STAR bonds: Grow Hays director discusses concept and implementation

On this episode of the Post Podcast Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares STAR bonds and potential uses in Ellis County.

Schmidt Foundation donates $500,000 to Grow Hays Microfactory

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares information about recent donations to the Microfactory project and their importance to the area.

Grow Hays director discusses the city of Hays’ Braun property plan

On this episode of the Post Podcast Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams discusses the City of Hays Braun property plan. 

Grow Hays director discusses grant funding

On this episode of the Post Podcast Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares information about grant funding.

Latest Grow Hays project to bring additional housing; new community center to Hays

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares information about The Grove.

Grow Hays exec. director discusses recently released building permit data

On this episode of the Post Podcast Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams discusses recently released building permit data from Hays in 2022.

Grow Hays director discusses tax increases in Ellis Co.

On this episode of the Post Podcast Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares information about raising property tax rates in Ellis County.

Grow Hays’ Williams looks ahead to 2023

On this episode of the Post Podcast Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares updates on what 2023 will bring to Ellis County.

As 2022 draws to a close Grow Hays director reflects on projects

On this episode of the Post Podcast Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams recaps Ellis County development projects in 2022.

Grow Hays’ latest RHID presented to USD 489 Board of Education

On this episode of the Post Podcast Grow Hays, Executive Director Doug Williams shares information about an RHID planned for downtown Hays.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
 
James Bell 
Grow Hays, Executive Director Doug Williams recently presented before the Hays Board of Education about and RHID planned for downtown Hays, he stops by to share some of the details on that and more on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Michael Graham rentals, proposing or is going to put in a apartment complex that fourth and fourth right behind the old Washington School location 33 or 36 units and he had applied to the city for a row housing incentive district incentive. And on July 28, the City Commission approved that and then it goes to a veto period for 30 days for the school district or the county can veto that act and stop that from happening. And so we're on the homestretch of that veto period and should be finalized like next week, and then he'll be free to start construction down there to get some much needed housing going in. Hayes. Very good.
 
James Bell 
I like to hear that. Do you expect any of these? Well, first, maybe we want to talk about this? Why do you have to go to the school board and the county for that? Why can't he just take care. But well, the way
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
incentives work and the myths, I think a lot of people don't understand exactly how it works, a lot of a lot of people have the impression that it takes away the part of their tax dollars go to pay for these quote unquote, incentives. And that's really not the case, what it what it does, it allows the developer to recover some of his development costs, through the property taxes, he pays going into the future. So each year, the owner of these properties will pay property tax just like everybody else, but a portion of that will be routed back to them to pay for some of the street improvements, the underground, you know, sewer, water, electric, some of those kinds of things, that they can recover some of their costs on that through a portion of those tax dollars. The reason the city, the county and the school district participate in this process is because they're all affected by it. If if this incentive was not granted, they would get a portion of those property taxes that he would pay on an ongoing basis. So they have to say, Okay, we believe that the benefit of the additional housing is better for the community, then the property taxes we might receive on this project, not to mention the fact that without those type of incentives, the project probably wouldn't be done. So there's the trade off and kind of the bet that most governments make is that we are betting that we're going to this is going to happen, and in the long run, we're going to get our property taxes from it. And it's going to add much needed housing. And we're willing to give up a little bit along the way to make that happen.
 
James Bell 
Yeah. Do you expect any of those boards to take issue? I know you I'd say you've been in front of the school board already? Do you? Do you see any? Anybody saying no, I
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
think I think they understand the need, I think they understand that the impact of them is really doesn't exist, it's not going to hurt their current budget. In the long run, they're going to get additional tax dollars from this asset that is developed in the community. So I don't anticipate any issue from from either of those organizations.
 
James Bell 
Yet, really, I don't know. You know, as you talk about these, it sounds like it's a win win win. Everybody takes out of this deal. It's just delaying a little bit of tax revenue. I don't know why. Because it is sometimes contentious, when you set up an Rh ID or a program like this, people have that misconception that somehow they're paying extra taxes for it. Right?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
They do. And I think it is a win win. But you know, there are rules and regulations that have to be met their statutory UL requirements to get one of these, one of them being a housing study, in the case of an Rh ID, you have to have a housing study that shows you have a need for housing. Because not only is the you know, the local taxing entities are not receiving some dollars, but some of the state dollars are not generated. Some of your property tax that goes to the state is not generated in some cases. And so they have some requirements where you have to show a need, the Secretary of Department of Commerce has to sign off on these things. And then they you know, the local taxing organizations have to look it has to meet some criteria for them to so it's not like they're given willy nilly to just anybody that applies. They do have to meet some requirements. And in the long run, it is good. But there obviously are are those who don't feel any incentives or an order that nobody should ever get any incentives because maybe well, I didn't get any. But the case may be there's you didn't ask for any now they're available to anybody that wants to apply for him. Anybody that's willing to go out and do and invest, I believe the projected number that was put on the application for this apartment complex was three and a half to $4 million. Anybody that wants to go out and do that is more than welcome to apply for these incentives. And, and I'm sure that they would be looked upon favorably by the governing bodies.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, it's really all about just developing what we need. Because we've talked time and time again, there is a massive need for housing here in Ellis County, and, and far beyond. But definitely here, notice County,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
we certainly have a large need in Ellis County. Sometimes these are the things you know, development costs are extremely high. And in order to make it work financially, for somebody willing to put up that amount of money, and they've got to get some incentives anywhere they can.
 
James Bell 
You know, on the flip side of this something else we've talked about, it's been in the news pretty recently, the microfactory project, I hear you have some, some updates there as well,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
we are moving along, although you don't see it on the surface. But plans have been finalized. Architects are working with all the various entities that they have to work with mechanical engineers, structural engineers, civil engineers, all of the things that are going on to get that going. We're anticipating a groundbreaking sometime in October. And so we're excited about that with completion sometime by end of year 2023. And so we're eager to get going on the construction we're talking with, we've talked to half a dozen potential tenants in the building that may have an interest. And that's great, because we definitely want to use it as the incubator, it's supposed to be for manufacturers. And so we're making headway, it just never happens as fast as you would like. And we also are going to be in front of the City Commission asking for some industrial revenue bonds to help with that project that allows the developer which in this case, is gro Hayes to avoid the sales tax on the materials that are purchased to construct the facility, and then potentially a property tax abatement for a period of time to try and help us get on our feet with that project, get some tenants in place, and get it operating at a financial break even point, which is what our goal is also, the project, as you may recall, it's about a three and a half to $4 million project, the base grant from the state of Kansas was 2.6 million. So we're 900,000 to a million dollars short, we did get a nice donation of the land from Heart of America, but we still got a deficit that we're going to have to either raise some funds, or we're going to have to borrow that money. And obviously, it's important that we have some means to pay that back over the life of the building. And so we can get it going. So you'll anybody who watches the activities of the City Commission and and that kind of thing will see that application coming forward pretty quickly.
 
