Is Richmond REDI for economic development?
, Richmond News Staff
11-20-2009
In economic development terms, no city is an island.
That’s the one absolute, so far, that anyone takes away from any local economics discussion with members of Richmond Economic Development, Incorporated (REDI), city officials, including REDI board member and City Administrator Rick Childers or REDI’s prospective advisor Terry Rumery.
At a recent after-hours gathering at Shirkey’s The 19th Hole, REDI board member Bill Downs and Rumery brought friends and neighbors up to speed: REDI is requesting a $50,000 annual budget. It has received around $8,000 in pledges from members of Richmond’s business community toward economic development programs, but would like to find another $17,000. Richmond City Council has pledged to set aside another $25,000, but has held off spending the funds until REDI and the council can discuss the group’s plans. Rumery also told the business community gathered on Friday he sees definite potential in Richmond’s rise.
“Richmond has a lot going for it. And some things to improve and that’s O.K.” he said. “I’m looking forward to this.”
Richmond gains a lot from Kansas City’s proximity to it, Rumery said. His firm, Rumery and Associates, drew the interest of REDI and the city in part because it’s helping transform Rumery’s home area in Chillicothe.
“Richmond just needs to be Richmond,” Rumery said, stressing the city needs to establish itself rather than striving to imitate growth areas like Liberty or Kearney. “Richmond doesn’t need to take a backseat to anybody.”
Richmond’s healthy highway system linking in and out of Kansas City works well enough that Richmond needs not even lament being off Interstate 35 – a major artery from areas such as Liberty to Kansas City, Rumery said.
An assessment would tell Rumery a lot more, he said. But for the time being, Richmond will have to “be aggressive” in growing and conscious of retaining its present economic base.
“You’ve got to take care of your existing business, making sure everything’s going well for them,” Rumery said. “Whatever it may be, you always want to make sure they’re taken care of.”
That’s not even always all about what a city has, he said. Sometimes what a neighbor has just lying around next door can be help enough.
“The community needs to offer the quality of life and things that will attract business,” Rumery said. “You need to play off the strengths of the surrounding areas, as well. Just because Richmond doesn’t have a Worlds of Fun, it’s still 30 minutes from one. Those are things you can utilize that you don’t have right there, but that you have right in your backyard.”
Richmond’s “aggressive” strategy would mean mobilizing community leaders with expertise to show prospective incoming firms what Richmond can offer. It also means actively pursuing infrastructure improvements and continuing to maintain educational standards. It also means putting out there housing options to accommodate potential growth.
Essentially, Richmond has to be ready to grow.
“Housing right now is probably the number one toughest thing to go after right now,” he said. “You need a good planned development.”
Childers sees Richmond needs space to grow, though the rest of the formula looks solid. Richmond’s unemployment numbers are low for the KC metro area, he said. Infrastructure improvements are moving along.
But Richmond needs places to put employees and places to put the business employing them.
“We don’t have a huge number of empty buildings that are available,” he said. “Housing, we’re moving steadily forward. We still have areas that need improvement.”
REDI’s $50,000 fundraising goal could go a long way. Rumery charges an annual $30,000 fee to consult on Richmond’s economic planning, and is asking for a three-year commitment. Another $7,500 will buy annual membership in the Kansas City Area Development Council, an organization that has a pulse on businesses and industries wanting to locate to the metro area.
Though Richmond would throw in with more metropolitan outlying Kansas City areas, but without the group forgetting to promote this “off-to-the-side” community, as Rumery has described Richmond.
“If you think you’re off, you want to look at Livingston County?” Rumery joked, calling KCADC membership the best investment his county has made. “There are lots of (firms) that say ‘I want to be close to the services Kansas City has, but I don’t want to be a part of the immediate KC area.”
Mayor Pro Tem Mike Wright is fine with setting the money aside for REDI. It’s there, and it’s waiting to be used. But this plan needs more dialogue before anything moves forward.
“Initially, I’d be in favor of it,” Wright said. “We definitely need to have some details and a contract . . . before we do it. It’ll be a contract between the city of Richmond and REDI. I’d like to know how he’s going to represent Richmond, since he represents other cities, how he determines which city’s going to be his priority to bring a business to see.”
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