County development director outlines leads for Business & Technology Park; commission debates bringing economic-development work in house

Lisa Hack, executive director of the Leavenworth County Development Corporation (LCDC), presented an update on LCDC'led business attraction and retention efforts, including marketing for the Leavenworth Business & Technology Park and the Gary Carlson Business Center.

Hack said LCDC markets county sites through targeted outreach to site consultants, real-estate brokers and developers, attendance at trade shows and coordinated state-level familiarization tours. She described 15 project submissions to the Business & Technology Park in 2024 (primarily manufacturing and a few small data-center opportunities) and said LCDC responds to complex requests for information that can include utility capacity, wet-utility availability and workforce data.

Hack highlighted competitive strengths for the park she said LCDC markets: available water resources, a gas line that can support temporary power generation (Generac-type backup), and proximity to a trained workforce, including veterans and Fort Leavenworth'related talent. She also noted the challenge of utility upgrades (Evergy and other providers typically require a committed project before building speculative distribution) and housing and community receptivity issues in neighborhoods adjacent to the park.

City staff (Scott and Penny) then led a study-session discussion that reviewed roles and finances of economic-development partners: LCDC, the Port Authority, Main Street, the Chamber and Girl Leavenworth County. Staff summarized that LCDC and Port Authority perform regional site marketing and keep business-park marketing and lead follow-up, while Main Street, the Chamber and Girl Leavenworth County focus on downtown and small-business retention and support.

The staff assessment noted that LCDC has limited funding and that countywide funding reductions have constrained the agency's capacity; staff said LCDC has funding for a few more years at current levels but that the organization is seeking public education and other revenue to sustain services. Staff also reported that the Chamber has faced budgetary strain, used reserve funds and limited transparency with ex officio members in 2023'24, which the city said reduced some partner collaboration.

Commissioners discussed options: maintain funding for LCDC and set clearer performance metrics; reduce or reallocate city funding; or withdraw city funding and reconstitute an in-house economic-development capability. Commissioners expressed interest in hiring a dedicated economic-development professional (with grant-writing capability noted as desirable), establishing measurable performance metrics (RFIs, site visits, projects advanced to final rounds, jobs and investment committed) and reconsidering how transient-guest-tax and other discretionary funds are used to support economic development and downtown activities.

Staff outlined a next step: to present the City Commission with options during the budget process that include (1) continuing current funding with clearer deliverables, (2) reduced funding tied to metrics, or (3) terminating the city'level contribution and developing an in-house economic-development program. Staff said they would return with draft job descriptions, estimated costs and proposed metrics for measuring results.

Provenance: Topic introduction: "As you all know, I'm Lisa Hack. I'm the executive director for Leavenworth County Development Corporation." (transcript block at 1759.43 seconds) Topic finish: "Scott and I are here as your staff, to answer any questions that you might have on, how the city and our partners work together to help the city grow." (transcript block at 6492.97 seconds)

Speakers cited: Lisa Hack (executive director, LCDC); Scott (city staff); Penny (city staff); Brian Habian (LCDC president, mentioned); Diana Dodd (LCDC staff, mentioned); Mayor and multiple commissioners (unnamed in transcript).