Dream Maker Podcast
Dream Maker Podcast
Lona Duvall--Keep the Red Bull Flowing
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Chris visits with Lona Duvall, President/CEO of the Finney County Economic Development Corporation, about her and the team's role in growing the economy of Finney County.
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Speaker 2Hi, this is Chris Floyd present CEO of the first national bank. And welcome to episode two of season three of our dream maker podcast. This season, we are continuing our theme of how do we help our customers and communities thrive. And there are so many parts in making a community be successful. And of course, primarily that means, you know , I'm talking economic success. And to me I've always understood. There's such an interdependence between the success of our communities, our business and individuals, you know, and , and we are here at the bank. We take our , our role very important, very seriously that, you know, we have a role in there, but it's just one of many. And so I've always told people, especially the last two or three years, I've never been so blessed to live in the best place in the world. I think in Southwest Kansas. And part of the things that makes Southwest Kansas so special is the success and growth that we have had in garden city, in finning county. And you know, one of the big keys to that success is , um, the role of everybody working together. And primarily, I think it kind of centers around our guest today, which is Lana Deval . She is the present CEO of the economic development or Finn county economic development corporation. And , uh , they've done a great job of helping that community grow and part of why I was talking, there's a lot of differences. Um , and how do we do economic development in different communities in Southwest Kansas? And so I thought, man, there's nothing better to , uh , go right to the expert and talk Alana and see what, you know, how do we do it in Finny county and what makes it , uh , so successful over the last several years and, and why has the community grown and in the part that the economic development and her position specifically has played in that. And so it was really neat to have Lana today. Solana wants to start off , uh , give us a little history about yourself and how do you got where you are at?
Speaker 3Sure. So , uh, yeah, I've been in garden city. I grew up in Leo . Um, so obviously Western, Kansas , um , all my life and , um , moved to garden city , uh , oh gosh, about 24 years ago, something like that worked in banking. Um, I am a reformed banker and, and I, I, I value you bankers, but I'm glad that I'm a reformed one. Right. Um, so I have been with economic development now for 12 years and, you know, it's, it's just been a wild ride, but , um , lots of good things happening as, as you mentioned, we've , we've been really fortunate in garden city and, and folks really work together to make sure that the future is what we want it to be , uh , for those who, who choose to call Finn county homes. So been doing this, like I said, 12 years, which is hard to believe it's , uh , it's gone really fast.
Speaker 2Yeah. So, yeah, that's kind of funny reform baker , cuz there's a lot of , you know, there's a lot of fun things about being a bank, a banker, and then there's like, there's some things I wish I'd have to deal with, you know, but , uh, uh , I can see how it , uh, yeah, it's, funer being reformed some days for sure. Um , so you mentioned the , you , we talked a little bit earlier, but like how is your structure and kinda what's the board like that you work for?
Speaker 3Yeah, it's, it's interesting. We, you know, there's different structures for economic development kind of all across the state and, and it's interesting to see how different communities have addressed it for us. Um , you know, we've had discussions for a lot of years about whether we should be private, whether we should be public private , um , right now and , and for the last, oh gosh, 15 years, the corporation has been a public , uh , uh , corporation. It is a separate corporation. We're not, we don't work directly for any of the governmental units. Um , but we're a standalone corporation fully funded by taxpayer dollars. So all of our meetings are, you know, we, we subject ourselves to all of the Kansas open meetings and, and open records requirements. Um , but our members , uh , are Finn county, the city of garden city, the city of Holcomb and garden city, community college. So based on their funding levels, they get to make appointments to our seven member board of directors. Uh , so currently the county is the largest funder. They have three appointed representatives. The city of garden city has two , uh , city of Holcomb has one and garden city community college has one. So , uh , it , you know, again, we talk to communities all the time about how, how they may want to do their economic development. And we have found that this is a really good model. It, you know, we, we believe that we really have a better connection to our governing bodies this way. Um, and really, you know , our goal is to create the very best economic climate we can, we wanna create the best opportunities for businesses to succeed , uh , and really for individuals to succeed. Um , you know, it's about creating jobs that, that people want , uh , and creating jobs that, that will help to really improve the economic climate and, and the circumstances for individual families. So it seems to work for us really well. I don't know that it works the same everywhere you go, but for us it works really well to have our, our taxing entities really be active in the economic development realm.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's important. I think because , you know, and too , you know, I , you know , of course in the counties we deal with, you know, here, of course I live in Staton county, which is probably the smallest county that our bank is in and versus finning county. And it's, you know , there's just different challenges I think, of each community and how they, you know , handle that function and , and , uh , and really got really, I guess, the, the four main entities that , uh, either benefit from successful economic development or kind of suffer, I guess if it doesn't , uh , the community doesn't grow. So I think that, yeah, it makes a lot of sense and keeping everybody involved, I guess, would be important too, right. To have everybody kinda nobody's feeling left out and whatnot too .
Speaker 3Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2So like, how would you describe your, like if somebody just walked in , said like, you know, what do you do, Lana? What would you tell us? I guess ,
Speaker 3Uh, yeah, that's a great question. I think, I think people are a little surprised sometimes to find out the things that we do work on. Um, I think people , uh , probably assume that we just do business recruitment. Right. Um , and we've been really successful at that. Thankfully we've, you know, we've got the empirical foods plant under construction , um , that , you know, the dairy farmers of America plant the transload facility, all of those are, are kind of the, the obvious things, the tangible things, if you will , uh , that we do, but people are probably most surprised to find out that we work on things like housing development and childcare development and , you know, quality of life amenities. So really for us, you know, again, our mission is, is to create an economic climate and, and to be the best place for business to be. But in order to do that , uh , we have to focus on all of those other ancillary things that really create the , the base, if you will , uh , and make our community attractive to folks. So we spend a significant amount of our time working on housing development. Um , we've been engaged with nearly every housing development that has taken place in Fannie county for the last decade and recruit housing development. We work very closely with our local builders , uh , to ensure that we're, you know, creating Watts that they can build on and, and connecting them to resources to help them be more efficient , uh , in, in their building. Uh , but that also means that we have to do a lot of recruitment of developers from out of the area as well. Uh , we simply don't have enough developers within the community to meet the demand that we have for housing. Uh , right now we're about 4,000 housing units short in , in Finn county. We have set a , a goal to hit that number by 2030 , um, which is not very far off <laugh> and , and is a little bit daunting. Um , but actually just this week we talked through, you know, maybe we, maybe we set that goal at 6,000 and, and just see where it takes us. So it's gonna be a lot of work , um , obviously over the next few years to really get that housing piece underway, but we just don't have a choice. You know, we, we have a lot of folks who drive in to work in garden city from the outside area and, and that's great. We love building those, those smaller communities around us , uh , everything we can do to help them keep their schools open and their hospitals open and their main streets thriving, you know, we want those things to happen, but quite frankly, we've filled them up too. You know, we've, we've got a , a lot of people living in those outlying areas who are driving Ingar city to work. And that's great. We love that, but we just simply don't have enough people. Now. Um, we have somewhere around 3000 open positions in garden city, Finney county right now. And we have less than 300 people who identify as looking for work. And we have less than 30 people who are on unemployment benefits. So there , you know, people are working. We have, we have more people working in Fannie county today than in any time in our history. There's simply not enough people to fill all of the demand. We've had such incredible growth. And, you know, the pandemic was, was really interesting for our region because we're essential, right. Um, if nothing else, we all found out that we're essential, people need to be fed. And so , um , it's been interesting to see that our industries have continued to grow throughout all of this Def frugal and all of the things happening in the global marketplace. It didn't really slow us down. We just kept plugging along. Um , but we weren't, you know, we're not able to build houses fast enough to recruit the folks. We know we're an attractive place. Um, we know that if we have housing available, we can attract workforce to the community. People want to live here. Uh , and the people who choose to live here are, are here because they wanna work because they wanna build better opportunities. But man housing is just gonna be one of those things that that's just gonna take all hands on deck.
