This is the largest private sector opportunity in Kansas history. Here’s how we win it

Billion. With a B.

It’s become common that I need to clarify the magnitude of the opportunity, and decision, that stands before lawmakers this week. We aren’t accustomed to talking multibillion-dollar economic development opportunities in Kansas.

That’s understandable following a lost decade that saw young Kansans leave our state in alarming numbers and our competitor states lapping us in economic growth. Many people grew accustomed to the idea that Kansas can’t compete for big economic development deals. Ford chose Tennessee; General Motors chose Missouri; Intel chose Ohio. And so it goes.

Yet today, Kansas stands as a finalist for what would be the largest private sector investment in state history. Let’s recap how we got here, and what it will take to win.

Several months ago, the Department of Commerce responded to a national request for proposals from a company seeking to build a $4 billion, 3 million-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility that would employ 4,000 people and create over 16,000 temporary jobs during construction. Eighty other sites nationwide also responded, all hoping to win this massive investment.

After months of evaluation by the company, two sites are left standing as finalists: one in Kansas, and one in a different state. (As is common when dealing with business trade secrets, we are legally bound by the company from publicly releasing information that would reveal its identity.)

That company’s executives visited Kansas last year and were impressed by our workforce, K-12 and higher education systems, strong state fiscal picture, infrastructure, center-of-the country geography, and state and local leadership. In conversations with Gov. Laura Kelly and legislative leaders, the company has been clear, though, that Kansas’ incentive toolkit simply doesn’t work for an enterprise spending $1 billion or more.

So we studied other states to learn the lessons, good and bad, that come from business recruitment opportunities of this magnitude — “megaprojects.” That led to the drafting of a bill called APEX — Attracting Powerful Economic Expansion — that prioritizes a company earning incentives after they invest and hire in the state, and that addresses the unique challenges created by companies spending massive amounts of capital. It also provides tools for grabbing not just the megaproject, but also the many smaller companies that will follow it.

Frankly, Kansas’ current incentives weren’t designed for megaprojects. Despite our recent surge in economic development successes, our state has a dismal record with megaproject opportunities since 2017 — a woeful 0 for 11 in attempts to land these major developments in sectors ranging from aviation to food manufacturing.

APEX is good, sound public policy to allow us to compete for an extraordinary opportunity. But it is not a guarantee that we will win. Not passing this bill assures that we will lose, though, and lose others like it in the future. None of us want to be 0 for 12.

As we look to the future, Kansas has no business saying no to a massive economic development opportunity, especially in a period of challenging and evolving global competition for new businesses and jobs. APEX would give us yet another edge over other states, and is worthy of the Legislature’s wholehearted support as it is considered this week.

After too many years of watching businesses and residents leave the state for economic opportunities elsewhere, we have turned the Kansas economy around. This generation of leaders now has the opportunity to consolidate those gains and fundamentally change the trajectory of our state — our economy, our communities, and our people — for the better.

This is our moment to keep climbing. A generational win is within our grasp. We must do everything in our power to grab it.

This story was originally published January 25, 2022 at 5:00 AM.