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Kansas Department of Commerce presents 2025 report: $9.5 billion in committed investment and thousands of jobs
Summary
The Department of Commerce told the Legislative Post Audit Committee that 2025 closed 275 projects across 68 counties, produced more than 12,000 new or retained jobs and recorded about $9.5 billion in committed capital; Commerce highlighted Merck, Fiserv and reshoring projects and summarized incentive program activity.
Joshua Jefferson of the Department of Commerce gave the committee the agency’s 2025 annual report, saying the state closed 275 projects across 68 counties, generating more than 12,000 new and retained jobs and a historic committed capital investment figure of about $9.5 billion.
Jefferson highlighted several major projects: Merck Animal Health in DeSoto, a roughly $895 million project associated with about 400 net new jobs and significant job retention; Fiserv’s decision to locate a global fintech hub in Overland Park bringing about 2,000 jobs; and other attraction and reshoring projects including Great Plains Manufacturing in Salina and multiple supplier investments tied to Panasonic and Spirit AeroSystems.
He summarized incentive-program activity: 21 new PEAK agreements in 2025 and about 195 active PEAK agreements statewide (with more than 25,000 PEAK jobs hired or retained across all agreements); HPIP and other incentive totals were reiterated (Commerce said $7.6 billion in total capital investment came from initial HPIP project certifications last year). Jefferson also briefed the committee on Apex (the Panasonic-related attracting tool), reporting about $377 million paid out for more than $3 billion in certified Apex capital for years one and two, and noting relocation payments tied to Panasonic of just over $500,000 with an annual cap of $1 million.
On targeted programs, Jefferson described the Rural Opportunity Zone program (income tax credits or student-loan repayment assistance) and said it will sunset this year; student-loan assistance eligibility had been narrowed to counties under 15,000 population per the 2020 census (about 72 counties). He described the Job Creation Fund’s 2025 activity—11 projects that committed more than 3,000 jobs and about $620 million in committed capital—and summarized workforce training programs (KIT/KERR) that collectively supported nearly 1,600 jobs through training awards.
During Q&A, Senator Tyson raised concerns that large incentives (including the Chiefs stadium support and star bonds) amounted to substantial government giveaways and urged attention to potential tax impacts and rural priorities; Jefferson acknowledged the complexity of stadium and star-bond legal work and said Commerce is working with municipalities and stakeholders on district boundaries and other details.
Jefferson closed by offering further detail to the committee and noting program-level data would be available in the department’s transparency database as reporting completes.
