By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Thursday morning area leaders joined Kanas Lt. Gov. David Toland for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Grow Hays Microfactory project near Ninth and Commerce.
“The easy part is over,” said Grow Hays Doug Williams. “Now we have to execute. And so now the rubber meets the pavement.”
Once completed, the microfactory will be an incubator for four to six industrial startups at a time, allowing manufacturers to begin operations at a much lower cost than if they were to set up in their own location.
The proposal, he said, has been ongoing for over two years and has come to fruition thanks to gifts, grants and the work of a diverse group of individuals in Hays and beyond.
The project had been awarded a $2.6 million Building a Stronger Economy grant in April.
The Heart of American Development Corp. donated the land. And the Patterson Family Foundation awarded the project a $500,000 grant.
Toland said the project is indicative of the ongoing efforts in Hays to encourage entrepreneurship.
“It's interesting to think about how there's lots and lots of good ideas out there,” Toland said. “What we're short on as a country… is executing on your ideas.”
He noted while much of the world was shutting down during the COVID pandemic, Hays leaders continued looking to the future.
“What you had here in Hays is an intentional decision to go forward,” Toland said. “Hit the gas. Make good things happen. And so, this idea …it's an idea whose time is come.
“And that matters because we've got a lot of innovators. We've got a lot of people that right now are tinkering in their shed or sitting at their table thinking about the business they want to build.”
Those innovators have ideas they want to turn into jobs and create businesses that can be passed on, giving youth more reasons to stay in western Kansas.
“That is the reason this matters so much,” Toland said. “It gives those people with the idea a shot.”
When starting a new business, he said many factors are working against entrepreneurs, and the microfactory will make it easier.
“It's expensive. Most people are trying to work their day job while they're building their business on the side,” Toland said. “It's tough, and so to have a space like this, where you've got a system of supports around you to take your idea and get it to the next level, then move out of the microfactory and into your own building in the industrial park. That's where it happens. That's how we keep our kids in western Kansas.”
Toland noted that the BASE grant application process was highly competitive, but the project has the potential to have a positive effect on the region.
“Governor Kelly, during the BASE grant process, we really had just very difficult decisions to make,” Toland said. “We had $1.8 billion worth of requests, and we had $100 million in the BASE grant program. And so those are tough decisions.”
“Growing our economy means giving local communities the tools they need to prosper,” said Governor Laura Kelly in an event annoucment. “The innovative MicroFactory will provide a launching pad for future manufacturing companies in Ellis County and surrounding areas, fostering entrepreneurship, creating new jobs, and attracting investment to the region.”
“I'm so proud that we were able to invest $2.6 million from the BASE grant program into the microfactory,” Toland said continued. “It's going to be one of those investments that are going to pay huge dividends, not just for Hays and western Kansas, but for our state as a whole.”
The project also reflects the ongoing effort by the administration to invest in economic development projects across the state.
“We're now at a point where the state of Kansas had the most private sector investment of any state in the country last year on a per capita basis,” Toland said.
He said that is thanks in no small part to local development efforts and the many organizations and people that work to find the tools and efforts to strengthen organizational relationships throughout the region.
“Hays is an exceptional community,” Toland said. “What is happening here is special. And that's because of the ability of a lot of folks to execute on good ideas.”