Beth Johnson will put her political education and governmental experience to work next month when she starts as the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce’s new vice president for economic development.

Johnson, 32, will take charge of a three-person department with a $600,000 annual budget and responsibility for guiding business-attraction, job-creation and development-promoting efforts in Lawrence and Douglas County.

When she starts Jan. 9, she’ll bring with her a wide range of educational and work experience: a political science degree; a master’s in public administration; two years as an assistant in the mayor’s and City Council offices in Dallas; and then, most recently, four years in charge of economic development in Rice County, population 10,412.

“I’ll put it all together,” said Johnson, after her introduction to area government and business officials Monday afternoon at the chamber offices, 734 Vt. “In Dallas I learned how the political process really works with the business-development community. In Lyons, I’ve been introduced to the tools, working with the Kansas Department of Commerce, and the Kansas City Area Development Council. :

Beth Johnson, of Lyons, starts work Jan. 9 as the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce's vice president for economic development. Johnson met with about 20 business and government leaders Monday at the chamber offices, 734 Vt.

“Lawrence is the perfect spot to put all those things together.”

Johnson moves into the office vacated by the departure of Lynn Parman, who left the chamber after three years to become vice president for business development at the Kansas City Area Development Council.

Phil Struble, who served on the search committee for Parman’s replacement, said that Johnson’s governmental experience would pay big dividends in Lawrence, where developers and city officials have been squabbling about the availability of sewer capacity in northwestern neighborhoods, and years of efforts to establish new business parks in conjunction with open space only now are beginning to gain traction.

Having someone on the job who understands the needs and desires of both political and business leaders should help improve the development process, he said. Government officials must understand all their decisions – about tax incentives, impact fees or rate increases for water and sewer projects – would have an effect on future projects.

• 6News video: New leader for economic development comes to Lawrence (12-19-05)
• 6News video: Interview with new economic development leader (12-19-05)

“To have someone who can talk that talk, and walk that walk, is really important,” said Struble, president and CEO of Landplan Engineering, a Lawrence-based company that handles urban planning, civil engineering and related services for dozens of projects in town.

Bioscience boss to come

The chamber also is working toward establishing another economic-development position, this one for biosciences. The new job would be financed using $200,000 from the city and $200,000 from the county to boost biosciences projects in town; the money would hire a leader, likely as a chamber vice president, and also help finance the creation of so-called “wet labs” that could handle demanding biosciences companies and research.

Such a leader will be expected to be hired sometime next year, said Lavern Squier, the chamber’s president and CEO.

Beth Johnson, incoming vice president for economic development at the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, visits with Douglas County Commissioner Charles Jones. Jones served on the search committee to find a replacement for Lynn Parman.

“We’re still in the formative stages,” he said.

Johnson will be expected to work on bringing new businesses to town and helping shepherd plans for new business parks and open spaces through the public process, said Mike Maddox, chairman of the Lawrence-Douglas County Economic Development Board. The community currently doesn’t have enough large industrial buildings to draw out-of-town companies to town, and no immediate financial plans for adding any – whether it’s buying up land near Lawrence Municipal Airport or taking over the former Farmland Industries fertilizer plant at the southeastern edge of Lawrence.

Leading a ‘team effort’

Maddox, who played on Kansas University’s national championship basketball team in 1988, will look to Johnson to lead the way to success.

“No one person will get the wins on their own. This has to be a team effort,” said Maddox, who led the search committee and works as northeast region president for Intrust Bank in Prairie Village. “What I liked and what we liked about Beth is she will be a good fit on the team: her personality, her style – she’s very bright – and she will be able to fit in. :

“I’d call her the point guard. She needs to make sure the right people have the ball, and that we stay on task, and that we stay on point.”

With announcement of Johnson’s hiring out of the way, Maddox knows it’s time to get to work: the city, the county, the chamber and everyone else with the community’s future.

“I hope she can dribble,” he said.