KEY QUOTE: “We’re going to do exactly what we’ve been doing for the past three-and-a-half years,” Kelly told The Gazette this week. “When I came into office, we really didn’t have anything to offer our communities in terms of economic development support. That has completely changed.”
Kelly sees continued economic success, growth on horizon
Emporia Gazette
July 2, 2022
- “Days after announcing that the state had surpassed $9 billion in economic development since 2019, Gov. Laura Kelly said she plans to use the same tactics to stimulate growth in Emporia and Lyon County.”
- “In three years, Kansas has seen the development of 658 new private investment projects that created or retained more than 45,000 jobs across the state. But, even as opportunities for some of the state’s workforce expands, Kelly acknowledged challenges in housing availability. Expanding the Rural Housing Incentive District tax incentive program to allow for second floor development was meant to meet that need.”
- “’When I was elected to the state Senate, we had a budget of $2 million for the Kansas Housing Resource Corporation, and that money was to be used to encourage developers to building housing,’ Kelly said. ‘We just increased that to $290 million. So, we’re investing big time to be able to make it doable for developers.’”
- “Kelly is also impressed with the ‘significant business investment’ that already exists in the community.”
- “But Kelly said that economic development is difficult to sustain without investment in other areas, such as education, child care and workforce development. Kelly’s administration recently announced a $53 million benefit for the state’s child care providers, which goes directly to the workers themselves.”
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