by Murrel Bland
The consolidation of city and county government has been recognized as a major reason for a surge in development in Wyandotte County, particularly in the Village West area.
That was the conclusion of panel members who commented at the annual meeting of the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce Wednesday, April 6, at the Reardon Convention Center. More than 600 persons attended.
The panelists were CiCi Rojas, president of the Central Exchange; Joe Reardon, president of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce; Gabriel Stricker, a vice president with Google Fiber; and Mayor Mark Holland. The panel moderator was Kevin Collison, a consulting commentator with KCUR-FM.
Mayor Holland said the consolidation of governments will mark its 20th anniversary in 2017. That will also mark the payoff of sales tax bonds that helped finance construction of Village West. That will mean an additional $12 million annually to the Unified Government’s treasury. The mayor said that before the development in Village West, the area at 110th Street and State Avenue had a restaurant and liquor store. Now the area generates more than $12 million annually in property tax and supports 9,000 employees.
Rojas, a native of the Argentine community, said that Wyandotte County is a place that always has welcomed immigrants and provided them opportunities. The mission statement of the Central Exchange is to provide “the venue and voice for women seeking to reach their full personal and professional potential.”
Rojas said she is pleased that other parts of the community, including Argentine, are benefitting from renewed development. Argentine recently has seen the building of two new grocery stores and affordable housing.
The panel agreed that potential developers look for stability in local government before they invest in a community. The Unified Government has provided that stability.
Mayor Holland said that plans are moving ahead to develop a YMCA community center and a grocery store downtown. He admitted, however, that the task has been challenging.
Stricker said that more than 1,000 U.S. cities had applied to be the first municipality to have Google Fiber. Kansas City, Kan., was chosen as the first city in 2010. Since then Google Fiber has expanded to other areas in the metropolitan area and other cities including Austin, Atlanta and Salt Lake City. Stricker said Google received excellent cooperation from public and private leaders in Wyandotte County.
Reardon said it has been most important for the public and private sectors to be cooperative and collaborative. He cited the efforts of Google Fiber to bring a gigabit Internet service to the residential community and also places such as the KU Medical Center and public schools. He also noted the 4,000 new jobs that Cerner has brought to Village West.
Stricker said Google is now offering its service to small businesses.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.