Topeka-based Kansas Inc. was created by the state 17 years ago to be the deep-thinker for the Kansas economy.

There’s plenty to think about these days.

A downturn in the national economy has left Kansas business owners and lawmakers scratching their heads on how to make ends meet, but they haven’t necessarily been turning to Kansas Inc. for answers. Instead, the nonprofit, state-funded organization — which is responsible for creating the economic strategic plan for Kansas policy-makers — has been fighting to stay in business.

During the 2003 legislative session, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius recommended dissolving the organization and shifting its duties into the state’s Department of Commerce.

But Kansas Inc. survived the session, and now has a new leader. Jerry Lonergan, a former researcher for the organization, took over as president six weeks ago, replacing Lawrence resident Charles Ranson.

Lonergan says he knows what he does will be watched closely by those in the economic development community.

“I think we have about two years to prove ourselves to the state again,” said Lonergan, who added he thought talk of dissolving the organization had been put on hold. “We have to take on exciting research about the Kansas economy. We basically just have to help the state stay ahead of the curve.”

Survival mode

Lonergan plans to prove the organization’s worth by helping keep the state out of economic trouble.

Jerry Lonergan, new president of Kansas Inc., hopes to make the state's leading economic think tank more proactive in solving the state's financial problems. Lonergan was pictured Thursday outside his Topeka office near the Kansas Capitol.

“We want to be a lot more proactive in identifying issues before they become problems,” he said. “I’m not sure that has always been a strong suit of the organization.”

For example, Lonergan said he was surprised Kansas Inc. hadn’t, until about two years ago, done a major study on how health-care issues would affect the state’s economy.

“We have a real responsibility to be watching out for issues like those,” he said.

The group also has to do a better job of communicating with major stakeholders in the state, said Kansas Sen. Dave Kerr, one of 17 members on the organization’s board of directors. Kerr said the economic strategies recommended by Kansas Inc. — like emphasizing the state’s high-tech potential — haven’t been bad ones but the state hasn’t always done a good job following them.

But part of the blame has to rest with Kansas Inc., Kerr said.

“They were pretty good at coming up with plans, but partly because they were way underfunded, they haven’t been as good at getting people to come on board with the plans,” Kerr said. “They haven’t been real good at getting their message out, and you have to do that when you’re dealing with the Legislature.”

Concerns about the organization’s effectiveness began surfacing during the last administration. Former Lt. Gov. Gary Sherrer first raised the issue of dissolving the organization and moving its duties into the department of commerce in the Graves administration.

When Sebelius took office, that idea was included in her first recommended budget to the Legislature.

“Coming in as a new administration, there were a lot of questions about where the best place for those duties were, and with two months to put together a budget, we went with the information we were given,” said Jeremy Anderson, the governor’s director of government affairs.

But several legislators balked at the idea, because in addition to writing and maintaining the state’s strategic plan, Kansas Inc. also is responsible for evaluating many of the state’s economic development programs. Many of those programs are part of the department of commerce.

“Several legislators said ‘wait a minute, that doesn’t make sense,'” Kerr said.

Anderson said the administration backed off the proposal after hearing legislative support for the organization. He said there had been no talk of trying to dissolve the organization during the next legislative session.

Research ideas

Ranson, who served as president for six years, resigned his position in April. Attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

Charles Warren, the organization’s president from 1988 to 1997, said he thought Kansas Inc. was in a better position to do its job now that it had new leadership.

“Ranson came here from Florida and I don’t think he really had any acquaintance with the state or understood its culture,” Warren said. “Jerry will be great. He knows Kansas like the back of his hand.”

Lonergan said he was excited about making Kansas Inc. relevant again. Though he hasn’t received official approval from his board yet, he has several research projects he wants to start.

For example, he said he wanted to research whether Kansas could take advantage of its two nationally-recognized motor racing facilities in northeast Kansas, one in Kansas City and another in Topeka.

Lonergan said he wanted to explore whether there was potential to create or attract businesses that serve the technology needs of the racing industry by making northeast Kansas the “innovation center for the racing industry.”

“People look at the race tracks and say those are cool, but our job is to look at them and say how can we make them even cooler,” Lonergan said.

Lonergan’s other research ideas include:

• An exploration of new business opportunities created by the state’s increasing minority population, which grew from 11.5 percent to almost 17 percent during the 1990s.
• Finding ways to use the I-70 corridor to promote economic development in western Kansas.
• Continued research on the value of life sciences and other high-tech businesses to the state’s economy.
• Ideas for ways to isolate the state’s economy from the ups and downs of the national economy.

Lonergan said the last pursuit would be a difficult one, but believed part of the solution may be creating more Kansas-based businesses.

“I would really love to help create an ethic in the state that makes people want to take on their own enterprises,” Lonergan said. “If you think about our history, Kansans are products of huge risk takers. I think we have an untapped reservoir of risk takers that could do great things for our economy.”