James Bell 
For a building like that is there a lot of extra considerations you have to take to get that facility up and running, I'm just imagining all of the industrial efforts that are going to be going on in there probably require a little bit different layout and structure than a traditional commercial building
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
about a zillion when you're talking about a structure like that, that's going to be focused on manufacturers, all kinds of other considerations come into play things like getting product in and out of the building, you know, raw materials in and then finished goods out? Where are you going to store them on site? How thick does a concrete floor need to be? Because how heavy is the equipment that's going to be in there? How tall do the ceilings need to be? What type of electrical capacity do you need? Are there any specific heating and cooling and air handling situations that go on, it just goes on and on. And it's been I've been around the residential construction, pretty much all my adult life, but not a whole lot of commercial, but particularly industrial construction. And it has been an eye opener for me just a lot of things that I never would have thought that you had to consider and people that you would have to involve. And that's one of the reasons why it's expensive. You have to do things a lot differently. You have a lot more engineering expertise that you have to bring into the into the mix. And so it's complicated.
 
James Bell 
You know, you mentioned you were talking to some organizations that might be interested in moving in there. I wonder, you know, is that is out quickly, is it going to be ready once the the facility is up and running? Are you going to be able to move those guys in immediately or is it going to be a little bit of a waiting period as you set up for those individuals?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Not really sure but our goal is To have these people pounding on the door wanting to get in and operating, when by the time it's finished, that's one of the luxuries we have, you know, we've got basically a year to year and a half here to find tenants find tenants that have similar type operations, one of the ongoing challenges will be one manufacturer is a kind of a dirty process generates a lot of hazardous smoke or whatever in their process next door to and I'll use an extreme example here, I don't anticipate this, but somebody who's doing microchips, you know, you you can't cohabitate with somebody having a dirty process with somebody doing a very clean process. So we think that, that our challenge is not going to be to find tenants, because I think we're going to have lots of people interested, it's going to be matching up those tenants in a compatible way that don't cause each other problems.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, I'm curious, you know, can you kind of alleviate those concerns with construction, or is that something that's just gonna have to be like, oh, you know, what, you have to pass on some organizations, maybe,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
depending on the organization and the kind of the opportunity that they pose, we may be able to deal with some of it through construction, you know, separation walls, or something like that. I think you and I have talked before, my original thought was, there would be these individual spaces with walls all the way and this would be your space, and this would be your space. But in talking with the experts in manufacturing, there are no walls planned to be inside that building, it will be open, you will have your space, you will do your thing here. But the guy next to you, you know, I don't know if it's a Wk RP in Cincinnati piece of yellow tape on the floor that you don't cross this space. And but there will be designated space for each operation. And they will, they will operate that space. And so things like air handling and the type of processes they're going through become critical to make sure those are compatible.
 
James Bell 
Okay. You know, we've got just a couple minutes left, you've got some events coming up at gro Hayes I think we want to talk about right,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
we do we have our think like an entrepreneur class, which starts on September 14, that's an eight week course it will be taught by Chris Munch. And always a good course, always a lot of fun, and always very worthwhile to anybody. You've been a past participant and and anybody who has an interest in owning and operate their own business, I would highly recommend it, I think we've got an early bird special for 100 bucks prior to September 1, to sign up. And after that, it's like 150 bucks, we feed you eight meals, you know, we feed you every time. So for the price of entry is just really cheaper than what you could eat for for that. And all the content is basically free if you look at it that way. And it's really good. And then we have our quarterly luncheon coming up on September 7, at Breece base where we're going to be calling Belzer, the assistant city manager and myself, we're going to be talking about the housing study that was conducted by the city of Hayes and came out in June. So a couple things going on in the near future.
 
James Bell 
Very cool, very exciting stuff. And if you want to find out more about those events, we'll get signed up for that class and information available on your website,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
website, Facebook page, call us, whatever you want to do, because we're we got a lot of ways to get that information. And we'd love to see a lot of people in the class and obviously a lot of people in the in the quarterly lunch and I think we've got 40 signed up already for that we got a capacity of about 45 So if you if you have an interest in coming call us to reserve a spot
 
James Bell 
very good. You will also have the Zoom meeting link available right
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
put the zoom out there on our website and on Facebook. So if if somebody can't make it down, you can certainly join us on Zoom and and ask questions on Zoom. So join us that way if you can't be there in person

Hays housing report to be released soon, discussed at Grow Hays Quarterly Luncheon

On this episode of the Post Podcast Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares information about a Hays housing report.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
James Bell 
A housing study completed earlier this summer in Hays is about to be released and an upcoming Grow Hays quarterly luncheon will share some of those results. Executive Director Doug Williams stops by to give us a preview on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
We're gonna have our quarterly luncheon it's gonna the topic is going to be this housing study will be on September 6, September the sixth the day after Labor Day.
 
James Bell 
Okay, very good. A lot of interesting stuff in here. And I don't think we're gonna get to even a fraction of it. But maybe I think maybe a good way to start is what's uh, what's the overview? Is it good news, bad news. So how we look at?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, I think it tells us what we already know that we have housing shortage in Ellis County or in Hayes. This is specific to Hayes, but it extends beyond Hayes and Ellis County. And it just kind of verifies that it talks about how we compare to other communities. We're certainly not alone with the our housing woes in Ellis County. But it also tells us why we have housing prices like they are which are higher than they maybe should be. But also, more importantly, looking forward, it tells us that what i The biggest thing I glean out of it is it tells us what we need to be building per year, at certain growth levels in our community. And the fact that we have put ourselves in a deficit of the number of housing units that we have, and how many we need to build on an ongoing basis.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, that was one of the things that I was under is trying to find it in here. Because it's you know, it's a 50 page document. But I was trying to find the numbers, that it really it did seem like if we don't get on it now, and I know a lot of people are working on this, but we're going to be it's going to be a growing problem. If you don't take action now, which we've talked about over and over and over again in the segment, the actions come and it's just slower than we want,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
why it's slower than it than we can afford it to be, is the problem at 1% growth. The city of Hays needs 88 new units per year. We haven't built 88 units in a year, we got close, I believe in back in 2013. Since then, we've been in the 25 to 40 range per year, which has created this deficit that we have, which I talk about from time to time, you know, we've got a three to 400 unit deficit in this community in terms of housing units, and that's single family residences, apartments and that kind of thing. And I have people all the time to me, Doug, you're crazy, there's no way that we're three to 400 units short, but the reality is we are. And what's that's resulted in is missed opportunity. We've had people that maybe wanted to move to this community or would move to this community, but haven't because we don't have sufficient housing. And then we have people living in substandard housing, that they really shouldn't be living in. And if they had alternatives, they would choose not to live in that housing. So you couple those two things together the missed opportunity, as well as the people living where they maybe shouldn't, as well as housing be more expensive than it should be. All of that is a function of supply and demand. And we don't have enough supply. And we have the demand for it. So we put ourselves in a tough spot. And we've chosen the worst time in the history of construction to try and work our way out of this problem. So it's a challenge, but we just have to figure out how to overcome it.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, you know, one of the conversations I hear pretty regularly and this taken us out of the survey a little bit, but over and Victoria, about the right size, they've had a lot of seniors in big houses for five bedroom houses that would love to be in a smaller setting. But they don't have anywhere to go and they don't want to leave Victoria. So they're stuck in these houses. And then the families don't have the opportunity to move in and no constructions really going on in a large scale anywhere over there.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Right that that real problem in smaller communities. And appropriate housing is another thing that this this housing study tells us that retiree friendly housing, more affordable housing on the lower end, both are in strong demand. And we've got to figure out ways to meet that. Now fortunately, the one opportunity exists the state of Kansas has come out with some programs that are focused on communities 8000 And under, where they have some grants and that type of thing. And we're going to we're working on trying to figure out how we take advantage of those. But the other challenge is is builders and subcontractors that can can meet the demand. We these guys are as busy as they can be. They're They're backed up for months. And so the thought process of going in and starting new construction, when a framer may not be available or the electricians are backed up and that kind of thing. Make it a challenging building environment as well, whether it's in Hayes or Ellis or Victoria, or wherever, but we just we just got to figure out a way. You know,
 