Speaker 2Yeah. That's, you know, it's kind of interesting. It seems like all our communities around here struggle with that and , uh, you know, the different levels and, and , um , it just seems like, and I always think about too, about being in Western Kansas is like, you know, nobody's gonna give us anything for free, you know, you're not, you know , we've gotta kind of fight and kick and, you know , for everything we do and get and achieve out here, because that's just the way it is . <laugh> I think, you know, just, you know, no handouts are coming or yes , or anything like that. So it's kinda one of those deals that you just gotta yeah. Figure it out how to get it done and get after it. But
Speaker 3Yeah, and I think it's, that's a , that's a great way to say it. You know, I, I remind myself all the time that everybody wants to eat, but not everybody wants to hunt. Right. <laugh> um, it's, I think that's what sets us apart is that we are a region that just, we just know that we to hunt if we want to eat. So , um, I , I personally, I take great pride in that. I think it's amazing , uh , that the people who live in our communities get that, they understand that, and they're all about solving our own problems , um, because quite , yeah , the government bus isn't coming, right. They're, they're not driving out here with, with loads of cash to, to save us or anything else. So it , we really do have to find our own solutions and, you know, quite honestly, we really wouldn't probably want solutions that somebody else would bring to us. Um , you know, they don't know our communities the way we know our community. Um, they, they don't know our people the way we know our people. So it, it always works better when we come up with the solution and then, you know, take that to them instead of the other way around them trying to fit a solution to us usually doesn't end well for Western canons. Right. You
Speaker 2Know, interesting thing cuz you think, oh, you get the jobs, but there's so much involved. So like, you know, childcare is another one I think the struggles with in all our communities as well. But so how like, like you go out like recruiting a company or involved in that process. How, what other things do they look at or is that I guess I'd assume that housing childcare and how they get workers is a huge part of that. How does that go when you have those conversations?
Speaker 3Yeah. It absolutely is a huge part of it. You know, we , uh , we've, we've done things differently in Fannie county , um , than a lot of other communities across the country. We are, we're in a position where we can be very picky about the companies that we choose to recruit. Um , we say no to a lot more projects than we say yes to , um , that's not very common. Most communities are, are take all comers. You know, every, every, every project is a good project. We don't believe that. Uh , quite frankly, and, and we've, we're , we've been fortunate enough that we can actually be very picky about what businesses we choose to build in our community. So our approach to recruitment of industry really is, you know, decide on an industry that makes sense for our business type, just , you know, for our region, if it's, you know, value added agriculture or an energy related project , um, logistics, you know, when you're in the center of the country, you really should be focused on how do we, how do we keep that logistics , uh , really network running through our region. So we, we are really mindful about, okay, let's decide what industry we want. Let's figure out who's the very best in that industry. And then let's go get them directly. You know, let's just, let's just go to the company with a plan in place. Here's how you're gonna build and be successful in our community . So when we go to them , uh , we're up front about the fact that we are at full employment. Um, we, our housing is full. Um, our, our childcare sh shortage is real, but if you are willing to invest in our community, we're gonna invest. Right. You know? And so those conversations really are, are quite open. Um, and, and if there's ever a place in those conversations where, where they're pushing back or where they, you know, they don't understand how they can be a part of the solutions for their own business, then that's probably not a business that's gonna work out with us. Um, the , the businesses we have success with are those who really want to build , uh , a workplace and a culture that people will thrive in. And so when we go to them and say, you know, we're gonna stand beside you. We're gonna help you , um , build housing. We're gonna help you build childcare. We're gonna help you grow your workforce, but you have to be at the table for all those discussions. You can't just come build a facility and expect everything else to fall into place. We're asking you to be a part of our community. We're asking you to enter into a relationship with us if you will. Um , and you know, you , you talk about an empirical foods, you know, they're, they're investing half a billion dollars in our community. Um, that's, that's a long term investment. That's, you know, that you don't , you don't build that for a few years and then say, okay, well that worked out well, right? You build that for a hundred years. And so we truly are entering into relationships with these folks. And so for us, it's very important that everybody knows exactly what the stakes are. Um, we all understand that, you know, what it's all about is creating opportunity for, for the people who choose to call us home. So getting everybody on the same page early tends to be the best route for us. Um, and we've had , again, we've had great success because the companies that we've targeted are companies that understand that and, and who are truly committed to building opportunities for their people while achieving obviously profitability, which is also very important. And we want, we want them to be profitable. Um , but we also, you know, like I said , we also want them to be a part of who we are going forward.
Speaker 2Yeah. And so, so I think what the neat thing I think I really heard there was like, you're almost taking like the strengths of what our community is already and kind of building off of those. You know, it seems like to me, you know, cuz we have, you know, I guess with empirical, I guess that's really partly tied to that Tyson plant and just the feed yards out here and , and kind of building off those different strengths and yeah. Makes a lot of sense to me anyway .
Speaker 3Sure. Yeah. We , we think so. We think it's all about adding value to what we're already good at. Um, you know, sometimes it's , um , sometimes it's wide open and sometimes it's, you know, we're looking for those opportunities to bring in new industry in different industry than what we have now. Um, but you know, we certainly don't wanna be so , uh , so focused on one sector of the economy that we're not diversified and , and we're not in a position to, to bounce back, you know, when something happens in one sector, but we are just so incredibly blessed to live where we live in the state and to have really, you know , tremendous agricultural partners that are, that's what they're looking for. They're looking for opportunities to do more, to be more efficient, to do , you know, to , to increase , um , their revenues. And that's what we're about. You know, the , if you, if you break it all down, it's pretty hard to find a job that isn't somehow tied to agriculture. You know, even, even if you're in the healthcare profession, if it weren't for agriculture, we wouldn't, we wouldn't need those healthcare positions, you know? So we try to always be mindful of that, that this, you know , our base , uh , really is agriculture and energy and we have to stay mindful of that. We have to build the rest of our economy around those things that we're already really good at.
