Kansas Commerce highlights $21 billion in private investment, stresses KC2026 oversight and tourism planning

Rachel Willis, director of legislative affairs for the Kansas Department of Commerce, briefed the Senate Commerce Committee on the agency’s work since 2019 and outlined its project pipeline and priorities.

Willis told the committee Commerce and its partners have secured about $21,000,000,000 in committed private business investment and “a little more than 70,000 committed, created new jobs and retain[ed] jobs” statewide since 2019. She said the department now lists roughly 135 projects in its active pipeline, led by advanced manufacturing and including continued aviation, agriculture and biosciences prospects.

The presentation emphasized three headline wins. Willis described Panasonic as “our largest economic development project in state history,” saying the company has committed $4,000,000,000 in capital investment and 4,000 jobs; she said the site in De Soto had produced its first battery and the employer had hired “right around 400 employees” as of January and planned to scale to about 1,000 positions by summer and about 2,000 by year-end. Willis said De Soto budgeted $2,000,000 for road improvements and that the community is expected to see an estimated $400,000,000 in combined infrastructure, education and community benefits over a 20-year incentive period, and that local schools had received $14,000,000 in property taxes during that period.

Willis also detailed other large investments: Hilmar Cheese (Dodge City) with roughly $676,000,000 in investment and about 250 employees expected at the site, and AmberWave in Phillipsburg with about $232,500,000 invested and roughly 110 employees. She said Hilmar’s arrival catalyzed additional dairy and feed‑yard projects in southwest Kansas.

On tourism and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, committee members asked whether the department was overseeing funds or marketing outside the Kansas City metro area. Willis said Commerce participated in KC2026 committees and helped shape an agreement with KC2026 but that “they’re the ones ... in charge of the state overall plan” and that communities seeking World Cup‑related funds must work directly with KC2026. She said Commerce had created a grant‑style agreement with KC2026 that includes a budget, timeline and reporting requirements and that the department would work with legal staff to determine what could be publicly released. Willis added that KC2026 is required to report how Kansas funds are used and that Commerce has emphasized keeping expenditures in Kansas.

The briefing covered other Commerce programs: an international division that supported roughly $13,000,000,000 in Kansas exports since 2019 and produced about 91 foreign direct investment leads; an apprenticeship office that increased participation about 27% last year; a Small Business Development office that procured $2,600,000 from the U.S. Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative; and continued use of the state’s STAR bonds program (17 projects, with about 11 more in the pipeline). Willis said Village West remains the largest STAR bonds project and “now provides over $40,000,000 in sales tax to the state general fund every year.”

Willis previewed HB 2308, an “economic development tour tool” (referred to in the packet as AIM K), and said Commerce would continue to prioritize speed, quality of places and talent in recruitment and retention efforts.

Committee members pressed for additional detail on several items Willis promised to provide: a break‑out of new versus retained jobs and the percentage of hires who were first‑time Kansas tax filers; success rates for converting pipeline projects to secured deals; export figures adjusted for inflation; and a copy of the department’s agreement with KC2026 where legally permissible.

Willis also described awards the state has received and said Kansas had “won 4 consecutive gold shovel awards for area development” and two Governor Cups for private sector investment per capita. She cautioned that some metrics (for example, international trade totals) would require follow‑up to account for inflation or to produce additional breakdowns.

Ending: Willis and committee members agreed to follow up with requested data and to continue oversight of KC2026 reporting and tourism planning. Several legislators asked Commerce to work with appropriators and KC2026 to ensure Kansas funds are used in state and to consider interim oversight while World Cup planning continues.