The Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas met Friday with a pair of agenda items dominating the conversation.
Among them was a request from Flint Hills Technical College for funding. Earlier this year, President Dean Hollenbeck approached the Emporia City and Lyon County Commissions about the potential need for financial assistance to support new technology and equipment. RDA President Kent Heermann says the reason is due to some of the cutbacks colleges are experiencing in state funding.
FHTC is requesting $50,000 each from the city and county and those funding requests could be considered by both entities in the near future during an action meeting.
Heermann says the RDA board was also presented with figures from Wichita State University’s Kansas Micropolitan Area Economic Conditions Index. Heermann says Emporia ranked well versus other like-size cities.
The Emporia area had one of the strongest first quarters of 2018 with a 106.7 index. That was a 2.1 percent quarterly increase and 2 percent better than the year before.