Speaker 2Yep . And like I said , there's a lot of you end up with a lot of diversified types, other businesses that come along with it, but it's kinda , yeah. The core is we are where we are and we're kind of tied to what is out here, you know, naturally. And so that's yeah, to me is really key, but so what do you think when you talk to like somebody like empirical or anybody, for example, like what's the biggest thing they like about Fannie county?
Speaker 3Uh, the people, to be honest with you, it's , it's always been the people that, that ends up selling us. Um, it's we take such a team approach to development in Fannie county. You know, we have, we have a prospect, for instance, we have a prospect coming in next week , um , an international prospect looking to build their first manufacturing facility in the United States. And you know, we'll , we'll greet them with everybody at the table. We'll have the city and the county and the , the community college and the school district. Everybody will be there , um , to welcome them first of all, to our community. But to assure them that, you know, if , if , if we're the right fit for you and, and , and we feel like you're the right fit for us, you just have to know that we're all here, we're all gonna support your endeavors. We're all gonna be a part of your success and any challenges that come up, you know, whether that be workforce training or , um , you know, site work that has to be done or infrastructure that has to be extended, whatever, whatever that looks like to make your business at home here, you just need to know that we're all at the table, we're all gonna do this. Um , you know, Lana Lana takes the lead, but all of us are right behind her. And, and we're all on the same page. So that always, always has been , um , the primary driver for why, why businesses choose to do, you know, to build here , uh , is just because I think, I think we're, we're very , um, we're very open about that, but we're also very genuine about it. And they leave here knowing that holy crowd , that, that town really does know how this works and they really are all on the same page to, to get things done. They're all pulling in the same direction. And that gives a lot of comfort, you know , to a business, especially when they're looking at making a significant investment , um, they wanna make sure that everybody is, is rallied around them and, and gonna make it a good project for
Speaker 2'em. Well, it seems like too, you know, just , um, that, I don't know how to say this, but like in Gerden city or fitting county that, and maybe it's part of that, your structure of your board, where you have everybody involved, but it seems like, you know, you don't have a whole lot of pushback from any sector, I guess when you have a new somebody come in, everybody's kind of working together. So maybe that's just tied to how you have your board is structured and keep everybody with you , I guess.
Speaker 3Yeah, I think that's some of it. I honestly, I think the , the most important thing, you know, and I , and I tell other communities this all the time, it really is the transparency. It's, it's our openness among our partners and, and in the community. Um , you know, a lot of I , and I don't know what it is , but a lot of economic development offices don't wanna tell anybody what they're doing. Right. It's everything's top secret. And, oh, we , we can't say, we can't say , um , we're just the opposite. Uh , you know, obviously I don't, I don't , um, disclose things that can't be disclosed, company names and, and those kinds of things, but, you know, I, I want the community to know the things that we're working on. I want them to know that we're working with industrial projects and, and retail projects and all of those things. So even if I can't name the business directly , um, they know what we're doing and, and our , you know, again, I think part of it, it , it really helps that our meetings are not only public, but we actually broadcast our meetings and then they're out on social media. So folks can go back and watch 'em and, and interact with us. Um, I've been extremely open since day one in this job, you know, you, I work for all of you, you are taxpayers. I have an obligation to work for you. So, so call me, text me, you know, whatever, whatever that is. Um, I, I think that really is the biggest part of why we have the support we have is because people trust that we're working our tails off number one. Um , but that we're working , um , you know, we're working towards something that's important to everybody. It's not, gee, what does Lana want , um , to recruit for retail today? You know, they , uh , they really appreciate the fact that no we're listening to the community. And, and when you tell us that there's something in particular that you would really like , um, we're going to , you know, we're gonna focus on getting that for you. So , um , I really think, I really think that relationship that we have with the public is as important as the relationship we have with our governing bodies. Um, because people feel like they're a part of it and, and , you know, everybody wants to be a part of the success, right. Um, and we've been extremely fortunate in Fannie county. We we've never had a failure. So , um , in the time that I've been in this position, every , uh , every company that we've recruited, we've, we've landed. And, and so I think because the community feels like those are their wins. Uh , I know that it's not because I'm amazing or because my office is amazing. Um, they are, my team is incredible, but I know that the reason we're successful is because the whole community is focused on growing and working together. So , um , I think sharing those successes with everyone makes a big difference in how you're perceived. Um, and quite frankly, how people trust you, you know, they, they may not immediately understand why we're, why we're working at a certain path, but they have a trust level now that, that they say, well, I'm not, I'm not , I'm gonna leave this judgment for just a little bit. I'm gonna wait and see, cuz you know, they haven't let us down and, and they've been really focused on what's important to all of us. So I'm gonna give 'em a little bit of grace while, while I figure it out and you know, they come around. Uh , so it, I , I think as much as anything, it really is that it's sharing those successes and being just as transparent as you possibly can be.
Speaker 2Well, that makes a lot of sense too, cuz a lot of times I think you do, I think you get tied up and like you said, there's sometimes there's things you can't disclose for a while or, or something, but you know, really I think, and seems what it sounds like to me is by , and that transparency, I think is big too, but basically essentially what that does. It gets everybody the, if the community succeeds, everybody else succeeds with it, it's kind of a group and you're basically sounds like everybody going with you together, as much as anything seems like most , most important part , everybody pull in the same direction
Speaker 3Very much. So.
Speaker 2So do you get a lot of requests for like this kind of business or this kind of restaurant or retail store or you just a long list of those? I imagine, or
Speaker 3Yeah. You know, we do it's, you know, there , some of them are just the same thing over and over <laugh> we , we laugh a lot about olive garden. You know, olive garden is, is a big one. You know, we need olive garden or we need Texas Roadhouse. Um, you know, and it's, it's, it's kind of fun because honestly I would say when I started in this position, people didn't even really believe that it was possible for us to get those things. Um, they've, you know, they just, they , they had kind of a defeatist attitude if you will, but as we've seen the national retail really take off in, in our community and it's obvious that we are the hub , um, for that retail sector in, in Western Kansas and Eastern Colorado. And I mean, our trade area is now over 500,000 people, which is just incredible. Um, but now when they say it, they're like, well, you got all this other stuff, it's go , go get all of garden, you know? Um, and, and that , that's great. It's cool that, like I said, they don't feel like they're asking for the impossible anymore. They feel like, well, of course we should have this, you know , um , which is fun. It's fun to see that pride in what we've, what we've accomplished as a community. But , um , it , it's so interesting for us cuz again, we have this 500,000 people trade area, but it is so hard for retailers and restaurants to really understand that. Um, you know, when we show them that no people literally drive two hours one way to come work here or they drive two hours to come here and shop every Saturday, every Saturday, you know? Um, that's just , it's so hard for them to understand because we are the only market we are, we are absolutely the only market in the United States that works the way ours does. It's incredible. Um, but you know, we're fortunate. We have, I have a director of analytics on staff who is just amazing. He, he does so well with data analysis and being able to prove the case, if you will, on what that trade area looks like. And we're really starting to break loose a lot of those misconceptions about the community. So that's, that's pretty fun to see that starting to come together. But , um, but yeah, people certainly have their request and , and you know, I love that. I think that's fun. I, I have never eaten chicken in my whole life. Never eaten chicken. Right. Um, so when people first came to me and were all about Buffalo, wild wings, I was like, yay. Yes, I'll go. Yes, we'll talk to him . You know? Um, but that's cool. Like that's not one that was gonna be on my radar screen . Right. Because if you've never eaten chicken, you're probably not thinking about Buffalo, wild wings. Um, but it's been a tremendous business and, and the whole region has rallied around around B dubs who knew . So it's , it's really fun. And , and a lot of times there's just things that we don't think about in this office. Like, especially when it comes to restaurant types , um , and some of the retailers, even some of the niche retailers just aren't things that we are gonna think of. So it's super helpful when, when somebody from the community will come in and say, I don't don't know if this is on your radar screen, but could you look at getting us one of these, you know, so that's , um, that we love it. You know, I think a lot of people are irritated <laugh> um , in economic development because they constantly have community members wanting stuff. We're just the opposite. We love it. We, we absolutely love it. And there's, I mean, there's been times that we've had community members come to us and say, Hey, I really want this. And we're like, well, come to the table and help us do that. You know, let's, let's work on that. Um, so for us, it's a huge benefit and there's nothing better than the feeling when, you know, you built something that people actually wanted built . Right. <laugh> um , so we love it. We think that's a lot of fun.
