The Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas Board of Directors grew Friday morning.
During a members’ meeting Friday inside of the Trusler Business Center, RDA member organizations — The City of Emporia, Lyon County, Emporia Enterprises and the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce — voted unanimously to approve a change in RDA bylaws adding Emporia State University, Flint Hills Technical College and Emporia Main Street as voting directors to the RDA Board bringing the board’s membership to nine rather than seven.
Friday’s vote does not mean ESU, FHTC and Main Street become member organizations of the RDA, they simply will have a single voting representative on the board of directors after many years of each serving as ex-officio (non-voting) representatives.
Main Street Director Casey Woods says the changes come at a good time when a larger focus is being placed on support for small to medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs.
Woods says the voting power now with Main Street will help to amplify the voices of small business owners in the community.
FHTC President Dr. Caron Daugherty tells KVOE News that the RDA’s action on Friday will better highlight the college’s importance to the local community and external partners.
ESU Director of Development Shane Shively says it is important for ESU and FHTC to be at the table, saying it formalizes collaboration within the community.
Shively also called Friday’s decision a “proactive and positive signal for Emporia.”
The city and county will maintain two voting members each on the board, as opposed to three as proposed with the 11 member structure considered earlier. City Commissioner Jamie Sauder stated during Friday’s meeting that he supported the changes, although he was not completely satisfied with them, reiterating that he would have preferred the 11-member structure.
That said, Sauder noted he was happy the changes were happening, however, he wishes it could have happened sooner.
Lyon County Commissioner Doug Peck says he believes adding the now former ex-officio members to the board will give their voices more impact moving forward.
Keeping their single votes on the board will be Emporia Enterprises and the Chamber of Commerce. The chamber is the organization that submitted the nine-member structure as an alternative to the 11-member proposal, with Chamber President and CEO Jeanine McKenna stating she and her board felt it was a fair and comfortable compromise.
McKenna stated to KVOE News Friday that she is pleased the proposal was passed, saying she believes it will add more “equality” to the board.
Each of the new board representatives will begin their terms on June 1. As part of Friday’s discussion, members also approved an amendment to board terms to ensure all voting directors are on the same term cycle. The approved change will see the ESU and FHTC representatives serve the next seven months, at which time their appointments will expire, along with county representative Bruce Boettcher, at which time the higher learning representatives will be eligible for reappointment to a new three-year term.
The Emporia Main Street Representative will serve through 2027. Main Street’s presence on the board will replace the RDA’s at-large position once the term of at-large appointee Justin Mallon concludes in 2027. This means there will be 10 voting directors on the board until the expiration of Mallon’s term or if he steps down beforehand.
With the board discussion now put to rest, the RDA can move forward with hiring a new president, a process that’s been underway for roughly 18 months and has been on hold for the past five due to the board discussion taking center stage. Speaking of which, following the members’ meeting, the RDA Board convened its regular monthly meeting, where members approved reconvening the president search committee.
In the opinion of Commissioner Peck, this development may be the biggest benefit of Friday’s bylaw changes, not just for the RDA but the entire community.
RDA Board Chair Jeff Williams says Friday was a “good day for Emporia.”
In a separate, yet related action, Friday, board members approved a draft of the 2026 budget for submission to the City of Emporia, which, as KVOE News has reported in recent months, traditionally provides 100 percent of the organization’s funding. That said, Williams noted that during Friday’s discussions, the possibility of additional funding from other entities was broached and so a draft will be sent out to others as well.
The approved budget included additional dollars for legal advice related to the bylaw discussions, the potential addition of more staff and the RDA president’s salary.
A date for when the committee will next convene has not been announced, however, the RDA Board of Directors will reconvene for its monthly meeting on Friday, June 13, at 7:30 am inside the Trusler Business Center.
