Topeka Relocation Guide 2008 - (Page 5) Partnerships and Visioning as We Move Forward Alorica, Inc. Security Benefit Headquarters Hill’s Pet Nutrition • Reser’s Fine Foods’ $34 million expansion, adding 175 new jobs • Security Benefit’s new se2 (service endto-end) subsidiary, with more than 100 new associates • VA Health Revenue Center’s expansion of its customer service operation, adding 90 to its Topeka workforce • Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) relocation of its headquarters to Topeka. Characteristic of all of these successes are the partnerships that made them happen – partnerships among the Kansas Department of Commerce, Shawnee County Commission, the City of Topeka, the Topeka Workforce Center/Heartland Works, the Shawnee County Legislative Delegation, Governor Kathleen Sebelius, our Congressional Delegation, local business leaders, and – most important – our ready workforce and committed taxpayers of Topeka/Shawnee County. Partnerships are at the heart of our services to small businesses, too. The “Small Biz One-Stop,” located in the Topeka Chamber’s offices in Townsite Plaza, is a collaboration among Washburn University’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC), SCORE volunteers, and GO Topeka’s DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) program. These three entities work together to tailor services for each individual’s or business’ needs – one-on-one counseling, entrepreneurial training, business seminars, and financial counseling to small, woman-owned, and minorityowned businesses. Most services are free of charge. The One-Stop’s First Step FastTrac entrepreneurial training ranks second in the number of graduates (more than 200) in the country. strongly recommends partnerships among private and public entities – including the City and County – to implement a community-wide visioning effort. With input from a cross-section of the community, consensus on a variety of community issues can be reached. Topeka/Shawnee County will begin a grassroots community visioning process in early 2008. With the visioning process we can seek out opinions from throughout the community and ask our citizens to determine the future of Topeka/Shawnee County. Visioning will give us a sense of direction for a master plan. Cooperation and collaboration will allow us to implement that master plan. Visioning ultimately leads to a common mission to build a better and stronger community. And building a better and stronger community is what economic development is all about. n By Sharon Boranyak, Chamber staff Partnerships and Visioning as We Move Forward Driving our Strategic Plan is a target market assessment of Topeka/Shawnee County, completed early in 2007 by an internationally-renowned economic development consulting firm. The study Topek a Reloc at ion Gu ide 20 08 5
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