Speaker 2Yeah. That is pretty cool. Cuz yeah, I was like when he was talking about that, the first thing that popped in my head was when I SA that quote was olive garden. Cuz you heard that forever. Right. <laugh>
Speaker 3Exactly, exactly. And it really, I gotta tell you, you know, it's , it's a lot of fun. We, you know, we have empirical largest project in Kansas, right. Um , over the last two years and the community is like, oh that is really good, good job. Way to go. That's cool. But what about food? <laugh> you know, it's like, it's like the , the huge industrial projects, they get it, they know that that's, what's driving our ability to continue to grow the way we're growing. But at the same time, they're like that really I wanna shop and eat. So get us more stores, get us more restaurants. I mean, cool. What you're doing. Cool. Keep doing that, but also feed us and give us a place to shop <laugh> so yeah , it's kind of
Speaker 2That's when you get really, really cool then. Yeah. <laugh>
Speaker 3Yeah, yeah. That's that , that , you know, they , they , they joke all the time in the office. People are always like, you know, if you, if you get all of garden, they're like, surely that's like a parade, like don't they yeah . Parade or a statue. I mean, there's gotta be something that you get for land in that. So we'll see, we'll find out when , when we land it. Right.
Speaker 2<laugh> exactly. So let's talk a little bit about the market. Um, you know , uh, it's one thing that is unique, I think about garden city and, and um , we were up, oh shoot. It's been, was it 2019? We were competing for the extraordinary bank of the year and we're doing some research. We wanna do a presentation. And one of the articles I found was I think it was in the Washington post and for communities of different sizes, it listed like, you know, these are the most rural communities by, I don't know what their definition of how many miles you were away from a say maybe , maybe a , um , metropolitan statistical area. And it seems like every one of the towns in our community was on like the top 10 or 20, you know, even garden city , Alyssa and you know, Johnson of the course Syracuse. But you know , I was like, well, that's kind of interesting. It doesn't, you know, when you live here your whole life or in this area, you don't feel like it's that different. But um, somebody talk about the uniqueness, like 500,000 people that's really, you know, shoot that's what, probably the size of Wichita, right? Or more as far as trade area, mm-hmm <affirmative> how far does that go around? And
Speaker 3It, you know, we go into Eastern Colorado , um, into obviously all of the panhandle of Oklahoma and the panhandle of Texas. Um , we go up into Nebraska and we go east , um , you know, just, just a little past Dodge city, that's all part of that trade area, but it's just, it's so interesting to us to see, you know, as we do, we do license plate surveys. Uh , we , and we actually talk with people who are in the community shopping or here for healthcare , whatever we , we try to, to get some of those anecdotal pieces to go along with the data we have. And it's just really interesting, even as far south, you know, in Texas where somebody is literally at the halfway point, they could either go to Amarillo or they could come to garden city and it would be basically the same drive time. We are amazed at how many people are picking garden city, same thing with Eastern Colorado. They could go to Pueblo or Colorado Springs or they could, they could come east to garden city. A lot of them are choosing to come here , uh , and you know, different reasons for some of them . But , uh , certainly things we hear a lot are, you know, we just feel safer when we're, when we're shopping in garden city, we feel safer. Um, the traffic isn't as bad, the city's cleaner , um, you know, it's or one of 'em that we hear a lot, especially from the Eastern Colorado folks is we just feel like we relate better to the people here. We feel like you are more our people than the people on the front range. Um, so that's, that's cool. And I, and I think that's important for our businesses to know, and to understand that, you know, the , the people who are standing in front of them every Saturday and Sunday and ringing up their cash registers are, are people who are choosing to shop in garden city. And so, you know, while they're not from garden city , um , necessarily they're, they consider themselves to be a part of us. And I think it's really important that, that we never take that for granted. But I also think it's really important that we respect the fact that they're willing to drive , uh , you know, two, two and a half hours to get here. And , and we need to, we need to respect that we need , we need to appreciate that and , and treat 'em the way, you know, the way they deserve to be treated, cuz that's why they're choosing again, you know, once you get a certain distance away, you're just as close, you know , to go to one of those other larger cities. But , um, that's one of the things that I think we're probably , um , we're just really good at is that we still have a small town feel, even though , you know, we're , our revenues certainly would indicate a much larger community , um, and , and would support a much larger community than what we are.
Speaker 2So like in that. So basically you're just like taking that area and there's 500,000 people. So when you have like a retail or restaurant looking to come to garden city that you were talking about earlier, how do they look at, is there like minimums, like they want have to have probably every business is probably a little different, like so many people do justify them coming or how do they figure that
Speaker 3They do. And, and so most of them have a , a rooftop radius that they're looking for, right? So , um , they wanna know within five miles, how many, how many rooftops are within five miles of this location? How many are within 10 miles? Um, and in the Metro areas, that's a great, that's a great metric to judge by , right? Because you, you wanna locate where people are gonna choose your location. Um, but what they don't understand for us is that you have to extend that radius out significantly , uh , to really understand this trade area. Um , you know, when we talk about retailers , uh , especially the ones who, who are kind of our early hits, if you will, but you look at target, you look at home Depot , um, you look at Sam's club, every one of those has come in and said, well, we'll just do this nice small model. It's, you know, it's our small model that we have and it'll work great for this, this size of community. Every one of them has regretted it. Um , every one of them has figured out, oh Nope , this, you know , this community actually supports sales the same way that our locations in Wichita do or Kansas city , uh , or Colorado Springs. So, you know, we , we try, we try to tell them that up front , you know, when they're , when they're looking at our community, now we try to be really clear that you want to treat this the same way that you would treat a much larger community. Because even though you can't, you can't draw your little circle on the map and see those rooftops that you traditionally would be looking for. We can guarantee you that we can deliver that, that customer base to you. You just, you have to trust us, you know? And when they do trust us, they're , they're glad they did. Yeah . Because it works really well for 'em and Menards has been a great success story. Um , and they're one who said, Nope , let's if we're gonna build it, let's build it. Let's do it . Right. And it's just been an incredible store for 'em. Um , a lot of our restaurants are, are, have been first in, in their divisions for as long as they've been here. You know, the sales that we get , um, annual sales we get in , in some of these restaurant chains is just unbelievable. And, you know, we're able to see those numbers. We're able to share those numbers, even though they're not public numbers. Um , but we're able to share that with, with other retailers and restaurants that are looking at the community. And I quite honestly, they will question those numbers, you know, when we give 'em the like, oh, surely you added a zero something's, something's not right there. You know, we're like, no, that's that , this is where we are. This is a very unique trade area.
