Destination Warrensburg

More than 30 community leaders from throughout Johnson County, Missouri convened on Tuesday, August 5, 2003 for what just about everyone agreed was the most harmonious, progressive economic development assembly held in Warrensburg in years. Co-chairing the event were Dr. Bobby Patton, president of Central Missouri State University, and Weldon Brady, chairman of the Warrensburg Area Economic Development Corporation and the president of the Bank of Holden.

The program host for the forum at the beautiful James C. Kirkpatrick Library on the CMSU campus was Ingram's Magazine of Kansas City. This was part of Ingram's ongoing effort to highlight progress in the twenty counties that make up Kansas City's greater metropolitan area.

The Economy

Although there was candid discussion about the challenges the county faces, the overall mood was refreshingly forward looking and upbeat. With a strong economy and an unemployment rate about half the national average, business and government leaders were in a desirable position to plan for the future.

Steve Abney, who came to Warrensburg twenty years ago to start a bank, offered some powerful testimony to the county's economic stability. "I've never seen where we weren't growing," said Abbey. "We've never had a downturn."

Jerry Franklin, who owns several shopping centers, office buildings and apartment complexes throughout Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas, observed that in Johnson County the sales per square foot compare favorably with the rest of the country and "extremely well" when the cost of doing business is factored in. "You don't see many businesses go out of business," affirmed Steve Abney.

"The economy here is very resilient," said Jack Dillingham. "That's a blessing for all of us." Dillingham was not the only one to speak in providential terms. Weldon Brady agreed that the county was "blessed" to have the economy it did. The obvious fruits of that blessing were two, a "wonderful university and a wonderful air force base." Scott Sader, among others, affirmed that those indeed were the "two biggest things" in the area. For the record, the former is Central Missouri State University and the latter is Whiteman Air Force base, best known now as the home of the awesome B-2.