Technically, the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce is the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development; the latter part is funded through a contract with the City of Great Bend.
However, Great Bend City Administrator Kendal Francis Monday night told the City Council that it may be time to renegotiate that agreement. The current contract was drafted in 1999 and has not been changed since.
His thinking was that the city needed to “shore up” the details and better clarify the city’s and the council’s expectations. There needs to be more transparency, accountability and financial reporting as well.
The council agreed and gave Francis the nod to proceed. The contract automatically renews on Jan. 1, so now the city will give the chamber the required 90-day notice that it wants to make changes.
Francis said Jan Peters, who serves as president and chief executive officer of both the chamber and economic development, is in agreement about this process. “It also gives the chamber a more clear direction,” Francis said.
“I’m all for that,” Peters said. It is time to review the aging contract and update it for the new economic development realities, she said, adding she continues to meet with city administrators weekly and give monthly updates to the council.
How it works
The arrangement allows the chamber to administer the eco devo efforts on the city’s behalf, Peters said. This involves business recruitment and retention, and workforce development.
“Economic development is tough, tight and competitive,” she said. Still, “we’ve really had some great success.”
Economic development receives $153,000 this year through the general fund, with payments being made semi-annually, Francis said. That is up from $135,000 in 2017 and 2018.
Francis said the Chamber makes an annual funding request and it is up to the council to decide what will be budgeted. This year, the chamber also sought $50,000 to fund a study (which would have raised the total to $203,000), but that was not granted.
The money for the chamber is funded via a city half-cent sales tax (generating 9 percent of the city’s revenue). The tax is split three ways among economic development, infrastructure improvements and property tax relief.
In all, Francis said the eco devo slice of this pie is anticipated to generate $370,000 in 2019, up from $350,000 in the last two years. This also funds a portion of Community Coordinator Christina Hayes’ department with the remaining balance transferred into an economic development fund.
“So for budgeting purposes, we ‘budget to zero’ to give ourselves the budget authority to transfer those monies out of that line item at the end of each year,” he said.