Speaker 2Yeah. And it's kind of one of those deals too, you think about, you know, like for us, you know, like, well, from here in Johnson's like 70 minutes, you can be in garden city and most , probably some of those bigger cities, you can't get five or 10 miles in 70 minutes, you know?
Speaker 3Right. Yeah. You
Speaker 2Know? Yeah . Kinda a lot , lot easier to get there than what maybe some of those guys think anyway, but
Speaker 3Yes, absolutely. Yeah. I think it is, it is different though. I , my , my best friend from high school lived in San Diego , uh , for several years and, you know, she would call me on her commute home and she could literally see her condo from, from her office. And it was still a 45 minute drive, you know, it's like, but you could get out and walk there. Right. <laugh> I mean , I can see it as the Crow flies. You could be there in just a few minutes. Um, but people forget that. And, and so, yeah, I mean, I, I have friends across the state who drive, you know, 30, 45 minutes to get to work and never leave their town. So it's, it shouldn't seem weird to people that folks will drive here from Syracuse or from Leo or from Tribune to work every day . It's, you know, I , I would prefer to drive on wide open highways versus, you know, bumper to bumper traffic. So I , but people are always surprised when they see the number of miles that those people are driving to come into work every day . And I'm like, but time wise , it's not that much different than, than a lot of what you see in the Metro areas. So just a lot less stressful, right. We're watching for deer instead of, you know, instead of sitting behind somebody who, who can't move. So yeah, it , it is different and it , it's hard to tell that story sometimes, but we've gotten really good at telling the story. And, and now we're starting to really reap the benefits of having done that.
Speaker 2Well now, too, too , I guess the good part is you also have, now you have a track record, right. That you can almost prove that yeah, we , this one stands in their commun or their group and whatnot .
Speaker 3Yeah, exactly. And , and that's, that's probably, that kind of brings up another interesting point that I think really sets our community apart. Um, we, our businesses don't worry about competition. So, you know, I talk to a lot of my colleagues across the state and they say, well, gee, when I , when I talk about bringing in X type of business, you know, these three businesses come in and say, oh, we are, we don't need those. We don't need that other business. We you've got us. You don't, you know, you don't need 'em in garden city, Finn county. It's very different. Like they welcome the competition, but more than anything, I think they all understand that, Hey, you know, raising tide raises all ships, you know, if we're better to be accepting of that. Um, you know , I , I was in Westlake hardware. Uh , I buy all my paint at Westlake hardware. Right. And , and I was in there the other day. And , um, one of the gals who was mixing my paint, she said, well, we really appreciate you coming here. Instead of going to the big box, you know, stores, it's, it's really nice that you come to the neighborhood store. And I said, yeah, but you know, nothing, nothing is better for our community than the fact that we have those big box stores. Right. Because they bring more people into shop. And those people, you know, if, if we're doing our jobs right, they know about every other hardware store in town. And so, you know, we're , we get 'em to the community. We all have the opportunity to capitalize on the fact that they're here. It might be really hard to get them to come here and shop if we just have one hardware store. But if we have multiple hardware stores, you know, we can , we can attract those shoppers and then it's up to us to attract them into our individual stores. So , um, but I think that's one of the things that, that does set us apart is that people here recognize that there are opportunities for all of us, the more opportunities we create, the better, the better the chances are that we're gonna capitalize on that in our own business.
Speaker 2Yeah. I think that's big. Cause I think a lot of times you don't realize how , um , and the hardware, store's a good example. I think that, you know, when you have, I've heard stories like, you know, Lowe's and home Depot that, you know, your average time, if you need a project that you can't get everything at one, you have to actually go to both. And so you actually almost need, you know, cuz they'll have their little specialties that you almost have to, it takes 'em all together. And if you have all, you know, like, you know , like I said, the local version, you have the big boxes, you know, sometimes some projects you gotta be everywhere or some things you like getting better at one place versus the other. And yeah, that makes, yeah, it's kind of a little counterintuitive. I think sometimes
Speaker 3I think it is for people, but you that's called the shoe store model in , uh , in economic development world. There's, there's just study after study that proves, you know, you take a downtown block and you have one shoe store, they're gonna do a certain amount of business. But if you have a shoe store on each corner of that intersection, all of them are gonna do more business. Right. Because when I think about buying shoes, I think about that corner. And , and I know I have four options when I go down there. So if it's not at this one, it might be across the street or it might be across the street. Right. Um , but that, that model has been proven time and time again, that when you co-locate like businesses like that, you just tend to have higher sales across the board. So yeah, it's, it's, it's fun to watch and we've certainly seen that in our community.
Speaker 2Yeah. I assume that applies to the restaurants as well. Right. If you kinda get more of them
Speaker 3Absolutely closer, you put restaurants together, the better, you know, you think about, well , you think about taking your family out, you know, maybe you don't even know what you're hungry for. Um , but you know that, oh, this is the restaurant district. So we drive to the restaurant district and we'll decide when we get there. Right. We find a place to park and then we decide which one we're gonna go to. So that, yeah, absolutely. That model works really well. Um , and I think we're seeing it more and more in garden city now, as we're really focused more on density of businesses. Um, it , it's, it's fun to see our developers start to understand that no, let's, you know, let's put five or six restaurants in this one area , uh , and let 'em feed off of each other, literally feed off of each other, you know? Um , so it's, it's, it's done to see that that's more of a Metro area thing when you see those kind of little niche neighborhoods around, but we're really starting to see that now in garden city. And there's gonna be some really fun developments come out of that.
Speaker 2So I would assume that like, you know , you talk about that area, you know, that's really gotta help finning county , uh , from a sales tax revenue quite a bit. Right. As far as helping fund and everything .
Speaker 3It's absolutely huge. Yeah. You know , um, it's the , you know, the county obviously is, is, is largely driven just like any other community out here by , um, by, by their ad valor tax base . Um, but the sales tax numbers just keep climbing , um , you know, every year , um, for the last four years we've broken the previous year's records, even during the pandemic, which is insane. Um, it's just incredible to see that our, our shopping numbers keep going up, our trade area keeps growing our airport, employments keep growing and just everything is on that upper trajectory. And that is so uncommon. It is, it , there is no other community in Kansas. That's, that's doing it the way we're doing it and that's doing it through private investment. Um , I am, I am a real stickler about, we, we don't need to build our community on the backs of our taxpayers. It really is about attracting those new dollars into our community to build the economy that supports our taxpayers, not the other way around.