James Bell 
one of the other things that I thought was interesting in this is the the financial bet. And I mean that by household income to housing. And I wonder if you can speak to that a little bit? Or are we out of whack in that department as well? Or are we okay, here, no one's counting for that.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Now, we're housing is too expensive here relative to median family income. And so that's a problem. We don't have enough housing that is priced appropriately for the level of income that we have, and in many cases, so that's a struggle, that's also a function of supply and demand. You know, you can go back to that. And, you know, you I, I chuckled, when I sometimes read in social media that, you know, the realtors have driven the price up on houses, that's the most ridiculous thing you could ever think because they don't, they don't set the
 
James Bell 
price to say yeah, like, well, they don't have any control over that, really, it's what people are going to pay. It's
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
the marketplace and supply and demand. And while we would like to think that that's not the case, it is. And until we add more supply to the market, this demand is going to drive prices up. Now, we've had another outside factor that's affecting our market as well. And that's interest rates have risen considerably over the last six months to a year. And that's making affordability more difficult as well, making new construction more difficult. And so just one more thing we have to deal with and try and overcome.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, you know, you mentioned the interest rates. And that is something else I wanted to get into today, we heard a little bit on the news this morning. And our news breaks, there was a study come out or story by the New York Times, and they were highlighting the drop in the sales because of the interest rate. And it looks like I've got the number here. 5.9%. Last month, home sales dropped. And that's a national number. But I wonder how much of that is actually impacting local sales and real estate.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
What is and talking to local realtors, you know, last February, I think we had as low as maybe 10 homes on the market. Now it's more in the 40 to 50 range, I think. So that's a function of interest rates, certain people get priced out of the market, the challenge is they have to live someplace. And so they're just priced out of maybe buying a home. But that puts additional pressure on the rental market. And we have not added many new units to the rental market. We do have a project there St. Joseph school, you know, that's going on. And Michael Graham is putting in 36 units down behind the old Washington School, those will be rental units added to the market, we have a duplex here, a duplex there that are being added. And so that helps somewhat, but we haven't had anybody build a complex in our community for a long, long time, like what Michael Graham is doing, or even, we are talking to a couple of developers outside the community that are considering larger complexes, 80 to 200 units, which would be great. But they face the same challenges, they've got to find people to build them. And then they have to be able to build them at a price point where they can make it work. And unfortunately, that with construction costs where they are, that's difficult to do too. So there are no magic bullets. And there's no silver bullets in this situation. It's a challenge.
 
James Bell 
You know, I'm curious, why don't we have more of those in Hayes hour and Ellis County, I would think, you know, I can think of two or three of those larger apartment units. But how can we have just built those over the years, like you see in some other especially I think college towns,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
I think it's a function of the willingness for local developers, local builders to take on that level of a project, you know, a couple 100 units, you're talking, it's costing 150,000 plus per unit to build right now, some big muscle, if you're gonna build 100 units, that's $15 million, you're gonna build 200 units, that's $30 million at $150 per doors, that is the terminology they use in the industry. And there just aren't many local developers investors willing to take on that level of, of risk and that level of a project. And outside investors typically are leery of communities our size, we think we're larger community, college town, that kind of thing. But they're looking at Wichita, Kansas City and that type, you know, Lawrence, Manhattan, even for those type of projects, we have a hard time attracting outside investment. And so that combination makes it the fact that we just don't see many of them in our community. We don't see any of them in the last long period of time.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, so I you know, I'm curious, we get it. We talked about the problems. Wait, how do we how do we move forward? How do we use the data that's in this the survey to push us into where we need to be?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, we have to have an organization, you know, part of our responsibility that I view is is driving Housing, Construction, driving things and understanding the programs that exist that the city, the county, the school district can offer like RH IDs, and some of these moderate income housing grant programs, and utilizing those tools, towards the construction of property and finding land, and property owners that are willing to sell at a price that will make these things feasible. We're working on as I said, we've got probably three or four different projects, I guess, I wouldn't even call them projects, I call them concepts, that at various locations around the community that that really, we would like to make happen. We're working with potential developers. But you know, of those three or four we're working on, if we get one to happen, it would be a great because they're challenging, they're, they're expensive, and they're hard to make work financially. Also working with not for profits, like heart of America and what they did at Easter, the technical college, that's that's a win win the the ultimate winner in that scenario are the people that are living out there, the homeowner, and we need to utilize not for profits, if we can for maybe apartment construction, where the ultimate winner is the tenant? You know, that's the type of construction we need to focus on. And we are it's just, it's just complicated.
 
James Bell 
Sure. You know, we talked a little bit about the nonprofit's before we want to honor on air as well helping out with them. I wonder if you want to share the What's that? What's the role in those organizations? Like we've talked about a heart of America with your 22nd, Wheatland development, you know, how much are they going to be able to drive this in the coming years,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
they need to be a part of it, they can't be the total solution, but they need to be part of it. You know, those organizations that are dedicated to community good, and are not necessarily profit motivated? You know, I look at, we've got an opportunity here, we've got outside investors who come in, and they're pretty much their motivation is profit. They want to make money, I get that that's, that's great. Well, I wouldn't be in business for long if you didn't, right. But the profits they do make, where do they go, they leave the community, the long term profits that they make, when they sell or whatever, they leave the community. And then you've got local investors, who they're, they're out this, they're in this to make a profit as well, again, that's good. And the good news there is the the operating profits and the long term profits that they make, they stay in the community, they buy cars, they buy furniture, they spend their money locally, that's great. And then you got the not for profits, who are not in this to make money, they're in this for community good. And if we can figure out ways to assist them with some of these programs, and if they're willing to take on some risk and projects, that can be a part of the solution as well. And we're absolutely working with those organizations like Heart of America, and trying to make some of these things happen.
 
