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Startup Hutch outlines five-year plan to expand entrepreneurship supports in Reno County
Summary
Startup Hutch presented a five-year action plan to the Reno County Board of Commissioners, describing goals for navigation, business expansion, youth and under‑resourced startups, collaborative supports and business transitions and requesting continued partnership as leadership changes.
Startup Hutch executive director Jackson Swear presented a five-year entrepreneurship action plan to the Reno County Board of Commissioners on a plan to strengthen local business creation and growth.
Swear said the plan grew from a multi-year planning effort and stakeholder meetings that began in 2017 and were refined through 2024, and that it rests on four guiding principles: promote transparency, embrace and foster diversity, leverage local assets and meet people where they are. "We work together, we celebrate our wins, and we grow the economy," Swear said.
The plan groups work into five goal areas: navigation (maintaining an entrepreneur navigator and creating multiple on‑ramps into services); expanding existing small businesses; engaging youth and other under‑resourced prospective entrepreneurs; collaborative supports (regional and statewide partnerships); and business transitions (succession planning and facilitating buyers for retiring owners). Swear said short‑term steps are those to start within three years and that longer goals extend to a five‑year horizon.
Swear described past accomplishments and resources: loan funds that targeted about $200,000 per year across the prior five‑year plan period, producing roughly $1.4 million in loans and more than $5 million when matching funds are included; partnerships with Network Kansas, SCORE and the Wichita Small Business Development Center; and leadership development through the Heartland Together program funded in part by Kauffman Foundation activities.
Commissioners asked about outreach and inclusion. Swear said his data show Startup Hutch is overrepresented in ZIP code 67501 and underrepresented in 67502, and that a new client relationship management tool should improve geographic and demographic tracking. Commissioners also suggested stronger ties to local FFA programs and to vocational pathways. Swear noted the current executive director position is posted and that the plan is intended as a roadmap for whoever fills the role.
The presentation was informational; no formal county action was requested or taken.The board did not vote on Startup Hutch funding at the meeting.
Ending: Staff and the commission indicated interest in continuing the partnership and increased outreach; Startup Hutch will move forward seeking partners to carry out the plan and a successor to the current director will be named before many of the action items are executed.
