While it is not set in stone just yet, local economic development and the agencies that have historically overseen it in the past could be changing dramatically by the end of 2026.
Wednesday, representatives of the City of Emporia, Lyon County, Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas, Emporia Enterprises, Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and Emporia Main Street met with local media Wednesday to lay out plans for what could be known as the Flint Hills Economic Alliance. The alliance aims to consolidate all local economic development entities under a single umbrella, with its makeup resembling the Vision First Study conducted almost two years ago, which included the recommendation to do away with Emporia Enterprises due to its perceived duplication of RDA services.
According to RDA Chairman Brad Kraft, the alliance builds off the study’s recommendations while better tailoring itself to the immediate needs of Emporia.
Lisa Kirmer, chair of the Emporia Chamber of Commerce board, says discussions on the alliance have been in the works since June of 2025, noting collaboration has been the top priority. Although the alliance has just now been made public, Kirmer says residents have already seen flashes of its influence, pointing directly to recent joint ribbon-cutting ceremonies between the Chamber and Emporia Main Street over the past year.
As for the makeup of the organization, the current structure would have operations overseen by a “founding board” and a President and CEO. While a national search is set to launch to find said CEO, the board will consist of the following individuals:
Trey Cocking and Tayler Wash – City of Emporia
Dan Williams and Molly Priest – Lyon County
Lisa Kirmer and Amanda Cunningham – Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce
Caron Daugherty and Eric Porter – Emporia Main Street
Kim Parks and Brad Yount – Emporia Enterprises
Brad Kraft and Jeff Williams – Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas.
Two Emporia City Commissioners and one Lyon County Commissioner to be determined at a later time
Brad Yount of Emporia Enterprises says one of the biggest benefits of bringing each of these entities under a single roof is that it creates a “one-stop shop” for business recruitment, retention and expansion.
As for the existing boards of the aforementioned agencies, those will essentially be dissolved; however, at least one of those boards is a necessity, specifically the Emporia Main Street Board of Directors, as required by Main Street’s accreditation, according to board chair Caron Daugherty. With the dissolution of the boards in their current format, Daugherty says oversight of Main Street can fall to the Founding Board; however, those discussions are still ongoing.
KVOE News asked representatives of the alliance what would happen to each of the entities being consolidated, to which City Manager Cocking stated they will continue to operate “as normal,” however, their names and titles may change. This then led KVOE News to ask what will happen to current employees, to which Cocking says that much like the agencies themselves, individual titles may change, but positions will remain the same or improve.
Following a presentation on the alliance to city and county leadership as part of their joint meeting Wednesday afternoon, KVOE News spoke with Emporia Mayor Becky Smith and Lyon County Commissioner Doug Peck, who has served as the county’s representative on the RDA for many years now, to gauge their respective boards’ collective thoughts on the potential alliance. Smith, she appreciates the work and plans for the alliance and believes it can be a great benefit to the community.
That said, there were a few areas where she would like to see more attention paid to in the coming weeks, namely, direct communication between the alliance and residents, noting there did not appear to be one singular point of contact for those who may have questions.
Peck says he believes the new alliance will be a “step in the right direction” both for businesses and residents alike.
It is important to note that the alliance’s formation is not a done deal as of yet; in fact, representatives told KVOE News Wednesday that the plan is roughly 80 percent complete at this time. When asked if the alliance’s formation would require a public vote by each agency’s governing board, representatives did not have a definitive answer, saying only that there are some logistics – transfers of land and property, as an example – that will have to take place before the alliance’s formation.
Representatives also stated that the majority of conversations with the respective boards have been largely positive.
The process and formation of the alliance is subject to change in the coming months; however, current plans are to have a CEO hired by the second quarter of this year with Kraft saying the search for an RDA president will essentially shift into the CEO search.
Given that the search for an RDA President has been ongoing for two years, KVOE News asked both Peck and Smith if that was a feasible plan. Smith says she believes much of the holdup of the RDA had to do with issues that the alliance is seeking to address.
Peck agreed with Smith and reiterated his opinion that they are moving in the right direction, but there is still work to be done before everything is set to go.
Smith also felt it pertinent to note that this is not one agency or more being absorbed into another, this is a collaborative effort that will see all entities coming to the same table on equal footing.
Unification of entities is expected to occur by quarter three of this year, with the alliance, hopefully, being fully operational by quarter four. As for where the alliance will be housed, current discussions point towards continued use of the Trusler Business Center and the current Main Street offices.
KVOE News will continue to have updates on the plan and processes surrounding it as they become available in the coming weeks.
Noon Wednesday:
There is a new model — and a new name — for local economic development.
For years, the city has been relying on the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce, Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas and Visit Emporia — all with offices inside the Trusler Business Center — as well as Emporia Enterprises and Emporia Main Street for different and occasionally overlapping economic development matters. Now the effort will be referred to as Flint Hills Economic Alliance.
The model appears to be similar to one recommended by Vision First during an economic development study conducted nearly two years ago. At that time, Vision First suggested a group effort with the RDA as the lead agency. The Vision First recommendation also called for the end of Emporia Enterprises, saying its mission duplicates the RDA, but the city is clearly not moving forward with that suggestion at this time.
RDA Board Chair Brad Kraft says the Economic Alliance model is tailored to what Emporia needs.
With the framework now in place, immediate next steps include securing transition funds from city economic development funds, as well as beginning a national search for a chief executive officer and an asset, program and management memorandum of understanding. Hires of a CEO and vice president for strategic growth and investments are goals for second quarter 2026, as well as developing funding contracts with the city and Lyon County. The RDA has been looking for a CEO for two years. Kraft says that process is folding into the new CEO search for the Economic Alliance.
“Unifying” existing efforts is a third-quarter goal, as well as creating a combined membership program including dues. The overall goal is to have the Economic Alliance fully functional before the end of this year.
