Jim Martin’s Eudora manufacturing firm doesn’t make welcome mats, but the new co-chair of the Lawrence- Douglas County Economic Development Board sure intends to put a lot out.

Martin, president and chief executive officer of M-PACT, a medical device manufacturing firm, is starting a four-year term as co-leader of the group responsible for developing the county’s economic development plan.

When it comes to attracting businesses and helping them expand, he wants action.

“I think the greater Douglas County area has to be much more proactive in encouraging job creation and business growth than we have been in the past,” Martin said. “I think what we need is more of an attitudinal adjustment than new policies or new types of abatements.

“We just need to do things to make them feel more welcome.”

High-tech and more

Martin would like to welcome about 10,000 new jobs to Douglas County in the next five years, he told board members shortly after he was elected last month. He expects some of Lawrence’s best job prospects to spring from the biosciences effort currently under way in the Kansas City metro area, and he intends to push hard for the area business community to create formal relationships with leaders in the Kansas City biosciences efforts, such as the Stowers Institute.

“I think in the past there maybe has been some isolationism on our part, and I don’t have any of that in me at all,” Martin said. “We can’t be fearful of partnering with Kansas City. The exact opposite is true.”

Such high-skilled jobs would help reduce Douglas County’s commuter rate now believed to be about 22 percent of the county’s available work force but he said he didn’t want to limit the county’s future economic development activities to what some people call “high-tech” businesses.

Martin doesn’t even like the “high-tech” label, because he’s afraid it may create too narrow a vision for the type of businesses the county can attract.

“Unlike some people, I don’t really disagree with the concept that a quality company may only pay its employees $8 an hour,” Martin said. “I’m not hung up on the starting salary or how many people they have working for them in the beginning.

“I think we should be selective and there should be some environmental element in determining who we pursue, but if a business shows they want to make a commitment to be nurtured and grown in this county, then I’m not so concerned about what their initial investment is.”

	Members of the Lawrence-Douglas County Economic Development Board will conduct public meetings to gather input for the rewriting of the economic development chapter of Horizon 2020, the long-term guide for growth in Lawrence and the county. Two meetings have been set so far:7 p.m. Feb. 19 in Baldwin. Location to be determined.7 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Northeast Kansas Education Center, 620 Woodson in Lecompton.Meetings also will be scheduled in Eudora and Lawrence.

Removing the stigma

But some people are concerned.

Two years ago, opposition mounted over a proposal to grant American Eagle Outfitters a tax abatement to locate a distribution center in Lawrence, in part, because the company was offering wages for most positions that would be below $10 an hour. The company eventually backed away from its Lawrence plans and decided to locate in Ottawa.

While Martin hopes to avoid such public controversies in the future, he admits that he’s not sure how to steer the group clear of them.

“I just hope we have all learned something from it,” said Martin, who lives in rural Douglas County. “That was pretty much a Lawrence issue, so I may not have as good a feel for it as some other people, but I can tell you that the attitude of elected officials in Lawrence when it comes to business development is different than it is over here in Eudora, and I expect in Baldwin, too.

“Somehow Lawrence has gotten a stigma about it as an anti-business community, and we need to see if we can change that. It’s hard to put your finger on, but I can tell you that DeSoto and Olathe have a different attitude, and they’re getting some different results.”

The key to changing Lawrence’s image, Martin said, may be getting more people involved in the process.

“I don’t have any high expectations that I’m going to change anyone’s mind or opinion on economic development,” Martin said, “but I really do think there is a high percentage of the community that has historically been silent but does want the community to have an aggressive posture on the creation of high-quality jobs.

“Somehow we have to get those folks to become more vocal.”

A new plan

Martin and Charles Jones, a county commissioner who began serving as the board’s other co-chair last year, will be leading the group’s efforts to rewrite the economic development chapter of Horizon 2020, the long-range guide for growth in the city and county.

The plan, which will spell out several broad goals and then more specific strategies, should create a “common ground” that the community can work from on economic development matters, Martin said.

But it also could ignite a debate in the community and on the board itself.

David Burress, a Lawrence-Douglas County planning commissioner and frequent critic that area growth hasn’t always paid for itself, said he hoped to bring a new voice to the board since joining last month.

For instance, Burress said, it’s important for the new plan to create wage requirements for businesses to meet if they want to receive community assistance to locate in the county.

“We have to say we want to create quality jobs, not just jobs,” Burress said. “And if a job doesn’t pay a living wage, it isn’t a good job. There’s no way around that. In Lawrence, that probably means $10 an hour or maybe a little less if health care is provided.

“I know there will be some arguments against this, but I think any quality company can afford to pay a living wage, and we shouldn’t be bringing in companies who can’t.”

The issue is guaranteed to create debate on the board, with the opposition being led by the group’s new co-chair.

“The board shouldn’t be doing anything in terms of running private businesses,” Martin said. “We just have to attract good, quality employers and the wage structure will take care of itself. I can’t think we’re going to create any type of minimum wage situation because that would be backwards thinking.”

Burress welcomes the difference of opinion.

“Debate is healthy, and this is one we really need to have,” Burress said.

Martin, too, expects the debate. Whether it’s healthy remains to be seen.

“This plan will become the new credo for us, but I’m not naive enough to think that the faction within the community that exists that are very vocal and very restrictive about their thoughts on economic development will be satisfied with it.

“But I do hope a new balance will be created. I hate to see the polarizing opposition that has been going on. I think it has been expensive in job losses. I hope this plan will be the vehicle to help us work together.”

The economic development board will write the new economic development chapter, but it must be approved by both the Lawrence City Commission and Douglas County Commission before it can become a part of Horizon 2020.