James Bell 
When I think it would be true as well, that those local developers, those local nonprofits, they're going to have a lot more interest in hiring local contractors, people locally, they can actually make the project come off the ground.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Sure. I mean, they're focused on the community, they're focused on community good, and, and that's great for the community, they can't be that they can't be the only solution. They just need to be part of it. And so that's what we're trying to do.
 
James Bell 
You know, how much of this also is, is just finding that help finding those people to do that
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
work? Well, that's a big part of it right? Now. We hope we work our way out of that. And, you know,
 
James Bell 
we build the houses, then we get more workers, then we can build the houses,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
right? I mean, it's one of those kinds of deals, but we're gonna fight that for a few years here. I think I don't think there's any quick fixes to that. You know, everybody always says, we'll just get somebody come out of town to do that, you know, framing company from out of town. It's not that simple, because they're all busy where they're at, too. And there's, there's there's a lot of demand. But bit by bit, I think we can work ourselves out of this situation. We can add units to the marketplace. But it has to be a proactive thing. We do we did. It clearly has not happened on its own, just with the marketplace supplying this. We've got to be more forthright in our efforts to make this happen. Because just waiting for the market to correct itself has not worked yet. So we've got to we've got to force some things to happen.
 
James Bell 
Okay. Well, Dave, we've got just about a minute left. Before we got to get over the news. But you can hear more about this at the quarterly luncheon. I wonder if you want to share with everybody like what do they need to do if they want to get involved and hear more about this at that event? Well, we're
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
going to post this study on our website at grow hayes.com For one thing, so they can go out there and read it and we'll put it out on our Facebook page. And then the quarterly luncheons, they're open to the public, we just ask that you call our office and And RSVP. So we know how many people to get food for. We can handle about 40 to 45 people. So once we fill up, we do fill up, but we ask that you do RSVP, you know, call our office to reserve a spot and, and we'd love to have a good cross section call and Belzer assistant city manager is going to be doing part of the presentation. I'm going to pitch in on some of the things that we're doing. So it should be pretty interesting, and we'd love to get feedback from it.
 
James Bell 
Do you still do the online portion of that as well?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
We will we will do a zoom deal that we'll put out there and our website and Facebook page if some people want to attend the Zoom

Grow Hays plans third Think Like an Entrepreneur series

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares details about the upcoming Think Like an Entrepreneur series.

Area economic updates from Grow Hays

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares area economic updates.
 
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
 
 
doug071522
Fri, 7/15 4:54PM • 13:54
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
businesses, community, recruitment, situation, haze, ellis county, people, building, housing, recruit, downtown, square foot, couple, challenges, find, dealt, pretty, cost, workforce, area
SPEAKERS
James Bell, Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams
 
James Bell 
Business Development and recruitment is an ongoing process in Ellis County. From Grow Hays, Executive Director Doug Williams shares with us some of the latest developments here in the area, on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
We're at kind of in the dog days of summer here where everybody's just trying to figure out how to stay cool. We continue to work on different things and have different projects going whether it be our, our microfactory, or housing development, or our you know, our retail recruitment efforts.
 
James Bell 
Yet, I want to talk about that. Because one of the big things that's happened I think down to your organization this year, as you've brought extra staff in, you've got a couple of people now working for you that that's kind of their whole thing is is bringing in or analyzing and trying to recruit some of these businesses that hazing the the greater Ellis County region neat.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
It is we brought on two people this year, David Klingon came on in January. And his his focus is business recruitment, as well as retaining the businesses we have. And in James Robin joined us in June. And he's focused on business development, which is primarily entrepreneurship, starting up new businesses, as well as special projects, because we've got a couple of, you know, the microfactory, and housing developments and things that we're, we're working on, and we were stretched pretty thin. So we've got more resource now. And it's been really, it's been really good, we've, we've got a lot of things going. I wish I could point my finger at a couple of things say they're all done. But there are a lot of things in the works. So now we've got adequate resource to dedicate towards getting some things like that done.
 
James Bell 
Love it. And as I say we've we've seen some businesses come into a haze in Ellis County into the last or in the last six months or so. And you know, that development seems to continue. One of the things we were chit chatting about before we got on was the need for space, though, which I thought was really interesting, because you brought up a good point, when you really come down to it, there's not a lot of available properties for a large big box retailer to come in.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, there really isn't, you know, and one of the things that large big box retailers look for particularly in small markets as they look for a second or third generation facility. Because the cost of constructing a new facility is just way too much in a community like ours. land prices on North vine are are quite high. And construction cost. Obviously we all know how high those are. And so the ability to come in build a new location and start up from scratch is a much different financial equation than it is to find a 20 3040 year old building and occupy it considerably different. My daughter in law who was from Pittsburgh, Kansas, she sent me a text last night and she said that Pittsburgh, Kansas is getting the marshals and then we'd love to have marshals in Hays. But they're going in at old goodies store, which is 2030 years old.
 
James Bell 
And for those maybe younger folks goodies sold music, I think right? I think that's right. Yeah, I barely remember they kind
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
of like Hastings was here. Yeah. You know, an entertainment type store selling, renting out DVDs and selling what used to be the music the way we used to buy CDs or veers oldest may vinyl, or eight tracks, but they when they're going in that location and and just to give an example of the difference in what the rental situation might be those those buildings rent by the square foot, typically on an annual basis. So if you've got, let's just say 10,000 square feet, and it rents for $4 a square foot that's 40 $40,000 a year. Well, a new a new build would cost $20 A square foot or $200,000 a year. So it's considerably different. And so in some ways, we're we're victims of our own success and the fact that we don't have many empty buildings. And as a consequence it it's a different game we have to play to recruit people into the community.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, absolutely. I know. This was one of the things that we talked about with the downtown Howie's Development Corporation. As they were working to kind of rebuild downtown and get more businesses that they had the same problem, they're virtually full.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
They are it's it's almost impossible to find a spot downtown. I know. We had a lady in the office here a few weeks ago that's going to be open in another business downtown. And it was not easy for her to find a spot. I mean, she had to look and and there's only one or two spots and one of them I think has some major structural issues that have to be dealt with. So that kind of takes that
 
James Bell 
out of you.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
That's that's no fun when you hover the mouse and dealing with that. So until those are dealt with that that location is not going to work. So space is a big issue and building it does not Not an easy thing to do, it's not a lot unlike housing, you know, the cost to build housing right now is so high that it becomes a challenge to construct homes that are affordable. And that can fall into the right price range to meet a workforces needs.
 
