When asked his feelings on what impact the recently announced Michelin layoffs, coupled with the closure of Hopkins Manufacturing, may have on the development of the Flint Hills Economic Alliance, City Manager Trey Cocking stated: “It’s time.”
Cocking went one step further after that statement, putting a ticking clock of sorts on the entity, saying that within the next three weeks, the decision needs to be made to either punt or pass on the initiative.
FHEA (FEE-uh) was unveiled to the public back in February after months of behind-the-scenes discussions between the community’s various economic development entities. The plan, as it was first introduced, is to bring all of those entities under a single umbrella with a “founding board” and a CEO/President in charge of overseeing the operations of the agency.
Tuesday, during the monthly Q&A with Trey on KVOE, Cocking stated that in the months since the agency concept was unveiled, there have been a lot of discussions with stakeholders and a FHEA 2.0 has been developed. Cocking says the new version “captures a lot of the feedback” offered by stakeholders involved, namely the city, county, Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce, Emporia Main Street, Visit Emporia and the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas, who will all have the ultimate say on whether or not the framework moves forward.
With that in mind, Cocking says there will need to be a consensus on exactly how the agency moves forward, namely when it comes to addressing lingering questions surrounding the makeup, operations, and local impacts of the umbrella framework.
As KVOE News has reported since February, the search for a permanent RDA President, which has now been ongoing for the last two years, has reportedly been shifted to find a CEO/President for FHEA; however, there has been no update on potential candidates or when the agency hopes to have a candidate selected.
