ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
There has been a lot of work going on in Liberal in regard to economic development and Tuesday, the Liberal City Commission got to hear an update from Seward County Development Corporation (SCDC) Executive Director Eli Svaty about just that.
“There have been some positive things and some not-as-positive things that have happened so far this quarter, and there will definitely be some of both shared,” Svaty said. “First, I went and played my first round of pickleball a few nights ago, and while I won't run out and buy everything pickleball-related, it was a fun time and we were there for a long time. When we were there, the court was packed and it was an overall great time, so kudos to the city for getting that facility put together. If you haven't been there yet, I highly recommend it.”
Svaty said there have been highs and lows to account for.
“A lot has changed in economic development in the past few months, and as someone who's rather competitive and doesn't like to lose, it has been a somewhat brutal couple of months. That's not to say we've lost everything, but it's definitely been a slog,” Svaty said. “Outside the city scope, but something that's been on the commission's radar for a while, is the SAFFiRE Renewables project, for which we had a significant groundbreaking ceremony back in August 2024. The primary ownership of SAFFiRE Renewables was Southwest Airlines, and if you follow the more global news, over the past year, they've had a new board of directors and new leadership. That has created some major changes to the airline, but also to all of their other programs, including SAFFiRE Renewables. That project is not dead, but it's in a holding pattern, to use airline parlance, for now. They're still working on permits and engineering, but right now, they don't have their significant ownership, so if you know of any companies looking to invest in a renewable jet fuel project, please let me know, because there is still Department of Energy funding that was locked but is now freed up.”
There have also been changes to account for at the federal level, Svaty said.
“As administrations come and go at the federal government level, priorities change, and that causes ripple effects at multiple levels. Because of that, our large retail project has lost our anchor store for right now,” Svaty said. “Again, that does not mean the project is dead and we've lost everything, but we are pivoting now and working to secure a new anchor store to work on that retail development. The good news on that side is it's just the one store and there are other options we can look at. The other good news is the other inline stores that had committed are still committed to the city, and there are some other opportunities we're hoping to work because of all of that. Some of the other stores had some concerns about overall logistics and where their nearest distribution centers were, so maybe there are opportunities for us to get a distribution with the store there. We're still very active on that project because as you know, there's a lot we can do if that happens – and not just with that particular project, but also potential STAR Bond projects.”
However, Svaty said, there was recently a rather major hit.
“Last week, we received word from Air Products that, due to geopolitical uncertainty, they've decided not to start their project at the airport industrial park. That project is really the only officially confirmed to no longer be active,” Svaty said. “However, the good news out of that is they were very complimentary of all the City of Liberal staff and everyone they'd worked with, and that was a project that had been in the works for more than a year. This was not a situation where we lost the project to another city, it was a situation where they were looking at the bigger picture and are not going to invest right now. In conversations with Apex Clean Energy, as of last week, they are in a 10-year contract with us. There is a reason why they talked about their project in terms of five to 10 years, they wanted to be able to kind of ride through that. And we are looking at some potential parallels and some new opportunities there between Apex and Air Products, because Air Products as a company has been in the helium business for more than 40 years. They're part of a huge investment in Saudi Arabia right now in a production facility, so we're looking at some potential partnerships there in terms of investment and expertise.”
However, there has also been some good news, Svaty said.
“As it happens, we've found ourselves in conversations with some foreign countries that are looking to reinvest in the U.S. because of Department of Defense contracts, potential tariff threats and geopolitical turmoil in their regions, and we are actively working on those opportunities,” Svaty said. “We were able to host multiple large conglomerates from one of those countries in Liberal around Pancake Day, which, if you remember, was VERY windy all day. One of those representatives did ask 'How do you all live here?' in jest, but we were able to talk through how that day was rather an anomaly, and they are very interested in energy and the Southwest Power Pool, so we are seeing some opportunities there. We're also looking at some potential logistic opportunities. I know in the past there have been some efforts around transload facilities and utilizing the fact we have the railroads and large industry partners moving goods in and out, so we're trying to restart some of those conversations and see what opportunities there are on that front. And not just for our existing industries, but we're asking if we can build one of those facilities, how could that attract additional industry activity to the region? And If you've seen any local news lately, the conversation surrounding wind power is again hitting Seward County, so we're excited about that opportunity finally. Those leases have been in place for almost 15 years now, and the question of 'When will it get to Seward County?' has been on many minds for a long time. We had a good meeting with the Planning & Zoning Commission recently, and we've gotten a lot of feedback, and I would be happy to answer any questions from anyone sine I know there's been a lot of information shared.”
There have also been some triumphs in the SCDC office, Svaty added.
“Raquel Arellano is continuing to focus on the entrepreneurship side of things and new business startups. Through our Network Kansas portfolio, we have a little more than $550,000 loaned out to small businesses in Liberal and Seward County, which is roughly 30 businesses or so, and that's phenomenal,” Svaty said. “We're continuing to see growth on the small business side, so as some of our larger industrial projects are against the ropes, small business growth has continued to be steady – we've got some manufacturing, we've got some new restaurants, and we've got some incoming new retail, so it's exciting to see all of that happening. Raquel was chosen for this year's Leadership Kansas class along with Keeley Moree, and it's great to have two Liberal voices in that, and it'll be exciting to see what they end up bringing back to the community. Tom Reynaga joins us part time in our financial services section, he comes from 20 years' experience in banking, and his role has a lot to do with loan preparedness for businesses as they go to banks for financing, but he also helps a lot with the books and ideas of how to increase cash flow. He's recently had the opportunity to get some businesses in and open up their books and work through that, and that's a rather intricate process with business owners, and it's great having someone with his experience to help.”
Among everything that has happened, however, Svaty said he and his staff will continue to work hard for Liberal.
“During these next 30, 60, 90 days, we'll also be working to be more proactive on the industrial side as we see some of these proposed tariffs hit,” Svaty said. “We have to think about what that could mean for our local businesses and make sure we have resources at the state level and the local level to make sure we can support them through this process and help them, because there will be some ripple effects. I apologize for not having only good news, but this is where we are. That's the reality of it, and we're going to keep working hard for Liberal.”
