same project, I know of a state that can provide a $1,200,000 grant - of which only $240,000 needs to be provided as a local match.  Criteria should be established and priority should exist to fund transportation projects so we can be responsive to existing firms or new employers.  There is no getting around it – it will take more money to fund a transportation system that will help Kansas grow.      

 

 4.      The Salina area has a number of projects that merit support and we have provided a unified response

   

Saline County, the City of Salina, the Salina Airport Authority, OCCK and the Salina Chamber of Commerce endorsed a common vision for our area transportation needs.  There was cooperation developing our list because we know that KDOT has been very good to Salina during the past several years. We are grateful for KDOT's support and we are eager to help continue progress for our region and for the entire state.