Speaker 2Yeah. That's true. Cuz lot , lot of times it's kinda , well, it seems like it , maybe it's probably worse than our smaller communities, but you know, you kind of relying on yeah. The taxpayer to actually get something started, but if you can kinda get them , uh, on the other way around it's way better, I would say. Yeah.
Speaker 3Well it, it has been for us <laugh>
Speaker 2Yeah. So one thing I think you guys have been really good at, and I think maybe that's between and probably then goes to your structure and having everybody work together is the , um , um, the incentives you guys use that you can do to help bring people in. What's the , um, I'm trying to think there's two or three different program. What kind of programs you use that , uh , to help do that?
Speaker 3Yeah, so, you know, I , I it's, it's funny a lot of people, you know, wanna wanna say, well, yeah, but you're incentivizing all of those. Um, we don't even call 'em incentives, honestly. Um , we call 'em development tools because I think that's a more accurate term they're they are development tools. Um, incentives kind of is a dirty word in my mind. It almost, you know, it sounds like we're giving something away that we wouldn't give to another business that was already here. So development tools that we utilized really pretty heavily , um , are the tax increment finance district, the community improvement district , um , industrial revenue bonds , uh , and the, the edX , uh , economic development tax abatement program. Those are really the tools that we utilize the most. Uh , on the housing side, we utilize the rural housing incentive district, which is very similar to a tax increment finance district. It's just for housing instead of commercial. Um , but yeah, the tools that we use require that the developer , uh , or the , the individual business, whichever it is, they have to perform in order to get any benefit. Um, and, and we think that's really important. Uh , we, I, man, you know, I hear about these communities who are willing to just give away the farm to land a project, you know, or spend, you know, Hey, we'll , we'll spend 60 million of our taxpayers money, our rate payers money to build a wastewater treatment plant, just come here. You know, why on earth would you do that? If you don't need that, that wastewater plant for the people who already live there and the businesses who are already there, why on earth would you build it on their backs to accommodate another business? I , I don't understand that, you know , um , so when we're, when we do that very same type of project, we're, we're very upfront with the business. We're like, Hey, you're, you know, you're gonna , you're gonna be capping out our , uh , our wastewater plan , you know, for instance. So when we build you here, you're gonna have to invest in that. You're gonna have to be come to the table and be our partner in expanding the wastewater plant so that the next company has the opportunity to come in, you know? Um, and that's really how we look at all of our incentives. So the , you know, with the tax increment finance district, we're asking the private developer to build infrastructure streets, curbs, gutters, street lights , um, sidewalks, water lines , waste, water lines , you know, all of those things, those are all things that are gonna belong to the , to the local entity, right? You're gonna , you're gonna end up transferring the rights to all of those back to the city, for instance , um, why in the heck shouldn't we partner with you to do that, but you know, the way the tax increment finance district worked is you go build it, you go build all that infrastructure that ultimately belongs to us, the taxpayers of garden city. Um , but we'll share in the future revenues that you're creating. So because you're increasing, you know, a bare lot to, you know, you're now improving that into , um, a bank or a retail store or a hotel, whatever the case may be, we're willing to share those new tax revenues that we would , that wouldn't have existed otherwise, but we're willing to share those with you to help pay you back for the investment you made to build our infrastructure, to support your businesses. So the really all of the tools we use work that way , uh , they require that the developer that the investor bring, you know, bring their skin into the game, if you will. And then we, as, you know, as the governing bodies agree to share in that risk, by helping to, to repay some of those costs , um, they're , they're successful. You know, the development tools have worked really well for us. And again, if you know, if somebody were to come to us and say , um , gee, that tool's just not good enough. I, I want you to give us some cash or we want more, or we want , um, that's just not, that's just not in our DNA. We're just, we're just not gonna do that. We feel like our tools are designed to reward the investment that the investor and, and the developer bring to the table. And if they're not willing to do that, we're not willing to do that either. So,
Speaker 2Yeah. So it just speaks a lot about trying to find the right fit, I guess, right. Too, for that company and the community that cuz as you were saying that I thought of the same things like, well they're putting skin in the game, you're getting them to invest in the community and kind of sharing with that with them and then kind of a , yeah, it keeps things probably your bad actors out or somebody just trying to take advantage of things. Exactly . Probably. And get your real partners. Yeah ,
Speaker 3Exactly. <affirmative>
Speaker 2Um, you know, one of the things as you look, you know, we talked about recruiting and bringing businesses in what kinda focuses do you guys do on your, like the existing community to , um, partner with them and help , uh , take care of these other issues?
Speaker 3Yeah. Uh , we, you know, obviously business retention and, and business growth is a big part of what , of what we do every day . So we have, you know, we've established really good relationships with our, with our businesses that are here. They know that we're a resource and we're available to 'em. Um, I take, you know , I filled a lot of phone calls every day from, from existing businesses who say, Hey, I'm having trouble finding staff or um , Hey, I , you know, I , I need to outsource my accounting. I don't have anybody to do that too . Or Hey, I have a problem. The , you know, the, I , I need to, I need to upgrade the road that, that serves my business or the parking lot that, that serves my business or whatever. Uh , honestly, I mean, anything you can think of that would be a challenge for a business. I get those calls daily. Um, and then they know that we're gonna come with some solutions and come to the table to help 'em get those solved. So, you know, those development tools that we just talked about, you know, while we , while they work really well with new business. And that's usually when you hear about 'em is when we're improving 'em for a new business that we've recruited. We use those same tools , uh , with the folks who are already here. Um , we, we never wanna ignore , um , the businesses that have , that have made this community great all along. Uh , it's really, you know, we're , we're not like the little kid that gets, gets shiny, new toys and then all the old toys get shoved to the back of the closet, never to be played with again. Right. Um, that's just not how we are. We value our relationships, you know? Um , but probably one of the one of the funnest guys I know is Mike Ward, right? He's been in business forever in garden city. And , um , you know , I go do his , his radio program with him, just anytime he calls, I'm doing it tomorrow morning with him. Um , and that really, that is one of those connection points that we have to our existing businesses. That's, that's, who's listening to that is our existing businesses and , and our, our consumer base here in garden city. And so, you know, we, we never want them to feel like they're playing second fiddle because we have some shiny new business that, that came in across town. It's, it's all about those relationships. And, you know, I think it, it just makes a difference. You know, like I said, I grew up here, I'm a farm kid. I, I know the people who live in my community and I, I want to be proud when I see them in , in the grocery store. Um, you know, I'm, I'm willing to take some hits if they think I, if they think I've done something that, that they wish I would've done differently. I wanna hear that. I wanna hear it directly. I prefer to hear it, you know, right. To my face so I can, so I can answer to it. But , um, I feel an obligation to these people and I that's just, you know, that it's just part of growing up in these communities. Um , you know, that it matters and there's pride. There's pride associated with your name for goodness sake, you know, and these people knew my parents and <laugh> , and I don't wanna let anybody down. So I think it's just , um, just part of the difference when, when you're in these smaller communities and, and you are a rural , um, person, you just tend to have , um, a little more dedication to making sure that everything you do is for the right reasons and that you're doing things. Um, not because you might get caught doing it wrong, but, but truly, you know, with integrity because, because it matters because it's how we were raised and it's who we are. And we can feel that in our community, our businesses feel it, they, they trust us. Um, it's, we're really fortunate to serve the community we serve.
