Lawrence dentist Jim Otten, pictured in his Lawrence office on Dec. 20, will be chairman of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce for the 2008 year.

As Jim Otten starts his yearlong term as chairman of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, the dentist and business owner of 23 years says he’s looking forward to testing his leadership abilities.

And that includes challenging the greater community – the entire community, not just the chamber and its members – to become a leader in its own right, one capable of shaking its divisive image and moving on to embrace a wide variety of opportunities.

Among them:

¢ Finding space and developing policies to attract, retain and sustain employers who fit within the “unique character and spirit” of the Lawrence area.

¢ Launching a discussion that could lead to a reshaping of city government, so that the mayor’s chair might be occupied by someone elected by the public specifically for that purpose, instead of as a commissioner chosen to serve a single year as mayor by his or her fellow commissioners.

¢ Encouraging and embracing leaders who take risks for the greater good.

“I’m looking at this position as something that’s important to test my own leadership capability,” he said, “but I think it’s also important that we start looking for leaders in the community and support them, so they feel like they can take risks, and they feel like they can step out and do things that are less traditional and more oriented toward growth.”

Otten recently agreed to share some of his goals, ideas and observations as he prepares to lead the chamber through the end of 2008.

Q. What would be some of your plans, goals and hopes for the coming year as chairman of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce?

A. “We’ve got a number of things that we really want to accomplish. I’d like to see membership increase, and that’s only going to happen if we really appeal to a broader section of the community – the business community – and they see value. So one of my goals is to increase membership 10 percent.

“The other things that I think are really important are to really communicate a vision for the entire community, a community vision, that’s very clear, that people can really get on board with supporting – people from all different facets of the community, not just the Chamber of Commerce, because I feel like if it’s good for Lawrence, it will be good for business.

“And I’d like to see that we take advantage of these other tremendous opportunities that we have, in terms of building more bridges and more connections with the university, in terms of building more connections with downtown Lawrence, with just all the organizations that really contribute to the character of the community, so we can get some synergy involved and really take the community to another, a different level of commerce and amenities.”

Q. What would be a community goal, or a community vision, that you could see everybody rallying around?

A. “The vision statement we adopted, we worked on for about 18 months, and it was developed with a large cross-section of the community. It wasn’t just people that were chamber members. It was us talking to educators. It was us talking to city politicians, to county officials, to business people, to academicians – and we developed the vision around what we heard from them. And so, for example, in the aspect of a community spirit – a distinctive spirit and atmosphere – that’s that character that’s not just about business, but that’s about a positive community, engaged citizenry, really people who are having a good, civil discussion, they’re forward-looking. Those kind of attitudes in distinctive spirit and atmosphere, the distinctive spirit and atmosphere element of the vision, are really important.

“And we talk about ‘aesthetically pleasing,’ ‘green space,’ (how) we value open space, historical structures – all of those things in distinctive spirit – I’d like to see us get really clear about what that means for Lawrence.”

Q. What about the challenges that the community and the chamber will be facing in the coming year, and what is it that you hope you’ll be able to accomplish getting through those?

A. “I think the biggest challenge is that of communication. And of understanding. It just seems like we’re all pulled in different directions, that we are reactive to the issue of the day. We’re reactive in terms of a particular, singular issue, and I’d like to see us more looking at the broader vision for the community.

“I’d like to see us really get behind this vision statement, or a vision statement that’s something similar to this, that really pulls the community together. There’s so much fragmentation going on. Placemakers – the consultants, the entity that came in and did an analysis of our community – called us one of the most contentious communities they’ve ever visited.

“That’s not a moniker I think we should really embrace.

“I’d like to see us be known as collaborative community, where we have spirited discussions, but we’re starting to fight for our city collectively, not fighting each other.”

Q. At the chamber there have been some changes: The Convention & Visitors Bureau is now a separate entity; there’s a new dues structure; the city is talking about adding an economic-development coordinator position, for the city itself. How do you see the chamber’s evolution taking shape in the coming year, and what’s ahead for the chamber itself as an organization?

A. “I think it’s nothing but positive. There’s great opportunity here.

“There’s an opportunity for the chamber to focus on economic development at various different levels. We can look at economic development in terms of large employers, for example, like the tenants in East Hills Business Park, those types of employers. We can also look at opportunity for entrepreneurship. We can look at opportunity for small business. We can look at opportunity for green businesses, environmentally sensitive businesses, or environmentally aware businesses. That’s a tremendous opportunity we have.

“Those are the things we’ll be focusing on, and trying to build the base of commerce, and essentially build the tax base for the community as well.

“We’ve got a real disparity in the tax base. The tax burden is really heavily shouldered on the homeowner and the property owner and the individual citizen, not so much on industry, and that’s got to shift or otherwise we’re not going to have the amenities we want. Because somebody has to pay for those.

“The other thing I think that’s a challenge is really bringing us together politically as well, really examining whether our current forms of government really work for us, or have we outgrown – is it time to really look at something different? This is my personal viewpoint.

“Is it time to look at something with an elected mayorship? It seems to me that it’s very difficult to have consistency in government when we’re changing every two years. And, again, we react – we seem to react more than we are proactive in determining how we’re going to plan, how we’re going to grow as a city. And so I think those are the challenges we face.”

Q. So you think, as chamber chairman, you have sort of a wider – not influence, exactly – but have a bigger role? You’re talking about possible changes in a form of government. That’s a pretty big issue, isn’t it?

A. “It is, and I think the thing I’d like to see is just to start a conversation about it – just to really say, ‘Do the systems we have in place right now really work for us?’ Or, ‘Do we really still have one foot back in the last century and one in this century?’ Do we need to fundamentally think about how we do things differently?

