Chamber Vision January 2017 | Page 18

18 January 2017

RDA Happenings

Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau
Kent Heermann President , Regional
Development Association of East Central Kansas
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOC . of EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
The Regional Development
Association of East Central Kansas ( RDA ) is the lead economic development organization for Lyon County and the Emporia area . The four members of the RDA are the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce , Emporia Enterprises , the City of Emporia , and Lyon
County . The RDA is located with the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and
Visitors Bureau at the
Trusler Business Center , 719 Commercial , Emporia , KS 66801 . Kent Heerman
RDA President , can be contacted at 620-342-1600 ext . 16 , or heermann @ emporiakschamber . org .
The Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas ( RDA ) uses several metrics to measure results of their efforts . Since 1995 , over $ 917,000,000 has been invested by the private sector in buildings and equipment . Over 2,245,000 sq . ft . of new manufacturing and warehouse space has been constructed in Emporia and Lyon County . Based upon the various incentive compliance agreements developed between the expanding private sector businesses and the City of Emporia , over 2,000 new jobs have been created . Most notably from January 1 , 2013 to January 1 , 2016 , there have been 929 full-time jobs created . Hostess Brands , Simmons Pet Food , and Birch Communications accounted for more than 800 of those 929 jobs .
May 4 , 2016 , Birch Communications celebrated their 20 years in Emporia . The current owners , who purchased Birch in 2007 , are well positioned for stable growth .
Fanestil Meats relocated part of their operations to the west highway 50 location in 2015 . Dan and Jan Smoots , owners of Fanestil Meats , were recognized as the 2016 Small Business Administration - Wichita District , Small Business Persons of the Year award .
Hostess Brands continues to grow since the new owners restarted the shutter operations in April 2013 . With more than 500 full-time employees , the owners reinvested by using updated energy efficient and modern equipment . The majority of their cake products are produced at the Emporia “ flagship ” facility . We look forward to continued future growth with Hostess Brands .
On November 5 , 2016 , Hostess Brands became a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ with the trading symbol TWNK .
Many projects take several years from discussion , design , construction , and then the opening of the facilities . Two commercial projects are the Flint Hills Mall , and the Emporia Pavilions project .
On June 26 , 2015 , the Flint Hills Mall submitted a Community Improvement District ( CID ) application . The RDA reviewed the application for completeness and submitted it to the Emporia City Commission . The CID application and development agreement were approved by the City Commission on October 21 , 2015 . The CID sales tax collections began in the second quarter 2016 . The renovation of B & B Theaters was completed and reopened on September 23 , 2016 . More improvements , such as exterior facades and parking resurfacing are continuing .
The Emporia Pavilions began in May 2013 . In 2015 the Tax Increment Financing ( TIF ) was approved . In June 2016 the Community Improvement District ( CID )