James Bell 
And it's not like somebody can just put up a building and have a business come in, because that cost of that piece is going to get in the way, even if someone else is trying to do that as a commercial venture. Right?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Pretty, you rarely see speculative construction of retail space, from the standpoint of a large building. Now we do have some space in front of the Hilton Garden Inn that is yet to be occupied, I know there's at least two or three different things going on there. And I think we'll see some activity in that spot pretty quick, with a couple of those slots being filled. But 2030 40,000 square feet, that's a that's a pretty risky venture to go out there and just put up a building, when you're going to pay anywhere from seven to $20 a square foot for the land. So if you equate that into the cost per acre, that's 300,000 to 800,000 per acre for commercial land, and then you put up a building that's going to cost 100 $250 A square foot, it just nobody's going to do that. On a if you build it, they will come situation in today's environment.
 
James Bell 
So I'm curious, you know, what do you guys do down there grow haze to help alleviate the situation?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, we we try and work with existing property owners as well as the local government entities to find incentives that can bridge that gap. You know, the CID, which is a community investment incentive district allows a retailer to add sales tax to the current rate, and that that extra one to 2% that they charge can go back towards their costs associated with building a building or doing that kind of thing. So there's one at the mall, a 1%. Cid, so everything that you buy at the mall, has 1% added to it, which goes, you know, they've agreed to put towards the facility parking lot, interior improvements and that kind of thing. Same thing can be done with a new construction project. And that helps bridge that gap. But it's difficult, you know that those it's a challenging situation, there's only so many tools in the tools in the toolkit and, and it's a challenge to kind of make that all work. And that's, that's why retail development is pretty slow. Not to mention, the challenges that retail has overall. With online being so prevalent, and bricks and mortar being so expensive. The business models for retailers is changing considerably. And so that presents challenges to there just aren't that many that are looking to expand.
 
James Bell 
You know, from a buyer perspective, if you want to support local, and you're in that situation where you can't find what you need. There isn't a retail shop locally that does that. What's the best option? How do people, you know, make the best decision for the local community? Well, or is there a good solution?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
It's a difficult solution. I mean, they if you can't find what you need or want locally, your choices are to go someplace else and get it or open up Amazon and order
 
James Bell 
We all know Amazon is you know, in terms of community support, not it's not a community partner there. They don't do they rarely pay taxes, they're just starting to get to where they're forced to do that. So that's kind of the bigger pieces like how do those how do we find businesses that support what we're trying to do here in Hays, Kansas or anybody ever in our listening area?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, we certainly feel that there are certain businesses where there is a sufficient market here that they could do well here. You know, I mentioned Marshalls in Pittsburgh, I think Marshalls or TJ Maxx, something like that would do would do well here. So we have to, and we're talking to these people all the time. And I think a lot of people think well, you just call them up and they just come here, that's that's really not the case. They know a great deal about our community already. And they have certain communities on their radar for expansion. And if you mitt meet these criteria, which are population numbers, the moderate income numbers, you know, all of those pull factor, which we have a very good pull factor, we have a wide trade area. They know all that. So they can plug that in and they can they can pretty much nail it on what their sales are going to be in a market like ours. So then it comes to what are our operating expenses going to be can we get our operating expenses to a level that make it work for us in that market. And then the last piece of the puzzle, which is a serious problem is workforce. Somebody comes down they need 100 workers. That's, that's a tough nut to crack because they aren't available. And so where are they going to come from? You're going to steal them from those existing businesses. And that's a difficult situation as well. So lots of challenges out there right now. But you just got to keep plugging.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, and I know we you mentioned, we do talk about this quite a bit that the housing piece of this, there is some activity there that is looking to help that situation, at least in the immediate future, right, we've got some apartment buildings that are kind of plans are coming together? Well, there are,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
we've got an apartment complex, it's been approved at the corner of fourth and Fort 36 units over the next couple of years. We've had, we had a couple of developers in town this week, that are considering apartment complexes in the community, and we and we need them. We've got single family homes, obviously, in the Tallgrass addition, that are going up. And that's, that helps. So the more inventory we can build, the better. We really believe that, you know, it is the old saying, If you build it, they will come. We believe that our community has so much going for it. And if we can resolve the housing situation, a lot of people will choose to locate here. And that will obviously bolster the workforce and help us recruit some other businesses.
 
James Bell 
You know, I know there's no magic lever on any of this. And it's not like you're down there like, oh, we need a little bit more housing a little bit more retail, a little bit more restaurants. There's no way to do that. But you know, I'm curious, like, how do you how do you come to the conclusions? Or the numbers, I guess, is the real question to kind of keep it all in check. Because you know, you don't want too many workers to move into haze, you don't want to too few, you need to right spot for the business recruitment and all that. And it all kind of seems like it works together quite a bit.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Where it is all a balancing act, you know, I think we don't have the issues that some communities have associated with growth. We have had growth, but it's been slow, it's been steady, some of that is limited by our water capacity. You know, there are certain types of industry that we can't recruit because of the water capacity. That's a blessing in some ways and a curse in others. It just depends. But it is a fine balance. And it's never, ever going to be in sync, you know, there's always going to be parts that are that are doing well at a given time and in parts that aren't doing well. But a lot of a lot of what we are involved with now, I believe is not necessarily the recruitment of business. Yes, we do that. But the recruitment of people is just as important. There are literally millions of Americans that are looking to migrate away from metropolitan areas. They're expensive. We think housing is expensive here, we have no clue, no clue whatsoever. And there are millions of people that are looking to get out of the rat race, the traffic, the costs, the crime and that kind of thing. And we think we've got a great story. But we have to tell them, you know, they have to know about us. And that's part of what our imagined Ellis County group is, is to get this word out. We've got a initiative going on where we are getting our message out to the eastern slope of Colorado, we think that's a great area to prospect in and we've got the videos that we're showing them about people testimonials, basically talking about the quality of life here and that kind of thing. So recruiting people is just as important to us as pretty business at this point.
 
James Bell 
Absolutely. And I'm sure you're gonna continue to help out with that.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
We'll do everything we can

Grow Hays hires director of business development

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares information about the hiring of a director of business development.
 
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
 
James Bell 
Grow Hays has recently expanded by one more team member in order to help continue on in their mission. Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams stops by to talk to us about that and more on this episode of the Post Podcast.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
An interesting year with adding people.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, maybe we should talk about that first before we talk about the new new hire because you do have a new hire from a wider No, it was it about six months ago or so you brought on David King and
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Queen joined us January 3, this year, director of business recruitment and retention and spend a great job has jumped right in. And he wrote the grant for the microfactory that we got. He's got all kinds of I say all kinds, but he's got a lot of prospects he's working on in terms of organizations, companies that may be looking to expand and Hayes and so we're in Ellis County. And so he's doing great, but we still had some additional needs. And that leads us to where we are today.
 