“We’ve got a city with an enormous budget now, and we’ve got commissioners that are full-time employees, with their own jobs, and then trying to have another full-time job as commissioners. That’s a pretty difficult position to put them in. And I think we really need to look at that. Are we really treating them fairly, as well? Is this form of government working for us? And I think it’s worth a civil, civic discussion about, as are a lot of things.

“I think what we really want to focus on is bringing different parties to the table and really finding out what’s in the best interest of Lawrence, not just what’s in our best self-interest as an organization.”

Q. What are the barriers to trying to find ways to attract jobs, or bring more companies here? Obviously, the chamber is always working on that kind of thing, but sometimes it’s more successful than others. The economy’s not always great, but people often say that Lawrence is a great place to live, a great place to be, a great place to work. What are the barriers keeping this town from getting even bigger?

A. “I think that it’s really interesting that you said that, because we think about a great place to live, work and play, and raise a family. And I think we’ve done a real good job in three out of the four, but that ‘work’ piece I’m not so sure of.

“The biggest barrier we have right now, for larger industry, is we have no inventory. We have no place, when a company comes to look – for a piece of land, a building, a structure that they can occupy – we just don’t have the inventory. And that’s why the discussions are ongoing about how do we improve some of the infrastructure. How do we improve? How do we start to look at pieces of land that could be developed for appropriate businesses for our community – things that fit with the kind of business that we want to build in Lawrence, the kind of thing that fits with the spirit and the atmosphere of the community? That’s the biggest barrier.”

Q. What are the kinds of businesses that “fit” in this community – the size and everything else that the community needs? What are those businesses?

A. “That’s what we have to identify. I think that we have some very good examples of that in the East Hills Business Park: light industry, environmentally sound. Those types of businesses that we already have are great examples.

“The two things that we know are going to be regional growth issues, or growth businesses, are biosciences and transportation. Those are going to be the biggest “attraction” businesses in this region, this corridor, for the next 10 to 15 years, and so we have to have a discussion as a community about what types of those fit for our community.

“The Richards-Gebaur rail hub fits for Kansas City. It doesn’t fit for Lawrence. Rail hubs don’t fit here. But is there a piece of, a small piece of transportation – a piece of green transportation, maybe? What would fit the uniqueness of our community, and give us an opportunity to take part in some of that, some of those growth issues.”

Q. The chamber gets involved in a variety of issues, some of those very specific. This past year, the chamber opposed the idea of KU moving its home football game against Missouri to Arrowhead Stadium. Missouri is moving its game against KU to Arrowhead this year, and then there will be a discussion of whether the arrangement gets renewed. What’s the chamber’s role going to be in that, what do you think it ought to be, and what do you think the decision should be?

A. “I think the first thing to realize is, you know, college athletics has become a big business. And that’s just the way things are. I think Lew Perkins and his group do a great job of, obviously, having success – economic and on-the-field success with what they’re doing – so they’re the best people to decide what’s in the best interest of the athletic department.

“Having said that, I’m always going to advocate for Lawrence. I wonder what it would have been like – as many of us do – to have a game of the magnitude we had, with the ESPN folks sitting on the top of the hill, sitting next to the Campanile, rather than sitting at (Arrowhead) stadium. I wonder what the economic impact would have been for Lawrence. I wonder what the impact would have been for KU, to showcase that nationally. But we never know what’s around the bend sometimes. None of us could have predicted that would have been the game.

“So we’ll advocate for Lawrence. We hope, in the future, that those discussions really are sensitive to the merchants and to the people of Lawrence. And we’d like to see the game come back here, I think. I would, and I think the chamber would, too.”

Q. Do you think the chamber can make that happen?

A. “Well, again, that’s a business decision. We also respect people’s individuality in business decisions, too. They have to do what’s right for their business. That’s just an independence thing. We can hope to influence that.”

Q. The chamber’s been involved in a project, helping to convince Deciphera Pharmaceuticals to move to the East Hills Business Park and grow there. : What’s next for biosciences in Lawrence, and what’s the chamber’s role going to be in seeing that more and more of those types of things happen here?

A. “I think the partnership with the Kansas Bioscience Authority is really, really important. That’s a critical piece. We don’t know what’s coming down the pike in biosciences. It’s a fast-growing, fast-paced industry. As you know, with the Stowers Institute, that seemed to be the fuel that started the human biosciences corridor. And, of course, we have the animal biosciences corridor between Columbia and Manhattan, with, I think, it’s 60 percent of all animal research happens in that distance along I-70, or close to it.

“So who knows? But I think it’s something we have to cultivate – again, if we have some inventory, if we have some buildings and land available that is suited for that type of industry. If we can form close, closer connections with KU, work with the Kansas Bioscience Authority, and work on that development process, I think there’s bound to be some pieces of that that are appropriate for Lawrence.”

Q. At the end of 2008, you’re going to look back and say, “Wow, look what we just did as a chamber… .” What is it that you hope you’ll look back and see, and what is it that you hope you’ll see going forward?

A. “I hope I see people coming together a little bit better. I hope that some of the acrimony is replaced with constructive discussion among a lot of interest groups in the community.

“I hope that people say, ‘Wow, it wasn’t just business as usual; it was really something special.’ That the chamber is sensitive and open for business, open for discussion, ready to engage in sometimes the difficult conversation to do what’s in the best interest of the community.

“We truly believe what’s good for Lawrence is going to be good for business. And that’s what I think is the major piece that I’d like to hope for.”