Montgomery County Action Council reports business recruitment, certified sites and employer-incentive activity

Melissa Johnson, executive director of the Montgomery County Action Council (MAC), presented a year-in-review detailing business support, certified-site work, grant assistance and workforce recruitment programs.

Why it matters: MAC coordinates business retention and attraction work for Montgomery County. Its activities—including certified-site preparation, employer incentive matching using ARPA funds and small-business grant assistance—directly support local economic development and job creation.

Presentation highlights: Johnson said MAC helped eight small businesses secure Forge grants (up to $5,000 each), totaling more than $40,000. MAC is a hybrid Small Business Development Center (SBDC) location and has provided workshops (energy, economic outlook, AI for small business). MAC joined Team Kansas in 2024 and is pursuing additional site-selector engagement; Johnson said Montgomery County currently has more certified industrial sites than any other Kansas county and that MAC is pursuing certification for Coffeyville Industrial Park Sites 1 and 2 and Caney Industrial Park North. She noted MAC’s employer incentive match (ARPA funds) can match sign-on bonuses up to $5,000 or 10% of an individual’s annual salary; 61 contracts totaling more than $150,000 have been signed since the program started in March 2024.

Commission and staff context: Johnson flagged that certified-site work in Coffeyville encountered environmental and gas/oil-lease constraints requiring the original 160-acre site to be split into two marketable parcels. She said MAC invested roughly $182,000 since 2022 to prepare shovel-ready sites.

Next steps: MAC will continue outreach and marketing to site selectors, report back on evolving projects (Spears Manufacturing expansion in Caney and Project Jayhawk outreach), and return with any future funding requests during the fall budget cycle.