James Bell 
Very cool. Very cool. Yeah, I gotta say this about David, before we move on to the new guy. Immediately, they have seen him around, I see him everywhere. He says like, it's like, I think he may be sometimes he's following me because it seems like every event I'm at, he's also there, and participating, communicating and, and just being I think it really good representative of the organization.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, actually is following you, James. So you bear watching. But now, he has been very active, he's getting out into community. And he's, he's he's doing what needs to be done. And as I say, we've got we've got more prospects in the pipeline now than we've ever had. And, you know, recruitment of businesses, it's a numbers game, the more you have in the pipeline, some will fall through, you know, most will fall through. It's it's a, it's a rejection game, but you'll get your fair share of them. And that's what we're working hard to do is get our fair share of them.
 
James Bell 
Very cool. All right. So let's talk about this, this a new position. First off, I'm coming into this with absolutely no information. So what is the position
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
where the position is director of business development, and special projects, we like long, complicated titles that grow haze. But essentially it will be his focus will be primarily in the areas of entrepreneurship, business creation, which is the first item in our mission of business creation, business, retention, and expansion and retainment. And then business recruitment, and James Robin, will be joining us in June, the first or whatever day that is, that's the first Monday of June. And he will be in that position of business development and special projects, in part because of this microfactory. That's a big project. And we need somebody looking after that and making sure that the construction phase goes well, but then we also, you know, we have to fill that building when we get to that point. Once it's complete, we want it full of serving its purpose as an incubator for manufacturers. And so he will be involved in that as well as some of our housing initiatives and, and have a lot of areas that he'll be focused on.
 
James Bell 
Very cool. Very cool. And you know, if that name sounds familiar, it sounded familiar to me too. But I had to look it up. It didn't immediately strike a strike my memory, but he was a long term, longtime office staffer with Senator Moran, right. He has
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
been he's he's been a district representative for Senator Moran covering I believe it's the Northwest 18 counties in Northwest Kansas. And that has given him I believe, a really good feel for small communities, rural communities like we are and like, our county is in terms of the struggles that they have, and some of the programs that might be available that federal programs as well as even state programs for small communities like ours, that we can take advantage of. So I think he I think his background number one is as the district representative for Senator Moran will serve him well. Number two, he born and raised in western Kansas in the Sharon Springs area. So he has a good understanding of, of what's going on and has that western Kansas work ethic that we like to see and it's so good to have. And so a lot of positives with James I'm very confident he'll he'll hit the ground running and do a lot of good for us.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, that's awesome. You know, you talk about those the extreme western Kansas of communities and they think about the struggles they have and how they compare to some of the things we're dealing with. And oh, my goodness, like, if you can come up with some helpful ideas out there. That's going to be just a easy implement implementation here. I would say
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, that's one of the other areas that I hope to focus on in the future is that even though we are, you know, our, our coverage is Ellis County, we can't be insensitive to what goes on around us and other counties and the struggles that they have. Because those people come to hate they shop and Hayes, they buy cars and Hayes, they go to Fort Hays State, they go to events, and they do have a lot of struggles, you know, depopulation is a real struggle for them. aging populations is a struggle, you know, they have, they have all the same challenges that we have with workforce with housing with childcare. So, if we can help in those areas, I think in the long run, it benefits our community as well. So more and more we look at the region versus just Ellis County, you know, obviously, our focus is Ellis County, we want to do as much as we can here. But we we can't be insensitive to what goes on around us either. Yeah, and
 
James Bell 
you know, in in recent months, years, maybe even I've been hearing a lot more about that collaborative nature. You know, it's, it's, it seems like even professionals, businessmen that have been doing their industry or in their industry for a long time, are kind of coming to that realization that it's no longer that competitive nature out here in western Kansas got to be collaborative one. And I wonder if you want to talk a little bit about how a position like this helps build that. And especially with the entrepreneurship piece, because, you know, again, a lot of conversations I'm hearing is the things that we want out here in western Kansas, they're not going to come to us, we have to build them.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, that's right, you know, creation is a big part of what we are focused on and what we need to be doing. And that's going to be a big part of what James is going to be responsible for. And, yeah, I mean, we we have to help are, we do have to look at it regionally. And we do. And that's, that's one of the reasons why James was such a good fit is because he has such a good familiarity with these 18 counties out here, as to what goes on and what their challenges are. So and, and he knows, and, you know, hopefully he understands the federal programs that might be available, as well as how the system works, you know, government in general, if you if you get into the middle of it, it can be overwhelming, as to okay, we've got this program and this program, and this program will What's that mean to me, and you need that person that understands that that can kind of guide you through that. And that's, that's what we're for. That's why when a prospective business is coming to town, we're kind of their first stop, because as they look for, okay, what programs might be available to us what, what infrastructure needs are we going to have, we're the ones that can guide them through that and, and as we expand and look at Western Kansas as a whole same kind of thing could be the case, a lot of these small communities. They can't afford full time economic development people. I mean, they just can't. So if we can help in some areas with some of the smaller communities, that that's great. And, you know, we can't be so proprietary and so focused on Oh, it's only what's good for hazer it's only what's good for Ellis County. You know, I always I say all the time. What's good for Hays is good for Ellis, Victoria Manjaro Chinchin. By the same token, what's good for Alice or Victoria or Manjaro? is good for AES. Because we need people. And so if attracting them any way we can, it's what we need to be doing.
 
James Bell 
You mentioned, many of these smaller counties out here in western Kansas don't have that elk economic development staff. And I wonder if you want to talk a little bit about that as well how important organizations like grow Hayes in especially with the recent growth that you guys have accomplished down there, how important it is for groups like yours to continue to stimulate economic development?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, it is important and and we fortunately, in Ellis County, we have the resources to engage full time professional economic development people, a lot of counties don't. I've been watching here recently and it's it's there's just a procession of people in different positions out in western Kansas communities that they have an economic development director for a while, but then they move on to something else or they retire, or they're just part time or you know, they're they're part time they work for maybe a a local utility, but they also do economic development on the side, you know, the organization allows them to do that. But the problem with that is they just don't have the opportunity to focus enough time and energy towards what the whole process is. And I particularly see that with housing in some of these rural areas. I mean, they have real challenges, and we do too, but we're able to make some strides and and solve some of these problems, but they they really have an uphill battle. And so I think long term, that's something we want to explore is how we can help Additionally, in some of these smaller communities where they can maybe have some sort of a consulting arrangement with the Ellis, our organization, and we could maybe provide some of those kinds of services, we do have the creda organization, the western Kansas, Rural Economic Development Alliance. And that's a group of Eiken of counties and cities and economic development professionals, all through the western half of the state, that participate in this organization. And they're a resource for each other. And it's a great organization. But sometimes it takes a little bit more than that takes actually boots on the ground to do some of that. And over time, I think we'll we'll be doing some of those kinds of things just out of necessity.
 
