In the beginning there was despair and decline…

Our plan for action began in May 1994 when a meeting was organized to discuss the economic problems in the 46-country region of western Kansas. Our hope was to consider what actions would be needed to solve these problems and to find a way to create a new regional group to work on the solutions in a cooperative way.

First, an extensive presentation was prepared that highlighted the region's demographic trends.

Next, an invitation list was prepared and mailed to those the organizers felt might be interested in the project. More than 85 people attended that first meeting including Jerry Moran, an enthusiastic supporter of rural development, who would later be elected to serve as wKREDA’s First District Congressman. 

Following the presentation, the group was challenged to energetically join together to form a new organization to solve the negative trends experienced in the region.

Without exception, everyone in attendance agreed to participate. The general meeting was immediately recessed so that committees could be formed that would work on ideas for the creation of a new regional economic development alliance. 

After a few hours, several committees were established and two co-chairmen were elected to lead the organization for the coming year. 

The committees organized would be responsible for business development, agriculture development, legislative activities, communications and education. These committees obviously needed many hours to plan their work before their activities could begin. The enthusiasm in the meeting rooms that first day was exhilarating. One could really tell that something great was happening and that it would last for a long time. 

At the end of the day, it was determined that each committee would work independently and be prepared to report on its activities at each quarterly business meeting. 

Obviously the group was without form, and it was also without money. Funding would be needed to conduct the business of the new group. In just a few weeks, commitments for $30,000 were in hand and wKREDA was off to the rural development races.

Since that time, it has always been our fundamental policy that wKREDA will not take money from the government to conduct its activities. Our members have always believed that we had to use our own money if we wanted to be successful. That policy stands today and is one of the fundamental reasons for our success.

Since our beginning, wKREDA members have known that our success, in the long term, was going to be difficult. If we were to accomplish our goals, innovative solutions were needed. 

Building the Organizational Structure

wKREDA had many struggles to overcome in the beginning. First among them was the fact that some people, whether they were from northwest Kansas or southwest Kansas, didn’t know each other well enough to trust one another. 

Although few people live in western Kansas, it is a very large place. Many of these individuals didn’t know one another because they lived so far apart and because of the intrinsic distrust of neighboring communities. 

The wKREDA structure allows people concerned about economic development, government, technology or education to come together to discuss common problems. The initial question we struggled with was how could a group of people who had never had to trust each other before work together to create new jobs?

The first solution to this problem was solved by the formula for the election of the Board of Directors. It is comprised equally between representatives from the northern and from the southern parts of the region. As time has passed, the level of mistrust has diminished to the point that some even talk about eliminating what was once a necessary structure for the new organization.

Building Relationships

The Business Development committee also eliminated much of this concern through their development of our “trade show guidelines” that are used for all recruitment activities. This document provides that anyone attending a wKREDA recruitment mission can only discuss the wKREDA region in general, not individual communities. As leads are received and distributed to members, the individual communities follow-up on the leads and market their specific community.

One of the first goals actions of the Business Development committee was to solidify the relationship between wKREDA and the Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing. 

In addition to personal visitations with state officials by individual members, an alliance with the State of Kansas through its business recruitment organization, the Kansas Cavalry, was formed. Together, these two organized a mission trip to the 3i Show, one of the largest farm shows in North America. 

Together, these two groups worked to meet with the 600 exhibitors at this annual event to promote the business opportunities in western Kansas. This partnership built relationships that continue to benefit wKREDA members individually and the organization as a whole.

After this successful mission, another relationship was formed by wKREDA with the Western Kansas Manufacturers Association, a group of small manufacturers headquartered in the wKREDA service area. The concept was to try and look for ways wKREDA might help these manufacturers sell more of their products and/or learn about the business relationships these manufacturers with their suppliers. The goal was (and is) to re-locate those suppliers to wKREDA’s service area.

Trade Shows

The 1994 World Dairy Expo was the first trade show event attended by wKREDA in Madison, Wisconsin. In the first year, wKREDA was the only economic development group working this show for the creation of new dairies. Today, many are there. 

In the same year, wKREDA attended Trends 2000, a trade show in California specifically organized for those businesses who are seeking to re-locate outside California. 

