operates as a critical access, county-owned hospital with a full-service emergency room and obstetrics ward.Adding to this capacity, Bartel notes,“Stormont Vail is getting ready to spend over $40 million to build a new healthcare clinic on the other side of town.”This combination of strategic location, cultural richness, and essential services creates a complete package, ensuring that both businesses and their employees don’t just succeed, they flourish. “You get to live more life here,” Woods reflects. “It’s easier to integrate yourself in this local community, there’s always room to get involved and form your own niche and create a quality life within this region.” A MASTER PLAN FUELED BY PARTNERSHIP The revitalization of downtown Emporia stands as a testament to Lyon County’s strategic and sustained approach to economic development. “From a downtown perspective, over the past 34 years, we’ve had $175 million worth of reinvestment within the downtown area,” explains Woods. “We’ve created about 1,000 new jobs in the last five years through expansions and business attraction,” adds Mayor of the City of Emporia, Erren Harter. This growth is fueled by a powerful toolkit of initiatives.The area’s historic district status has been a key catalyst, and the city made history itself by becoming the first community in Kansas to enact an Upper Story Rural Housing Incentive District (RHID). A cornerstone of this entrepreneurial ecosystem is the fabrication lab, which Woods notes that “last year helped 212 different businesses develop their own products or sideline opportunities for local businesses.” This proactive support extends through a comprehensive suite of financial incentives designed to make business development seamless. From the city and county perspective, the offerings are extensive. As Bartel outlines, these local performance-based incentives include “industrial revenue bonds, property tax abatements, sales tax exemptions, community development block grants, discounted 68 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 10
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