James Bell 
You know, on the flip side of this, I wonder if you want to speak to folks out here, I know there's there's there's I think everyone would agree a pretty independent streak and the folks that live in western Kansas, and I think some of them feel that maybe organizations like this that grow it's it's it's I know, it's not a government organization, but it's quasi governmental, you do get government funds. I wonder if you want to speak to that, you know, why? Or how the growth of organizations like this aren't necessarily government more a local effort?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, certainly, one could argue that as organizations like ours grow, and we do get some government funding that, you know, we're, we're one more thing that is on that list of things, it get funded by governments. And, and as I like to think, you know, it needs to be a good investment by the local governments in what they're spending and what their return is, you know, that's why every year we go before them and tell them what we've done, and tell them what our ask is for the coming year, and what our plans are. And, you know, it's up to them to decide if it's been a good investment or not, I certainly think it has locally for all the communities in our in our county, but that's what the elected officials are there to do and make that assessment. But if, if, if we're not there to do it, it simply doesn't get done. You know, that, that company that wants to locate here that wants to go through the process of asking for some economic incentives, or knowing what programs that might be available for him. The reality is that if there's no if we're not there, either the city or the county, somebody's gonna have to hire it done. And they still won't be looking at things as broadly as what we are and the number of services and things that we offer. So but yeah, I hear you on the growth thing. And, you know, part of this, the adding of these two people is, anybody that knows me knows I'm not a spring chicken. And there will come a day where I'm not going to be doing this anymore. And norburn Our organization needs succession planning. Well, when this when James is in place, and David's in place, you know, we'll have a much more secure succession plan, whatever that is, I don't know that it even be either one of them. But whatever that plan is, will be much more solid than it would have been if it was just me doing everything. And if I go out and get hit by a bus or something like that, that would have been problematic. Absolutely.
 
James Bell 
We've got just about a minute or so left. I wonder if we want to share details. When is Jim Seaton started down there,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
He started June 1, or whatever day that is the first Monday in June. He's, he's I'm, I'm confident that had a little bit of a conversation with Senator Moran. And he's, while he hates to lose James, he feels like it's a positive move for James. You know, I think James James is failing is what he's indicated to me as he'd like to make a difference on a local level versus what he was doing on a federal level. I think you can see the results a little easier on a local level and, and I think he's excited about that. So he starts on June the first and we'll get him going and we'll get some getting acclimated to some projects and some he'll have some definite things he's on his to do list and relate star to partnership, whether it be our youth entrepreneurship challenge, pitch it events, try spec, the Speaker Series, whatever.

Grow Hays shares project updates with city officals

On this episode of the Post Podcast Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams shares updates presented to the city of Hays during this week's commission meeting.
Transcript:
EDITORS NOTE: Transcripts are provided by an automated service and are not verified for accuracy.
 
James Bell 
Grow Hays can often act as a point of contact for business owners in Ellis County Grow Hays, executive director Doug Williams stops by to talk to us about that and more on this episode of the post podcast. We had the City Commission recap a little bit earlier on the show. And one of the things that came up was user apparently you were at their meeting last time. We're gonna talk a little bit about that today. Right?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
We are and I was there.
 
James Bell 
Good stuff. Well, good and bad. I think Sandy Jacobs told us.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, mine was all good. There was some bad there are some challenges. But yeah, challenges.
 
James Bell 
That's a better word for it. Because I mean, we talked about this all the time. There's there, we all know, there are some opportunities here. And hey, so we've got to take on and also some amazing things going on.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
That is true. And we I wouldn't say that it was all good what I talked about, but most of what I talked about was positive, you know, our microfactory housing, that type of thing. And that there was a group of childcare providers at the at the meeting last night, and Sarah was singer who's leading the childcare Task Force spoke and gave an update and, and childcare is certainly a challenge for our community.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, almost unbelievable numbers that we were hearing this morning about parents in need, and students that are children, I guess that can't find a spot.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
That is true. And it you know, that ties back into much of what we do, which is workforce. And if if one of the parents can't work because they have to stay home with the children, because they either can't find childcare, or it's too expensive for them. That takes out of our workforce. And the task force has done a survey which has identified a large number of people that would go back to work if they had childcare. So it's an issue. We're not unique, you know, like many of these problems. It's all over the country that childcare is a challenge, but particularly I think, Kansas, because we actually have some, some pretty antiquated regulations that limit the number of children that can be taken in certain situations. And that just makes the problem worse. So we have some challenges in that area.
 
James Bell 
Absolutely. You know, I we did hear about some of the action and activities that are going on locally to address that problem. I wonder if you have any insight on on the bigger picture, the state level stuff? Or if you've even if they've even really done anything with that in the last few weeks? Well, I
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
think there's discussion. You know, a lot of it comes if you talk to, if you talk to childcare providers, the ratios that they have to maintain based on how many children they can look after, at certain age groups and how that affects. If you take so many infants, she can't take some others. So age, children, just just different things like that, which I think that is being looked at that the state, the Kansas Department of Health and Education, I guess is who supervises that. And when you look at Kansas, compared to many other states, the ratios here are, are pretty prohibitive with, say, the number of infants that the number of providers per infant, I believe it's four to one under 18 months. So if you look at the economic aspect of a daycare center or childcare facility, they can take four infants per employee to provide that service. Well, they can charge, let's just say three bucks an hour. For those for infants, maybe that's $12 an hour, and to hire someone to take care of those kids. And that kind of thing may be more than that, not to mention payroll taxes, and that kind of thing. So it's a it's a broken system, because of these ratios. And I understand, Katie, he they, their primary concern is child's safety as it should be. But there's got to be a happy medium in there someplace. And I think when I last look, Kansas was a one of two states in the United States that had that stringent of a ratio requirement. And so we really, you know, they need to look at that, and I think they are.
 
James Bell 
Okay, well, and I looked forward to see you know, what, what results come out of these discussions and what actual action we can take to alleviate some of this need, because it sounds huge. But I wonder if you want to speak about some of the other updates that you gave the city last night? Well,
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
I told him about our microfactory project, you know, we got the base grant, and we're proceeding along with the try and get arrangements made architects engaged to get that project started. That of course, is the 30,000 square foot building that we intend to construct at the corner of ninth and commerce Parkway. And it'll be split into either five or six different areas for upcoming or startup manufacturers who we hope to you know, it's to be an incubator for them. They go in there where they operate for three to maybe up to five years, perhaps trying to get their product established and grow their business. And then we roll them out into a facility of their own, and we roll the next guy in. So it's it's one of these deals that will, that will serve as an endowment for our community for a long, long time. And so I explained that to them and what our plans are there. We hope to get started sometime this summer, on the construction of that we have two years to get it constructed in under the terms of the grant we received. But we hope to be up and running well before two years. So we're getting started on that. I talked about housing, we talked about the apartment situation last week, a little bit in terms of the number of apartments that are being constructed in the area right now. And then also discussed the tall grass addition, the fact that there are currently now there are four homes that are owner occupied, they've been completed and the owners have moved in.
 
