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Friday, September 22, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Attracting corporate interests is big business
By Steve Buckner Kansan staff writer
It seems that the only thing more competitive than business is the effort to get new businesses to locate in the Lawrence area and the state, say two men charged with that duty.
"It's extremely competitive," said Bill Martin, director of economic development for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.
Martin helps the city compete with other Kansas communities for new businesses, a task, he said, that was not always played on a level field.
"Some communities give anything and everything for companies." he said.
Martin said the giveaways included land, financing, cash grants to move and no taxes for four to 10 years. High demand areas, such as Overland Park and Lenexa, do not offer incentives to companies. he said.
Lawrence falls in the middle of the two extremes, Martin said.
The price for an acre of land at the East Hills Business Park is $25,000, compared to $0,000 in the Kansas City area, he said. And Lawrence offers a 50 percent property tax abatement on land, building and equipment for 10 years, Martin said.
"It's extremely competitive," said Lou Atherton, director of the industrial development division of the Kansas Department of Commerce.
The battle for new companies is vicious at the state level, too.
He said that Kansas had to compete with Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas for companies interested in expanding their operations. Once a business shows an interest in Kansas, it is Atkerton's job to match the company's needs to cities in the state. That's where Martin comes in.
Martin takes the information from Atherton's department and prepares to sell Lawrence to the company. But
Martin said that he also had a targeted list of attributes for the company.
"We want companies that are conscious of the value of their investment. We want companies with a need to be close to the University. And we want companies that want to be close to major metropolitan areas, but not in one."
Atherton stressed that his office only provided information about cities to the companies, and did not play one city against the other.
The state's commerce department has embarked on an aggressive marketing campaign to attract more corporate interest in Kansas, Atherton said.
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