Business View Magazine | August 2020

238 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 to, but in a measured and sustainable fashion. It also began addressing the needs of its long- neglected infrastructure. “In 2013-14, the city did a three-phase approach in regards to water and wastewater,” Dinkel reports. “Phase One was ‘gotta have;’ Phase Two was ‘need to have;’ Phase Three was ‘wanna have.’ We’re about done with Phase One, now, in upgrading our water plant and two wastewater plants. Now, we’re getting ready to start Phases Two and Three. The wastewater side will be a $30 million expenditure; on the water side - about $12 million, which will get the plants in great shape, other than routine maintenance, probably, for the next 25-30 years. We’ve also addressed a lot of our water distribution issues in the ground. We’re working on our sewers, as well.” “On the street side, we do have significant portions of streets under construction,” he adds. “Plus, we’ve also been able to gain a lot of grant funds from the Kansas Department of Transportation and did a lot of projects with shared money. We’re trying to keep that balance of not raising taxes too much but keeping good services. As a whole, I think we’ve done a good job of getting that balance.” Meanwhile Junction City is reaching out to businesses, touting its many advantages to potential newcomers, not the least of which is its skilled, educated, and diverse workforce, many of whom are newly retired military who, after ending their service at Fort Riley, still want to remain in the community. “We’re a unique town,” Dinkel explains. “Forty-five percent of the people are fourth generation or more Junction Cityites. Thirty percent, or so, of our population is rotating military – they’ll be here for one to four years. Then, you have about 20-25 percent that are retired military. This community welcomes the army and they like living here. So, we have a ready and willing workforce with a good work ethic. Maybe we can’t offer dollars that some people can as an incentive; the City has so much debt, I don’t have available funds. What we can offer is employees.” Other advantages include Junction City’s location, in the middle of the United States, with easy access to air, rail, and road transportation options. And, there is land and available properties in Fort Riley Law Enforcement Memorial Civil War Memorial Arch