Speaker 2Yeah. That's pretty important too. Cuz I think like you said, you don't want your community thinking like, oh, I'm bringing in the company, that's going to take you out. You know, that's not right . That's kinda not the goal. Right ? Absolutely. <laugh> yeah, yeah. Trying to help everybody be better. So excellent . Let's go . Now he was talking earlier about housing. So like , um , I guess when you wake up and thinking 4,000 or maybe even 6,000 units, how do you, or what , how do you fix or what I'm trying to think. How , how do you go about that? I guess? Yeah.
Speaker 3It's, it's not easy. Right? Um, we have, we have a huge task ahead of us to be able to get to where we need to go. Um, we take an all , all hands on deck approach. Uh , you know, so we work very closely , um, especially with the city of garden city, but certainly , um , with fi Finney county as well and with the city of comb to ensure that , um , that we're positioning ourselves to, to get the housing we need. Um, it's, it's a very tall order. Uh , and I think for us, it's important not just to focus on the number of units, you know, I've, I've had, I've had folks tell me, well, you just need to do mobile homes. Right. I mean, mobile homes worked when we, when we first brought IBP and, and all of that, but, but that's not the best solution. And we know that. Right. Um , and I tell people this all the time, you know, when we, when we built the , the IBP plant and the sunflower electric plant, yeah. We, we went to mobile homes and , and as a community, this community said, well, this is a short term fix. This gets the people into our community. And then we'll, then we'll build housing. And, you know, we have never kept up with housing construction since then. Right. Um , we just get further and further behind. So while mobile homes are a great option and, and there are, you know, we are very fortunate. We have, you know, our east garden village, mobile home park is just incredible. It, it actually is a little city within the city and, and the gentleman who owns that is so, so mindful of creating opportunities for the folks who live in his community. But that can't be the only answer we can't just say, okay, well, yeah , let's do that. And hope for the best, for a lot of reasons that can't be the only answer. Um, number one, people wanna own homes. That's one of the, one of the hallmarks of, of success in our country is being able to own a home at some point. Um, so what we really focus on is diversity of housing. So, you know, we know not everybody wants to live in a four bedroom brick ranch with a two car garage and, you know, an acre lot or whatever. We know that that's not what appeals to everybody. So we've really tried to recruit the diversity of housing and , and the number of housing that we need. Um, and you know, one of the things we talk to our builders about all the time, our , our builders say, well, we can it's , we can't build $180,000 house. If that's, if that's entry level, you know , we can't build that right now. And I said, we don't even need that. You know, when , when we look at our housing study, all of the demand we have is in the 200,000 plus. Um , and most of it is in the 250,000 plus price range. Um , so, you know , we're constantly telling our local builders, you go build what you're good at building, go build that $400,000 house, cuz that's what we need. Um , right , right now we have a ton of, of our population who is, should be in a $300,000 house who can't be because it doesn't exist in the community. So they're living in $150,000 house that they outgrew 10 years ago. It's just where they're stuck because our housing funnel has not been working properly. And we haven't been putting enough projects in at the front to allow the units to keep up with, with folks opportunities to grow their incomes. You know, we've, we've increased the median household income in Fannie county by over $12,000 in a very short amount of time that demands a , a more expensive house. That's what, that's what those folks are looking for. So we're really starting to get, I think we're, I think the builders are starting to understand that , um, they've carried a lot of guilt for a long time that they couldn't build the, the entry level house. And we're saying don't, you know, if we build the higher end housing that will free up that older housing stock, that less expensive housing stock to meet the need of the entry level. So that's been a lot of our push , uh , again, I'll , you know, we , we , we haven't built apartments in a long time, so that we're certainly working on the multifamily and the higher density stuff. That's a little tougher, you know, for our communities. We're again, being out here in the wide open where there seems to be just plenty of room, why don't we just, you know, take out another alpha field and put houses there? Uh , well, or maybe we just need to get, get okay with having a little more density. Um , cuz I kinda like having farming, I kinda like being surrounded by those alfalfa fields. So , um, you know, tho those are important to our economy too. So we're really starting to make headway with that. People are starting to understand that density is, is part of the answer. Um , and a lot of second story residential is part of the answer we just have to, we just have to do it all and we have to do it all well. Um , and, and we're really, really starting to see progress there.
Speaker 2Well , that's interesting cuz you know , we even had a project here in Johnson that, you know, basically cuz kind of similar deals. Like we gotta open up a little, I would say higher end house or rental to let people kind of move up cuz that's kind of what you're lacking. So that's interesting. Say have the same thing there really that
Speaker 3Yes.
Speaker 2If yeah , if you can get the right. Yeah. How do you figure out which is, or I guess how'd you figure out that that's what you needed I guess.
Speaker 3Yeah. We're super data driven , uh , here again and you know, I have a director of analytics, he has a master's degree in statistics. So , um, it, it helps a lot that we can actually back up, you know, I can, I can say, Hey, I feel like we need this. Um , and then I'll say, but Shannon, go, go pull the numbers and see if that's see if I'm even right. Or is this just me feeling a way , you know? Uh , and so he's because of his experience, he's able to go and say, oh Nope , you were right. That, you know, your gut check was right. That is actually what we, what we need to do. So , um, we are just really fortunate that we have , uh , that commitment to data and facts. Um, we don't, we don't ever expect our community to respond and, you know, jump in and do a project just based on our gut feeling. <laugh> um, so when we're able to back everything up with data, that makes a huge difference and we track everything. I mean everything, every metric you can possibly imagine , um, that relates in any way to economic development, we're tracking that we're reporting that , um , we're making sure that, that the public knows about it. The governing bodies know about it. Um , because we think that's that if we're , if you're not measuring your success, does it matter? You know, if , if you can't measure it , um, it would be so easy to be going down the wrong path and not even know because you weren't looking. Right. Um, so we are hyper focused on ensuring that that we're tracking and that we're paying attention. You know, if we make a decision that we're going to, you know, to do X for workforce development or whatever, how can we track that? How can we make sure it actually has an impact? How can we make sure it works? Um, and that , again, that, that just builds so much of the trust because we can demonstrate to folks that no, not only did we invest time and, and energies in that we also invested in the measurement of it and, and we can prove that whatever it was had value to our community,
Speaker 2That makes sense. Cuz like a lot of times you could almost assume like, you know, you're bringing in, you know, X number of jobs of this type of pay level, then you think, oh, I need this house when , when actually that wasn't the case. Right.
Speaker 3So , right.