James Bell 
so fast that didn't happen. I mean, we talked about how long it takes to get these things to happen. But that actually seemed like it happened overnight. It seems like
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
it it was back in, you know, the fall that they started construction on these and, and so they I give the contractors that are building out there all the credit in the world, because they have had to overcome a lot of obstacles.
 
James Bell 
And we heard about some more of those obstacles that are coming, or at least for one of the builders, I think that they said they wouldn't be able to start the next set until July.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, well, yeah, I mean, the if you go out there, and I encourage everybody to do so. There are eight basements that are in the ground right now. But the framer who the contractor uses is tied up on other projects and can't get to it till probably June. And so there they sit for 30 to 45 days, that just adds to the construction time, it just adds to the time that that home is going to be available for somebody to move into. But we've got activity going there's there'll be four completed in the next 30 I actually another six completed in the next 30 days. And then these eight are going to are already started that have basements, the other contractors plan to start another 11 this summer. So that developments going to be built out pretty quickly. I'd say by year end, you're going to see lots and lots of houses out there. Excellent.
 
James Bell 
And that really ended Sandy Jacobs talked a little bit about your I say famous kind of workforce needs pyramid that you go around the community and share. And that's that's the bottom. So to help us kind of get to the spot where we can develop those other things. And that's really something else we want to talk about today. There's been an effort that you guys have made, and really, I think done a great job within the last few months of promoting Hayes's story, and getting people out here. And we talk a lot about this remote workers, they can pick wherever they want to go. And we hope Hayes is one of those places. But I want to talk about that. As your organization grow Hayes's the Economic Development Group, and connections with so many other organizations, I wonder if you want to talk a little bit about someone that maybe is looking at Hayes from the front range of Denver, and they want to start a business here, what resources are available to
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
well, where they're starting place, obviously, if they want to start a business, we have an E community loan program where we can provide funds to a business startup, they have to involve a bank as well. And that and we've we've actually got a couple of we're meeting today on one application for a business analysis. And we will probably be funding a portion of that one. And then we obviously we kind of know where the sites might be available what either space or building site might be available. So we assist them in that regard. And then we can connect them with all the other resources that they may need. The Small Business Development Center on campus can help them with business plans. We can direct them to the northwest Kansas Planning Commission and some of these people who can help them with some SBA loan things. So we're kind of a connector, we if they start with us, which we hope that they do, we can help them find the resources that they need, and show them why Hays is a good place to come if you're going to start up a business, or why Hayes is a good place to come if you just if you're a remote worker, and you can live anywhere you want to live. We've got a great story to tell here.
 
James Bell 
Absolutely. You know, I wonder if we want to talk a little bit of the details and some of those other organizations. I know network Kansas is a big one that you guys partner with a lot and I think they provide some of those resources for potential business owners or entrepreneurs as well.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
They do they're a great partner for us. They're a great resource for across the entire state. They do fund are a community loans. So we work with them and if once we have a loan committee local made up of local people, but once we approve a loan, they send us the money to provide to the borrower and integrate new twist on that is that network Kansas was able to get a grant from the Patterson Foundation. And now, up to 20% of what a borrower, the loan amount from us is available to them in in form of a grant. So if some are our loan limit is $45,000, if somebody qualifies, and if they meet the requirements of the of the grant 9000 of that comes back to them as they don't have to repay it. So that's a great deal not to mention the fact that our interest rates are typically around prime rate, so typically going to be lower than they would expect to pay elsewhere. So it's a great program, I encourage anybody that is starting up a business or wants to do an expansion to to contact us on that. And network. Kansas also does our youth entrepreneurship programs. And they sponsor a lot of entrepreneurial activity. So they're a great organization and a great partner.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, you mentioned the SBDC, down on the Fort Hays campus. And I wonder if we want to talk about this as well. I think really out here in Hays, we've generated this culture of entrepreneurship, that really, I think kind of maybe starts there on the campus and permeates the entire community. But if you're someone that's looking for that kind of place where you can connect with those folks, Haze is a great place for that right?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Or it is now the campus, obviously, they're they're very focused on entrepreneurship on campus with the Faulkner challenge and and Hanson Hall are both very entrepreneurship focused, the SBDC that's Rick Felton Berger leads that group, and they're very good at helping a person take an idea and getting it on paper, because you know, a bank, they always want to see it on paper, they want to see your business plan. And, you know, I've always said, a business plan is one of those necessary evils of starting a business. Because the second day, you're in business, everything changes, and you can kind of the business plan may not be as appropriate, as applicable, as it was, when you thought you were gonna get started. But it is, it is something you have to do. And Rick does a great job with working with prospective business owners or business owners who are wanting to expand to actually crunch the numbers and put the components of the plan together, so that the bank can look at it and understand what you're trying to accomplish. And, and it's more likely to fund a deal. Very cool.
 
James Bell 
You know, I wonder if somebody out there is listening, and maybe their local, maybe they are out on the front range or somewhere else in the country. But if they're listening, I think and man, I think he's might be a place I want to check out what's the best and easiest way for him to get those economic resources? Is it just calling or checking out websites? Or a little bit of both?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, a little bit of both. But certainly calling our office is where we start. And that's as a connector to these resources, we're going to, we're going to ask him some questions about what they're trying to do and what their resources are and what their background is. And then from that we can direct them into and put them in the right direction, get them in touch with the right people. We don't do it all we do some of it, but we don't do it all. But we do know who does. And that's the key. And we can save people a lot of time and grief, I think if they would call us and allow us to help them connect with the right resources.
 
James Bell 
Yeah, you know, I think about all those business owners that I've known over the years that when they launch their business or launch a new operation anyway, they try to reinvent the wheel. And I think oh my gosh, guys get go to get the help that is out there. That's what it's for.
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Yeah, and we don't charge anything. SBDC doesn't charge anything, you know, this is all free stuff. So why not take advantage of the resources that are available to you, and can ensure your success?
 
James Bell 
Absolutely. Well, Doug, I tell you, we've got just about a minute or so left in the thing else that we want to hit on before we go?
 
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams 
Well, I think, you know, we talk about brief space all the time. But brace space is the microfactory for office workers. You know, we have space down there and it's really going well down there. We do still have space available for some people if they want to come down and check us out. The usage of the facility just keeps getting more and more the meeting rooms and the various our podcast station and all those things that we have for resources for people. So as always come down, check us out. We'll give you a tour and maybe it'd be the right spot for you

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