Regional meeting of county officials held here

County officials throughout the region assembled here Friday for the annual meeting of the Northeast Kansas County Officials Association. 

Hosted by Jackson County Commissioners Bill Elmer, Rob Ladner and Janet Zwonitzer, the meeting was held at Penny’s on the west side of the Holton Square, and officials representing 17 counties were in attendance. 

Those counties included Jackson, Atchison, Douglas, Johnson, Marshall, Pottawatomie, Wabaunsee, Brown, Leavenworth, Nemaha, Riley, Wyandotte, Doniphan, Jefferson, Lyon, Osage and Shawnee.

The event began with registrations from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., with breakfast catered by Penny’s and sponsored by Foley Equipment of Topeka. 

Members of the Mayetta VFW Color Guard posted colors to open up the meeting, and the national anthem was sung by Lori Mellenbruch, county employee. The Pledge of Allegiance was also recited.

Commissioner Zwonitzer and Holton Mayor Bob Dieckmann gave a quick welcome before the featured speaker, Ron Wilson, was introduced. Wilson is the director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

Wilson spoke for 40 minutes on supporting and growing rural economic development and led off his presentation with the example of the Green Bay Packers, which are based in Green Bay, Wisc. 

“How is it that Green Bay, Wisconsin came to have a major NFL franchise?” Wilson said. “The answer is very simple; it grew there. The community has literally bought into that franchise.”

Wilson said that county officials wanting to expand their economy don’t have to look far.

“You can try to outbid or try to recruit to bring in businesses, but I believe we need to support and build our homegrown businesses,” Wilson said. “We need to grow from within.”

Citing a variety of successful business examples throughout the state, Wilson based his presentation on the acronym NFL, which, for this meeting, stood for:

* Nurture ruralpreneurs (rural business owners).  

* Find collaboration, continuous improvement and value-added opportunities.

* Learn to enhance and market quality of life.   

Wilson said that counties need to work with each other and not against.

“Look for collaborative ways to work together more effectively and efficiently,” he said.

Officials also need to realize the number of resources available in their county, as well as a county’s own individual uniqueness, Wilson said. 

“Our high quality of life in rural Kansas is, ultimately, our ace in the hole,” he said. “If you define quality of life by the timeless values of family, friends and faith and wide open spaces, clean air and water and beautiful vistas, then rural Kansas has it. These are our strengths that we take for granted every day.” 

Wilson also challenged officials with a quote attributed to Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder when he was first hired, “Be a little bit better tomorrow than you are today.”

At the conclusion of Wilson’s talk, breakout sessions with members from each county department were held, including commissioners, clerks, treasurers, register of deeds, sheriffs, appraisers, public works, noxious weed and counselors. 

Bailey’s Bakery, Café and Sports Bar catered lunch for all the officials, as well as all Jackson County employees, which totaled near 150 people. After the meal, Randall Allen, Kansas Association of Counties director, provided a legislative update, including predicted budget shortfalls, and conducted a business meeting.

“It went very, very well,” Commissioner Zwonitzer said of the meeting. “We had a lot of compliments on the speaker, as well as the Courthouse and the facilities at Penny’s. The breakout sessions also went really great.”