Chamber and Economic Development Council ask Geary County for larger annual support; military affairs seeks modest boost

Mickey Farbene, president of operations for the Junction City Area Chamber and director for economic development, asked the Geary County Board of Commissioners to boost the county’s annual chamber sponsorship from $2,525 by an additional $2,000 to reach the chamber’s “circle of advocates” level. The increase would match the city’s sponsorship, Farbene said. “It’s a simple ask,” he said, and listed visibility benefits that come with the higher level, including event tickets, directory placement and homepage advertising.

The chamber’s membership director, Kelly Cook, described benefits tied to the requested level: premium visibility at chamber events, a table of eight at the JCA annual dinner and eight tickets to the new-teachers breakfast, sponsorship credit for one chamber event up to $1,000, and enhanced online listings. Cook said the chamber is focusing on member engagement and retention in the coming year.

Rob Wilson, director of military affairs for the chamber, separately requested a $1,000 increase to his division’s budget. “By having these additional funds, it’ll allow me to create additional events within the community to pull those single soldiers and families off the installation and into our community,” Wilson said. He said extra funds would also allow attendance at two defense-community conferences per year to pursue grant opportunities and deepen relationships with site selectors and defense-community peers.

Mark Powers and other EDC leaders said the Economic Development Corporation is asking Geary County for a $20,000 increase in its annual allocation. The EDC presented performance figures it said support the request: a five‑year average return of $105 of private investment for every county dollar invested, 733 new positions created through major projects over five years and $233,425,000 in total major-project investment in that period. The EDC said it has worked 55–65 major projects per year (not counting small-business support) and currently has four projects representing more than $3.5 billion in potential investment.

EDC leaders told commissioners that a prior marketing grant from Eagle Communications and the Smith Family Foundation is ending, leaving a gap they had relied on for advertising and site promotion. “We are no longer going to be receiving that grant,” the EDC representative said, asking the county to help replace that funding to keep marketing efforts competitive.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about benefits tied to the chamber sponsorship level and about past county funding formulas. One commissioner referenced a resolution and the county mill and valuation as background for how past contributions were calculated; presenters said some past grants and county contributions had not increased in recent years. No formal vote or decision on the requests was recorded in the transcript.

The presentations combined membership-sponsorship, military-outreach and economic-development requests into a single funding conversation; presenters emphasized recruitment, retention and promotional activities as the primary uses of additional county support.

Looking ahead, chamber and EDC leaders said they would follow up with written details for the commissioners’ budget process and thanked the board for consideration.