Through the years, wKREDA has attended various national and international shows featuring telecommunications, food processing, and other manufacturing industries. We realize that many of these prospects take years to become a reality. Our members remain committed to the attendance of these trade shows where western Kansas can be continue to be successfully promoted.

A note should be made here to recognize all the efforts of those who've provided our "road warriors" with the necessary administrative support for the trade missions. These are sometimes daunting tasks that included arrangements with the trade show, the rental of hotel and meeting rooms, rental cars, and other pre-mission activities. 

Recruitment of Dairies

Shortly after wKREDA’s creation, we decided that one of our areas of focus would be the recruitment of large dairy farms. Several things needed to happen if this program were to be successful. First, wKREDA needed to try and meet with another group known as the western Kansas Dairy Coalition to find ways to work together. 

After several meetings, the two groups agreed that the dairy group members would join wKREDA to work as a single unit to promote the development of these dairies in western Kansas. 

Their cooperative spirit was best exemplified by the fact that they also brought their $16,000 checking account into wKREDA ‘s treasury. While it is true that many of the dairy group’s members were already members of wKREDA, several people from the diary group were originally only interested in the recruitment of diary farms. Today, they are fully-trained advocates for all business growth in the region.

Before long, wKREDA realized that the gospel about western Kansas needed to be spread further than the boundaries of the state. To do that would require several things: a trade show schedule, display booth, literature proclaiming that western Kansas was “open for business”, people willing to attend the shows and the financial means to pull it off. 

Dairy Conference

The Business Development committee also developed an innovative idea that proved quite successful. Instead of traveling to far away places, wKREDA has organized and hosted three dairy conferences.

The conferences (most recently wKREDA’s Dairy University) included several expert speakers, a trade fair, and tours of several southwest Kansas diaries. These conferences provided an avenue for investors, and dairy farmers from around the country to see western Kansas as they learned about the changes and opportunities in their industry. These conferences were an excellent way to learn about new prospects and they provided wKREDA with an innovative way to communicate with and educate people who are looking at western Kansas.

Communications

Considering that the wKREDA territory covers 40,000 square miles, regular communication with members was an obstacle. Volunteers were willing to write, edit and produce the first wKREDA newsletters. However, there were times when information needed to be dispersed quickly, so a member volunteered to provide a “blast fax” service to all members. This service has been replaced with a “listserv” system that is very beneficial to wKREDA's members, especially when information needs to be distributed immediately. It should not be a surprise that this service is also provided to wKREDA by one of its members.

Finally, one of the most important groups wKREDA needs to communicate with regularly, is the Kansas Legislature. Read how we work closely with the Legislature to advocate on the behalf of western Kansas.

Legislature

The wKREDA region is represented by 6 Senators and 19 Representatives in Topeka. How could this organization communicate the challenges facing western Kansas to all representatives of the Kansas Legislature? That was the obstacle for wKREDA’s Legislative Committee. 

wKREDA annually develops position papers that outline issues of concern for all wKREDA members. Telecommunications, roads, economic development funding, education, and property taxes are issues all wKREDA members agree about. 

If an issue arises that the group doesn’t agree on, wKREDA does not comment, thereby allowing individuals the opportunity to lobby their legislators on their own behalf. 

wKREDA visits the state capital annually to host a “cookies and milk” reception in the rotunda of the State Capital. The reception has become a well known event, especially since wKREDA members deliver homemade cookies to each Legislator’s secretary, then asks that secretary to tell their “boss” that they must visit our booth in the rotunda to get their “goodies.” 

After several years of these legislative missions, wKREDA members now regularly receive inquiries from members of the Legislature concerning policy issues. It has also benefited from being able to display our western Kansas message to many other “new”  legislative friends from the city. 

The wKREDA model of "paying our own way" without help from the government has served the organization well. When wKREDA shows up at the Legislature, they know it doesn’t want their money, it just wants laws passed that help it continue to promote the rural areas in Kansas. Many other organizations have been "encouraged" by members of the Legislature to learn to promote their causes in the same manner as wKREDA.

Conclusion

If you've made it this far, it's obvious that wKREDA is a dynamic organization that's trying to make life better for its patrons. And, we're doing it on our own dime.

Perhaps that won't always be the case, but rest assured, we're going to keep on "keeping on," because our friends and our neighbors deserve our best.

And that's what they're going to continue to receive..