Speaker 2So one of the things I had written down to talk about, you kind of led me into was your staff , um, I think that's neat that you have a data analyst right. To figure all that stuff out. Yeah . Yeah . Uh , what other kind of people do you have on working for you that kind of helps make the
Speaker 3Engineer ? So there's, there's three and a half of us. Um , we have Scott OS , Scott is a former editor of the gardens do telegram. He is , uh , communications journalism obviously , uh , does a lot of our , um , community marketing , uh , and um, you know, our direct marketing. So when we're, when we're working with the project, he's the one who kind of compiles everything and puts it in a nice little , um, little package that, that prints out and looks pretty. Right. Um, so he brings that side of it does our greater garden city website and, and social media. So really focuses on telling the stories , uh , the good news stories of our entire region, not just garden city. Um , and then we have , uh , Shannon who , uh , again is the director of analytics and really does a lot of that research type stuff. Um, all of our team members are, are really diverse and can do a lot of different things. Thank goodness. Um, but, but his focus obviously is, is really being able to inform our decisions with data. So that's where he spends most of his time. We have Steve cotrol . Steve was , um, is the retired city engineer for the city of garden city. And now works as our staff engineer works halftime , um , off time , um , for, for our offices , uh, you know, everything you can think of an engineer doing, you know, when we're working with a project and we're trying to locate 'em in the best, you know, the best spot or when we're working with the housing development. And we say, okay, but you know, where are we gonna tie into water? Where are we gonna bring the sewer? You know, all of those things, we have a, we have an engineer on staff, who's able to say, oh , I know exactly where the lines are and you know, it makes sense to do it this way and that way, and he can lay out a project, you know, he can show, you know, a company can tell us, Hey, we need a , we need a hundred thousand square foot , um , building and it needs to be a warehouse and it needs to have access from these two directions and whatever, you know, and he can just go draw it and put it in place and show where all the utilities are and all that. So that's hugely beneficial. Um, and then, you know, there's me and , um, and really my , my job is , um, is to sell the community. It's, it's my job to determine what are the best projects , um , that we could possibly be looking at and how do we, how do we secure 'em? So , um, incredible team, truly incredible team. Um, we, you know, we we've , we've been talking a lot, just, we're so busy at this point. Um, we have so many projects in the hopper and so many things going on that, you know , I, I pretty well have to commit that I'm okay working 90 and a hundred hour weeks , um, for a while because that's just where we are. And , and , you know, people say, well , hire more people, you know, well, I could hire more people, but that they don't do what I do. I mean, we all have a role in , in our team. And right now we're just in one of those really, really successful times. Um, that it's me, it's my it's, it's my role that, that so much is demanded of right now. Um, but I, again, such a great team that, you know, they , they may , they may come in in the morning and they see me and they're like, did you go home? Because , cause I don't think you went home yet. You know, you , you need to at least go home and shower cuz you might, you smell funky. Right. Um, but that's, it's, it's so cool. And it's so much fun to do what you do and to have it be as successful as it is right now that man, it's just, it's really easy to commit to those, you know, kind of ridiculous hours. Right? Um , about a month ago we , we had just a week that was just insane. And when I closed my laptop , um , at two o'clock on Sunday morning of that week, I had logged 106 hours of work that week, you know, from one Sunday to the next. And I think people are shocked by that. They say , well , how can you possibly have to do that? But there's just there's cycles like this one that we're in right now when that's just, that's all you can do and yeah. Keep stocked on red bull cuz you're gonna need it. <laugh>
Speaker 2Yeah. It's almost like you hit, well kinda like these old farm analogy is almost like you hit a harvest time. Right. And there's just things that, you know, everything's gotta get done and this , you know , that opportunity may not be there
Speaker 3Exactly . Right. You don't take advantage. That's exactly right. You know ? And , and so yeah. I mean I , and I get it and I think it's great that people are so concerned that they say, gosh, you need a vacation. You know, I was like, you don't really want me to take a vacation. I mean, this is when you want me in the field. Right. You know, to , to use your analogy. We're not , we're not gonna let it sit and , and , and spoil in the field. Right. We're gonna just keep cutting until, until we have it all in the bend . So that's just where we are right now. There's a lot of times when we're, when we're prepping and things slow down quite a bit, you know? And, and I, I can honestly say I haven't had a week that I've worked less than 60 hours in the entire 12 years I've been here. I mean, that's just what it takes to keep things moving. But, but a lot of times that that work is the prep work, right. We're , we're fertilizing and we're working the field and we're getting everything prepared so that, that everything will work well. Um, but when we get to these periods, these, as you say, these harvest periods, man, just, just don't interrupt me. <laugh> leave me in the game. Trust me. I don't need food. Um , deliver red bull occasionally. And, and just trust me that, that we just gotta , we just gotta ride this , um, to fruition. And then, and you know, someday we keep saying this someday it'll slow down. It hasn't, but someday it will slow down. And, and I might, I might even take a day off. That'd be weird, but , uh , yeah, it's insane. And it's so exciting to be in that place. And , and, you know, to know that really we're the only community that can say that right now. And, and that just means a lot to me that that we're able to serve a community that's that engaged and that dedicated to the growth it's it makes me really proud.
Speaker 2Yeah. Well, that's one things really appreciate, you know, all your efforts you put in, because really I think, and , and , and probably I don't , a lot of people know it in the state, but really other in garden city, you know, maybe part of you , Kansas city area may be kind of growing, but I don't know if at this pace, but it's probably to me the best growing place in the whole state of Kansas and so lot to do with all the work and the stuff you and your staff are putting together and into this, cuz that's, you know, huge for us, I think. And, and the keeping and because a lot of times too, I think, you know , um , even our, like the outer line communities, I think , um, are kind of tied in , you know, garden city success helps us as well. And it kinda makes it easier, you know , um , even though we gotta drive 50 or 70 miles to Walmart, at least we got one to go to <laugh> so there
Speaker 3You go ,
Speaker 2There , you , you go , you know, sometimes I talk to a few people are amazed . Like you gotta go that far. It's like, well , it's not that bad. You know , it's just , you know , cause like you said, it's wide open , you just get there and it's not the stress exactly .
Speaker 3Right
Speaker 2There . Yeah , yeah .
Speaker 3Yeah .
Speaker 2Well, I won't take any more of your time. I really appreciate the conversation and, and uh , and letting you , uh , fit me into your schedule. And uh, I think it was really interesting and I , like I said, really appreciate all the work and efforts you've done to help our communities grow. So
Speaker 3Thank you. Thank you for having me and, and I'm happy to do it anytime . Just let me know.
Speaker 2All right . Well thanks Lana .
Speaker 3Thank you . Have a great day. You
Speaker 2Too .
Speaker 1Thanks for listening to dream maker , making dreams come true. We'd love to connect with you. Find us on social media@fnbwindmillandonlineatfnb-windmill.com heard a topic that could enrich someone else's life too. Be sure to share this podcast with friends and family and check back regularly for new episodes or subscribe. So you never miss a show. See you soon.