Franklin and Miami: Two Counties, One Ambition

On a perfect Kansas November morning in Ottawa, Ingram’s Magazine convened 35 of the business and civic leaders of Miami and Franklin County to explore development opportunities for the two counties. This was part of Ingram’s ongoing effort to promote development for Kansas City’s greater 20-county area. 

The meeting proved to be a lively affair with lots of useful exchanges. These included both hard data as well as contact information between the leaders of the respective counties.

 Co-chairing the economic development assembly were Tom Weigand of the Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce and the Ottawa/Franklin County Economic Development task force and Jim Wise, Chairman of the Board of the Miami County Commission. The two counties co-sponsored the assembly.

Growth

In the opening round, participants were asked what was the most pressing challenge that the two counties faced. What they all acknowledged was that their primary challenge stems from their most essential blessing.

“We all need to realize we’re very fortunate to be where we are,” said Jim Wise. “You go 100 miles west of here, you don’t see growth. You see stagnation. We’re in an area that is growing, that’s going to continue to grow. We need to be willing and able and smart enough to take advantage of that, and make it grow the way we want to.”

“Our growth has been very small and manageable,” said Denise O’Dea, superintendent of Wellsville schools, “but I have a feeling it’s going to blossom.” The signs of that are evident.

Larry Felix of Ransom Memorial Hospital contended that the counties are “at the early stage of our product lifestyle.” In marketing terms, that also means that they are approaching the steepest portion of the growth curve. “How exciting that is. How positive that is,” said the philosophical Felix. “All these things are going to happen because of us but also in spite of us.”

“Our counties are roughly identical in population,” said Kansas State Senator, Pat Apple. “We have seen growth, and I think trying to manage that growth is going to be our foremost challenge, but it’s going to be our foremost opportunity.”

Where that challenge manifests itself most clearly, observed Lisa Johnson, county counselor of Franklin County, is in the need “to develop an infrastructure to support that growth.”