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PITTSBURG —
Leaders have been saying for some time now that Southeast Kansas is in dire shape. The 17 counties that make up the region lag behind in nearly every economic category, and, if not for a few outliers, each of the 17 counties would be among the bottom quarter of Kansas counties by every measurable health statistic, too.
If that information sounds either harsh or new, it’s neither — it’s the truth. In fact, those statistics are the reason that four state senators put together what has been called Project 17, an effort to spur economic and health growth in the region. In November, the group organized the first Economic Summit for the region, with the idea that it would begin to change those facts.
On April 13, almost six months after that first summit, Project 17 held another summit. Unfortunately, the summit was relatively inconsequential. Take what one of the organizers, state Sen. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott, had to say about the summit:
“I’m an impatient person, and I’d like to see some results. I’m seeing a lot of generalities, and I’d like to see some results to keep people engaged,” he said.
The summit wasn’t completely without bright spots. The speakers on higher education, from Pittsburg State and Neosho County Community College, gave specifics about their programs and visions for the future. Also, the summit talked about the $1 million in leadership training that Project 17 will receive in the next two to four years from the Kansas Leadership Center.
But beyond that, there was little in the way of actual progress. Several different regional groups got up and shared their agendas and plans to get the region back on track. However, all they did was muddy the situation. Three different models were presented on how to foster growth in the region:
One showed five labeled items in a circle, all pointing to each other. One showed three items all pointing toward a star. The most elaborate had three labeled circles with three labeled arrows pointing at a cluster of three more labeled circles. Surrounding that was a figure eight discussing “leadership.” Somehow, each of these plans were the way to get out of the economic and health mire in which the region has found itself.
Like Marshall, we are impatient. The region has been too poor and too sick for too long. There has to be a sense of urgency when attempting to address these issues. At the six-month mark, there were too many buzzwords and too little signs of progress. In effect, the spring summit spent its time talking about the metaphorical fruit it would produce instead of getting to work planting seeds or cultivating.
Leaders have been saying for some time now that Southeast Kansas is in dire shape. The 17 counties that make up the region lag behind in nearly every economic category, and, if not for a few outliers, each of the 17 counties would be among the bottom quarter of Kansas counties by every measurable health statistic, too.
If that information sounds either harsh or new, it’s neither — it’s the truth. In fact, those statistics are the reason that four state senators put together what has been called Project 17, an effort to spur economic and health growth in the region. In November, the group organized the first Economic Summit for the region, with the idea that it would begin to change those facts.
On April 13, almost six months after that first summit, Project 17 held another summit. Unfortunately, the summit was relatively inconsequential. Take what one of the organizers, state Sen. Bob Marshall, R-Fort Scott, had to say about the summit:
“I’m an impatient person, and I’d like to see some results. I’m seeing a lot of generalities, and I’d like to see some results to keep people engaged,” he said.
The summit wasn’t completely without bright spots. The speakers on higher education, from Pittsburg State and Neosho County Community College, gave specifics about their programs and visions for the future. Also, the summit talked about the $1 million in leadership training that Project 17 will receive in the next two to four years from the Kansas Leadership Center.
But beyond that, there was little in the way of actual progress. Several different regional groups got up and shared their agendas and plans to get the region back on track. However, all they did was muddy the situation. Three different models were presented on how to foster growth in the region:
One showed five labeled items in a circle, all pointing to each other. One showed three items all pointing toward a star. The most elaborate had three labeled circles with three labeled arrows pointing at a cluster of three more labeled circles. Surrounding that was a figure eight discussing “leadership.” Somehow, each of these plans were the way to get out of the economic and health mire in which the region has found itself.
Like Marshall, we are impatient. The region has been too poor and too sick for too long. There has to be a sense of urgency when attempting to address these issues. At the six-month mark, there were too many buzzwords and too little signs of progress. In effect, the spring summit spent its time talking about the metaphorical fruit it would produce instead of getting to work planting seeds or cultivating.
Officials mentioned multiple times that this is the start of the process and not the end. The leadership program will take two to four years to complete, they say. We worry that without a sense of urgency, two to four years from now we will not be any farther along in solving the problems of the region. Since Project 17 got off the ground late last year, it has now been half a year and the only true success is a grant to teach the leaders how to solve the problem that they organized to solve six months ago.
The next summit is currently set for September. Maybe by then, this project will start to bear some fruit. Maybe it will take another two to four years. Maybe we need to wait another decade or another generation. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
The region has had enough maybes. The region has had enough talk. The region has had enough plans and models and theories. We need success and progress, and we need it to come from Project 17 sooner rather than later.
— The Morning Sun
