By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Ellis County has many assets, but it's not always the best at telling its own story.
About 30 community members met Tuesday in Hays for a Solutions Summit sponsored by the Heartland Community Foundation.
This was a follow-up to past Strategic Doing community planning sessions that yielded projects such as the Downtown Pavilion, Child Care Task Force of Ellis County, ARC Park, Feeding Hays and the United Way Community Resource Directory.
Betty Johnson served as the facilitator for the meeting, which looked at Ellis County's strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities.
From those discussions, the group identified four action items.
The chief among those was developing a marketing plan for Ellis County.
Sandy Jacobs, Hays mayor, said the city is not good at telling its story. To establish a more complete and consistent message about the city's positive aspects, the city recently hired James Bell as its new public relations manager.
"If we don't tell our story, ... no one else is going to," she said.
Amanda Rupp, Ellis County Historical Society executive director, said other communities have one thing they are known for, but if you asked 10 people what Hays is known for, you'd get 10 answers.
Sarah Meitner, Heartland Community Foundation executive director, said, "People say there is nothing to do here, but if you look at the events calendar, there is always something."
Other goals included the retention of people and wealth in Ellis County; further development of outdoor recreation, including pickleball, disc golf and mountain biking; and expanding family entertainment options.
The group discussed various programs to keep youth engaged in Ellis County.
Craig Poe, executive director of High Plains Mental Health, said town-to-gown programs have been effective in Manhattan and Lawrence and could be strengthened in Hays.
The group also discussed the importance of internship opportunities for students with local businesses and certification opportunities for high school students seeking to enter trades.
Andy Stanton of Farm Bureau Financial Services said concurrent credit offerings for high school students have been a strength in Hays.
Johnson suggested reverse scholarships to get students back to Ellis County to work after college. Programs exist elsewhere in the state for doctors, vets and lawyers.
However, because of its population size, Ellis County doesn't qualify for state reimbursement for some programs.
Mason Ruder, city commissioner, said Hays and Ellis County participate in rural opportunity zones, which can offer funds to forgive student loan debt or income tax credits. People who qualify must have lived outside of the state for five or more years immediately prior to moving back to Kansas.
Sarah Wasinger, president and CEO of the Chamber in Hays, said she thinks local residents have a lack of knowledge of the resources that are available in the community.
"Maybe we need to step back and take time to have a little bit of reflection and critique ourselves a little bit," she said.
Melissa Dixon, director of the Hays Convention and Vistors Bureau, said she thinks Hays has more opportunities to offer activities for youth involvement.
She said the Sunflower Summer program, which allowed Kansas students and their families to visit Kansas attractions for free, was a great way to teach young people about Kansas assets.
"They're building these little Kansas ambassadors who are learning all of this cool stuff and strengthening that will to stay," Dixon said.
She added she supported a focused community pride campaign.
Gove County created a passport program, Johnson said. Local residents visited local attractions to be entered in a prize drawing. Johnson said this program was successful for that county to educate the local population about their own attractions.
A Kansas mountain bike group volunteer said he is interested in starting a mountain bike team in Hays. Sixth- to 12th-grade students would be eligible to compete in five to six events per year.
Keeping money in Ellis County is just as important as keeping young people here, Meitner said.
As the population ages, the three counties covered by the Heartland Foundation will see a tremendous transfer of wealth—$2.7 billion by 2040.
"If they could give 5% of that to their county and 95% to their children, think of what a game-changer that would be," Johnson said. "Kids aren't going to miss 5% or 10% of whatever your estate is, but your community would feel that impact forever."
Rupp said she thought Ellis County was fortunate that most of the items the group wanted to improve were luxuries.
However, Erica Berges, executive director of the United Way, said there is still a significant income gap in Ellis County, with more than 40% of residents living paycheck to paycheck.
Participant Brandy Ridgway said she is organizing a "100 Who Care" campaign in Ellis County. The idea is for 100 people or more to donate $100 to a local cause.
The idea has been used to raise funds in other Kansas communities for various charitable causes.
Ridgway said she is working with a Fort Hays State University Leadership 310 class to organize an information meeting in April.
Imagine Ellis County will form committees to explore further the four opportunities identified at Tuesday's meeting.
Existing Imagine Ellis County committees include transportation, disc golf, an outdoor stage in a Municipal Park, and committees focused on development in Ellis and Victoria.
If you are interested in learning more about any of the committees or getting involved, visit https://imagineelliscounty.org/.
At the bottom of the page, you can give your name, phone number and an idea or leave a note, "Hey, I'm interested in learning more about this group!" said Katie Dorzweiler, Heartland Community Foundation board member.