Kansas Lt. Gov. David Toland attends a Hays Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Friday. Photo by Christina Janney/Hays Post
Christina Janney
Hays Post
Kansas Lt. Gov. David Toland spoke at a Hays Chamber of Commerce luncheon Friday about the Kerry Administration’s economic accomplishments and plans for the Department of Commerce’s future developments.
Toland also serves as Kansas Secretary of Commerce.
Between 2019 and 2024, Governor Kelly’s Administration will generate $19.7 million in private business investment in Kansas and retain or create 67,912 jobs. Approximately 15% of the jobs will be retained through relocation to other states or overseas.
Toland said Kansas has been on the defensive to prevent other states, such as Missouri, from stealing businesses and jobs.
“We’re not talking about federal grants or COVID funding or stimulus checks,” Toland said. “We’re talking about businesses that can decide where to invest, and an unprecedented number of businesses in the history of our nation are choosing to invest in Kansas.”
Kansas Lt. Gov. David Toland spoke Friday at a Hays Chamber of Commerce luncheon about economic development in northwest Kansas. Photo by Christina Janney/Hays Post
He said the growth is due to a combination of new and existing businesses expanding in the state.
The second largest economic project in the state under the Kelly Administration was the Amber Wave Wheat Protein Facility in Phillipsburg, in northwest Kansas, which was invested at $670 million.
Private business investment in the state grew steadily from $1.3 billion in 2019 to $3.8 billion in 2021.
“2020 was COVID. As a state, we had to make a decision: Do we stand back and wait to see what happens as the global economy collapses, or do we step on the gas? The decision we made as a state and as an administration was to step on the gas.”
Private investment peaked at $7.4 billion but will plateau at $3.1 billion in 2023. The state has seen about $1.8 billion in private investment so far this year, but there are several large projects in the works for this fall, Toland said.
While the unemployment rate has been inching up across the state, including in Ellis County — where the rate was 3.1% in June — Toland said in an interview after his presentation that anything below 4% would still be considered low.
He said the state is closely monitoring employment data but there’s no need to worry.
There are still 100,000 jobs available in Kansas, with 50,000 of those listed on KANSASWORKS.
Industrial battery maker EnerSys announced job cuts in May, and antenna and vehicle maker Amphenol-Adronics closed its Hays plant earlier this year, but Toland said the microfactory is poised to bring new manufacturing and jobs to Hays.
The MicroFactory is a $4.5 million, 30,000-square-foot facility built to attract emerging manufacturers and those looking to locate in Hays. The Kansas Department of Commerce contributed $2.6 million in BASE grant funding to the project.
The facility’s opening ceremony was held in March.
“[The MicroFactory’s] “Its very existence is a tangible reflection of the region’s commitment to manufacturing and business development,” Toland said.
He said he had personally spoken to two companies interested in Hayes.
“I’m confident we’ll win soon,” Toland said.
Grow Haze Executive Director Doug Williams said the economic development organization has shortlisted seven to 10 companies that could potentially lease space at the microfactory. He said Grow Haze wants to make sure it finds a manufacturer that’s a good fit for the facility and Haze.
Toland also said housing is essential to attracting talented people to Kansas and that Hays is actively working on that issue.
“The housing shortage we’re seeing in northwest Kansas and across the state is getting even more acute with the growth we’re seeing in this part of the state, and we need to make sure new roofs are being built,” he said.
Other Commerce Department investments in Ellis County include $115,000 for building renovations at North Kansas Catholic Charities in Hays, $150,000 to DSNWK, $2.3 million for workforce retention through Fort Hays State University, a $75,000 HEAL grant to Chestnut Sweets in Hays and a $594,000 BASE grant to Gera’s Diner.
“We’ve been focused and intentional in our investments in Hays and Ellis counties, recognizing that this region is a retail and commercial employment hub,” Toland said.
When companies are considering investing, they want to see if there’s a place for their employees to live, he said.
He said Hays has also done well to invest in quality of life, including $6,500 in operating support to Hays Community Theatre and $22,000 to the Hays Arts Council.
Toland praised Ellis County’s efforts, saying the county will soon reduce the number of needed child care slots from 800 to 330.
Sarah Bloom, a Hays native and child welfare advocate for the Kansas Department of Commerce, said the Hays Chamber of Commerce and Sarah Wasinger’s Ellis County Child Welfare Task Force are committed to closing the child care gap.
“There’s a concentrated effort going on in the county to address the child care shortage,” Toland said. “This is important because businesses that are looking to hire need to be able to hire people of child-bearing age. They want to know that their children are being taken care of while they’re working.”
“Without childcare slots, many people choose not to work,” he said.
Toland also spoke about the state’s new “Love Kansas” initiative, aimed at attracting former Kansas workers back home.
Hays is one of 19 Kansas cities piloting the program.
Toland, an Iola native, graduated from the University of Kansas and left Kansas for a job on the East Coast.
After he and his wife had a daughter, he decided he didn’t want her to grow up playing in a four-foot by four-foot yard, so the family moved back to Kansas.
“The Love Kansas program is about you, anyone who graduated from Hays High School, maybe 10 or 20 years ago,” Toland said, “and then we get them to pitch to local people who know those alumni. We reach out to them directly and ask, ‘Do you know about all the great things going on in Hays?'”
“We have 100,000 open jobs. We have a great community that offers a quality of life and is welcoming. So let’s get out there and bring our people back to Hays, to Ellis County, to northwest Kansas, to Kansas,” he added.
