ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Economic development is important for every community, and Liberal Mayor Jeff Parsons said the city’s recent economic development efforts have yielded a lot of positive results.

“Making Liberal a place for opportunity has been another goal, and that includes a lot of economic development. Liberal has a strong economic base, it’s a diverse business community, and the city’s current state of economic development is strong,” Parsons said. “There are multiple things the city does directly, such as providing incentives for economic development like Tax Increment Financing and Community Improvement Districts and similar programs. We also have direct things that go to business owners like the Façade Program, which is a 50/50 match up to $10,000 so businesses can make improvements to the façade of their buildings and make things look better. There are also a lot of unseen parts of economic development, like tourism – the city’s involved with the tourism board funding things like the PRCA Rodeo and similar events. We’re constantly updating exhibits at Baker Arts Center and doing other work to keep bringing people into town. I also have to give a lot of praise to the Seward County Development Corporation, because they do so much work that doesn’t get talked about nearly as much as it should. They work directly with local businesses and area entrepreneurs and work them through how things would work here in town and help them maximize their planned operations. A lot of people have also noticed the work going on in the downtown area the past few weeks, and that’s been a pretty significant investment. We’ve also got a consulting group we’re working with to help with the downtown redevelopment plan which we’ll put into action in the future, and we’re really excited about all of that. A big project we’re excited about is Apogee Power setting up a facility in town, and they’re headquartered all the way in Taiwan, which is exciting for us, and there are a couple other companies looking to set up in the area that we’ll be able to talk about more in the near future.”

Part of that, Commissioner Ron Warren said, is helped by the community’s overall connectivity.

“We’ve done a lot of work to also make Liberal a place to connect, there have been a lot of projects in that regard within the community. There are a lot of different types of connectivity that can be talked about, and there are a lot of questions about how to improve that,” Warren said. “We’ve got multiple concrete projects going on in the downtown area and all around town, and a big thing being done right now is repairs to sidewalks and incentivizing property owners for doing that. We’re also doing work through the Safe Streets & Roads For All program, which is funding to help local transportation projects, and it’s really important for us to be able to get that funding and make progress there. With the Liberal Municipal Airport, there have been multiple marketing efforts to try and increase numbers and development, including a parking lot for the new terminal that will be coming in the future, which should be really exciting for people. One of the major projects that’s been talked about for many years is a second overpass, and discussions are still ongoing in terms of where that could go and how that would work, and we’re going to be doing a lot of community engagement to get as much input as possible.”

And the work is continuing, Warren said. 

“Another big project going on right now is the CityBus transit facility across the street from the recycling center, and that will be a great place for us to store the buses and keep them in better shape and help them last a long time, and it’ll also be really beneficial to the drivers and other crew who help with maintenance and everything else necessary,” Warren said. “There have also been a lot of signal upgrades, that’s something that’s been needed for a long time, and a lot of that is being funded through KDOT grants. Connectivity throughout the community is really important, whether you’re traveling by car or bicycle or bus or on foot. We’ve been blessed the last several years to have some great sidewalks for people to walk on, I know there are a lot of people who like to walk around town, and I like how we’ve been able to improve that experience for them. There are also other projects in the works, and I’m looking forward to seeing us continue to improve this city’s connectivity.”