Former Warrensburg mayor Dee Hudson sees those two formidable assets as central to the county's positioning strategy. "We are the only county in Missouri that has one of the premium military bases in the world and a major state university." She added, "They provide a wonderful employment opportunity."

As Jean Othic noted, these two pillars of the economy are supported by a solid retail and commercial base. This, in turn, results in a wealth of employment options. "It's telling," says Othic, "that you have a lot of natives who choose to stay."

Indeed, more than half of those in the room had grown up in the county, an extremely high percent for an exurban area.

"The kids here have the opportunity to go to college but also into business," said Dr. Bill Caldwell. "There are a lot of opportunities You don't see that in other university cities."

Dr. George Wilson affirmed that regardless of the size of the business, "There is a great business community here." Like others, Mike Jinks attested to that community's "diversity and versatility." "The economy is very diverse," agreed Bill Dyer, "and it provides a good employment base."

Balance

Lieutenant Colonel Les Martin from Whiteman Air Force Base proved to be among the county's most eloquent boosters. He gets the opportunity to sing the counties virtues on a regular basis to those military people newly assigned to Whiteman. What he and others see as the county's distinctive virtue is its balance between a rural "quality of life" on the one hand with "a metro just an hour away" on the other.

As the colonel noted of the military, "There are many assignments where people say ‘what did you do wrong'." Not so with Whiteman. Added Lt. Col. Martin, "We've got people who want to come here."

Greg Vinardi recruits doctors, but his message is much the same as the colonel's. When physicians come here from elsewhere, said Vinardi, "The quality of their life is better." This doesn't surprise them as they can anticipate the lower cost of living and the negligible commuting times. What does surprise them is the productiveness of their practice: "They are doing at least what they expected or better."

Tamara Long noted that, once retired, many in the military come back. Lt. Col. Martin cited a figure of 3500 such individuals and their families live within 60 miles of Whiteman. One of them is Dale Hagerman. "We planned our careers so we could end up at Whiteman," he commented. As to the reason retirees return, Doug Kermick observed, "It boils down to people of Johnson County."

"It is a warm and friendly community," agreed Deric Elwell. "A great place to live and work," added Jerry Franklin. "I chose to raise my family here." Jenny Sollars likewise praised "the quality of the people."

"I moved here," said Michelle Schultz, "because I like small town living." When she wants something more in the way of arts and culture, however, she can run up the road to Kansas City." Dr. Bobby Patton spoke to the "true advantage" of being part of the Kansas City metro yet retaining the rural values and the sense of history and tradition, not to mention the lower cost of living. Mike Terry made a similar observation, praising the area's "quality of life and small town values," but noting that, given traffic, he can get to some parts of the Kansas City metro quicker than some of the residents of that metro can.