The Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas has approved another letter of support, this time on a regional scale, in hopes of bringing a new Natrium reactor to the area.
The RDA Board approved the letter as part of its regular monthly meeting Friday morning. The letter was proposed by Emporia Main Street Director Casey Woods, who, according to an update from Interim RDA President Lyle Butler, recently met with several economic development directors from surrounding counties on the matter.
The consensus from those conversations is that the local region needs to have a united front on the matter, as no matter where the project is located, so long as it is within the local region, all surrounding counties and communities would benefit. In an interview with KVOE News Friday, RDA Board Chair Jeff Williams stated there is already a great example of this, Wolf Creek.
Williams also stated there has been a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes in recent months to bring the reactor project to the local community and he says his confidence level is very high that the local area could receive the project. That said, he noted that when it comes to economic development, nothing is ever certain.
This action follows the board’s approval of a letter of support for bringing the new Natrium Reactor to Lyon County last month as TerraPower and Evergy continue looking for the new technology’s future home. Thus far, there has been no indication of where that home may be; however, current expectations are for a short list of potential sites to be announced sometime early in the new year.
The board’s action came after an hour of executive sessions, where, among the topics was, once again, discussion on the search for the RDA’s next permanent president. Once again, no decisions or updates on that front were made Friday, according to Williams, who says he knows they are far past the time in which he had thought they’d have a candidate selected, having stated previously they were aiming for October, but he says the right candidate has yet to emerge.
The RDA Board of Directors is next scheduled to meet on Friday, December 12th at 7 am inside the Trusler Business Center.
