The game has changed for Mike Maddox.

Maddox, a member of Kansas University’s 1988 national championship basketball team, is no longer a player. But he still talks about game plans and the competition. These days, though, he’s not talking about beating Oklahoma, or his nemesis, Duke, the team that beat the Jayhawks for the national championship his senior season.

“What I really want to do now is help the community develop a coordinated game plan for economic development,” Maddox said. “We have to because it is becoming increasingly competitive out there.”

For the past four years, Maddox has been president of Intrust Bank’s two Lawrence locations, and recently the Wichita-based company asked him to oversee commercial lending activities in Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City.

Thursday, he’ll add another title: chairman of the Lawrence-Douglas County Economic Development Board. He replaces Jim Martin, president of Eudora-based M-Pact Worldwide, whose term has expired.

During his nine-month term, Maddox said, he hopes the board can help the community reach a consensus on what type of jobs and companies it should seek.

“I don’t know that you ever have consensus on anything in Lawrence, Kansas,” Maddox said. “But I think we’re getting better at knowing what we want when it comes to economic development. I think we’re communicating better, but we’re not there yet. I hope that is one of the roles this board can play.”

A new team

Maddox, 34, won’t gain as much notoriety leading the economic development board as he did as a forward on Kansas University’s men’s basketball team. The Lawrence Douglas-County Economic Development Board is not a group that generates Allen Fieldhouse-type excitement.

Mike Maddox, president of Intrust Bank, discusses his upcoming term as chairman of the Lawrence-Douglas County Economic Development Board. Maddox, who begins his term in April, hopes the board can help create a consensus on the type of new jobs the community should attract.

The 15-member board, which is appointed by city and county commissioners, is supposed to oversee economic development efforts in the county. It is responsible for setting the budget for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce’s economic development department, which each year receives about $90,000 from the city, county and chamber.

But the group is far from a household name with Douglas County residents. Its quarterly meetings generally have no public attendance, and even Maddox admits the board doesn’t garner much recognition from policymakers, either.

“This board has been off the radar screen for a long time,” he said. “Really, the board hasn’t had a lot of input on major issues.”

Board restructuring

That’s why Maddox is among a group pushing to change the board’s structure. Earlier this month, members agreed to revamp the board, reducing its membership from 15 to 11 while creating permanent positions for high-profile decision makers.

The new board would include spots for the KU chancellor, Lawrence mayor, county commission chairman and chamber of commerce president, among others. The proposal recommends Maddox would continue serving as the group’s chairman. The new structure must be approved by county and city commissioners, who are expected to discuss the issue in early April.

“I feel like if this recommendation is approved, it will put decision makers, who can really influence our future, at the table,” Maddox said.

Charles Jones, who as chairman of the Douglas County Commission is a member of the current board and would be part of the revamped board, agreed.

“I’ve thought for awhile that the board needed a new burst of energy and importance,” Jones said. “You have to have the right people at the table and it has to be a small enough group to be effective, and there has to be a sense of the board’s importance.”

Little impact

Maddox said the board’s importance became a question last year when the city commission was grappling with the issue of a living wage. The issue would have a direct affect on economic development by mandating wage levels for companies that receive future tax abatements.

But the city commission was uninterested in receiving a recommendation from the board, Maddox said, and even board members couldn’t decide whether it should be their role to take a stand on the controversial subject.

“The lack of input the economic development board had on that issue opened a lot of eyes,” he said. “It made us think that maybe we’re not structured the way we should be.”

Board members voted unanimously to revamp the board. But it was not without concern. Dwayne Peaslee, a union leader who would be leaving under the proposed reorganization, said he wanted to make sure the new group would work to bring all types of new jobs to the community.

“What I see and hear all the time is how we have to have jobs that pay $40,000 or more,” Peaslee told the group. “I think it is important that we cover the whole spectrum of jobs needed in this community. What I’m concerned about is that we have people on the board who are committed to every segment of our society.”

Blue-collar jobs

Maddox said that was his goal, as well. A major issue for the revamped board to tackle was how aggressive the community wants to be in recruiting blue-collar jobs, he said. People generally agree the city needs to make an effort to attract the high-paying, high-tech jobs associated with the biosciences industry. But he’s not so sure the same commitment is there for hourly-wage jobs.

“I hope the community is open to considering a lot of opportunities,” Maddox said. “We need more than just $40,000-a-year jobs. Unfortunately, we have a lot of residents traveling to Ottawa or Topeka to find those hourly-wage jobs. We need some good, hourly-wage jobs.”

But whether the community is willing to offer tax abatements and other incentives to lure such companies is an open question. Maddox said he hoped the board could play a prominent role in answering it.

“I think getting everybody at the same table and talking about the big picture and communicating is the key to building consensus and coming up with a solution,” he said. “We won’t all agree, but this board will be a place where we can have honest, open debate.”

Basketball lessons

Larry McElwain, chairman of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, said Maddox is the right man to lead the debate.

“You can just tell that Mike has a lot of leadership qualities,” McElwain said. Plus, it may be fun to watch the next chapter in the transformation from ball player to businessman, he said.

“It is always fun to get to see someone stay in Lawrence and use things they learn at KU and particularly from athletics,” he said.

Maddox quickly admits that being a member of the KU basketball squad gave his business career a boost.

“It certainly helps get you in doors,” Maddox said. “Plus, with all the exposure that you get as a player, people feel like they know you. But you always have to remember that if you don’t produce once you get there, it doesn’t matter who you played basketball with.”