GO TOPEKA ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY RELEASED

Projects resulting from GO Topeka’s 2009 efforts will have a net benefit of more than $15 million for the City of Topeka and Shawnee County over the next ten years, according to a report issued by Impact DataSource, an Austin, Texas, economic consulting, research and analysis firm.

GO Topeka, a subsidiary of the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, is funded by the countywide half-cent economic development sales tax, which generates around $5 million annually, as well as private funding for attraction of new businesses, expansion of existing businesses, and acquiring and managing assets necessary to support and retain primary jobs. The dispersion of that money is overseen by the Joint Economic Development Organization, comprised of elected officials from both Shawnee County and the City of Topeka.

The announced projects in 2009 included the new Home Depot Rapid Deployment Center, the purchase of the former Payless ShoeSource Distribution Center by PTMW, Inc. and expansions at the existing U.S. Foodservice, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Frito-Lay plants. Together, these projects retained 1,575 jobs and created 463 new jobs with a combined average wage of $48,250.

The study estimates that the benefits will continue to grow over the next ten years, with 3,770 direct and indirect jobs added, resulting in 762 new residents in Shawnee County. Of those 762 new residents, 254 will be from direct and indirect workers moving into the county, with 64 new residential properties to be built for those incoming residents. The salaries to be paid to direct and indirect workers over the next ten years exceeds $2 billion, with nearly $777 million worth of taxable sales and purchases expected in the county over that decade.

“These are exactly the sort of results voters expected when they passed the half-cent sales tax for economic development, the Topeka Blvd. Bridge and specific ballot listed road projects,” said Doug Kinsinger, president and CEO of the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce/GO Topeka. “The efforts of GO Topeka have always been to ensure the promising future of Topeka and Shawnee County, and we will continue to do so for the people of the region.”

After the extraction of all incentive costs and the cost of services resulting from announced projects, the City of Topeka is expected to see nearly $10.8 million worth of net benefits over the next ten years due to the operations of GO Topeka’s 2009 announced projects, while Shawnee County is expected to net approximately $4.4 million. The study estimates Washburn University will see just over $5 million in net benefits over the ten-year span, while the Auburn/Washburn school district will see about $1.2 million and Seaman school district would see just over $1 million. Impact DataSource also predicts about $104.5 million in net benefits to the State of Kansas in the next decade.

“This is a great return on the investment for economic development and is worth celebrating,” said Steve Jenkins, senior vice president of economic development for the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce/GO Topeka. “In addition to the benefits to other taxing entities and the wages being added to the community for the next decade, we continue to see a growth in the primary job sector that drives growth of small businesses and improvement of the community’s quality of life. This is what the community envisioned when the sales tax for economic development was passed by the voters.”