Travis Oliver earns his money in Lawrence, but spends his nights near Perry.
Oliver, owner of Douglas County Insurance and Financial Services, moved his family to rural Jefferson County in 1996 to enjoy life out in the country and be near Lake Perry and continued to run his business in Lawrence.
Oskaloosa resident Jo Miller prepares balloons for a Valentine's Day window display at Parker's Pharmacy in Oskaloosa. According to a Kansas State University economist David Darling, people in Jefferson County spend more of their money out of the county than in the county. Although its residents are among the most well-to-do in the state, Jefferson County businesses are struggling to hold their own. Oskaloosa has recently had one restaurant close and the town's variety store will soon close its doors unless new buyers are found.
"I wanted to own some land to live on, I wanted to be closer to the lake," said Oliver, now a member of the Jefferson County Commission. "It just worked real well for us."
His story isn't unusual in Jefferson County. Officials say an increasing number of white-collar workers have decided to live there while earning and spending their money in Lawrence, Topeka and the Kansas City area.
And that has created something of a paradox for the county. Its residents are among the most well-to-do in the state, but its businesses are struggling to hold their own.
"They not only commute to work, they commute to shop," said Al Smith, Jefferson County's economic development director. "A large part of the disposable income of the residents of the county goes to Topeka and Lawrence."
Now Jefferson County officials are trying to figure out how to keep some of that income at home.
Jefferson County ranks 103rd out of 105 Kansas counties on its "trade pull factor," a measure of money coming in versus money going out. Oskaloosa has recently had one restaurant close and its variety store will soon shut its doors unless new buyers are found. Thursday, Oskaloosa residents Raymond and Marian Pentlin eat lunch at Rose's Downtown Cafe with their great-granddaughter, Angel Pentlin, 17 months, of Lawrence.
Affluence
By most measures, the residents of Jefferson County are well-off. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, median household income nationally is $38,885; in Kansas it's $38,553. In Jefferson County, it's $43,421. That's higher than Douglas County's $39,017.
Jefferson County also has a relatively low poverty rate 8.4 percent, compared with 10.5 percent statewide and 12.7 percent nationally. Douglas County's poverty rate is 11.4 percent.
Other studies show Jefferson County is leaking its extra dollars like water out of a holey bucket.
Kansas State University economist David Darling ranks counties based on how much money businesses pull in from outside compared with how many home dollars are spent elsewhere.
And Jefferson County fares poorly in that ranking: It's 103rd out of 105 Kansas counties. It has a "trade pull factor" of 0.3, with 1 being a perfect balance between the money coming in and leaving. The average for the state is a trade pull factor of 0.66.
Darling said Jefferson County's blessing and its curse is that it's a relatively open space amid northeast Kansas' increasing urban sprawl.
"People who can afford to settle in the empty space and build their dream home have money," he said. "That's driving income up."
But he said there is no big population center, in a county dominated by small towns and farms, where businesses can easily and profitably anchor themselves. With bigger cities nearby, it's easy to go elsewhere to spend money.
"Jefferson County has no central mass," Darling said. "Essentially, the county is pulled in every direction except its own center."
Solutions
Jefferson County officials don't sound particularly concerned about that situation.
"The commuting is more a fact of life," Smith said. "We view it as more of an asset than a threat."
Oliver, who also is chairman of the Jefferson County Economic Development Committee, agrees. But he spins it as a selling point to the businesses that he wants to come to Jefferson County.
"We have more work force than we have jobs out there, especially in the southern part of the county," he said.
And Jefferson County does want more business to come and stay, Oliver said, if only to ease fiscal strains on local governments. Businesses pay higher tax rates but make smaller demands on local governments, he said while "bedroom communities" pay lower tax rates and usually require an array of services.
"As a county government, having fewer businesses come in and more people come in isn't necessarily good for us," Oliver said.
Economic development officials are working on two main solutions:
The county recently purchased land for a new business park at Meriden along Kansas Highway 4, one of the main routes from Jefferson County to Topeka. Officials say they'll use the county's commuters as a selling point.
"We'll tell prospective industries, 'We have hundreds, if not thousands, of people who will drive by your location every day,'" Smith said. "'Surely you can develop a good enough employment program to stop them here.'"
The county also wants to develop Lake Perry as a bigger tourism and housing attraction.
"We need to embrace our lake and make the most of it," Oliver said. "It has not been exploited. And it's something that there's at least one group looking at doing a nice development on our lake."
Hope
Darling said one business has figured out a way to slow the leaking of money from the county. Country Harvest IGA started about a year and a half ago on Kansas Highway 4 by a Topekan who wanted to start his own business and came to Jefferson County to do it.
The location has proven attractive to commuters, he said. And a number of other businesses have sprung up nearby, including a pizzeria, a pharmacy and a tattoo parlor.
"The people who started that business knew there was leakage going out of the county, and they took advantage of it," Darling said.
Rachel Reynoldson, an employee of Country Harvest IGA, agreed.
"A lot of people tell us it's a convenience," she said. "They forget one or two things coming back from Topeka and they can stop here. We're always busy."
It's one way of keeping business close to home.
"It's been nice to have it where you don't have to go all the way out of town after work," said Meriden City Clerk Carrie Chambers. "We're trying to support our local store."
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.