This Wednesday (April 11th) Kansas Policy Institute will host an educational event focusing on local economic development. This event is vitally important as it is becoming apparent that Wichita’s traditional process of economic development is not working very well. Also, we’ve recently learned that in both Kansas and Wichita, business tax costs are very high, with only a handful of states ranking worse.
To register at no cost for this event, click on EcoDevo Through Economic Competitiveness . Following is information from KPI on this event.
Just last month, Wichita voters took to the ballot box to weigh in on whether the City of Wichita should provide government funded incentives for a new downtown hotel. As the Wall Street Journal wrote after voters decided against this form of corporate welfare:
Local politicians like to get in bed with local business, and taxpayers are usually the losers. So three cheers for a voter revolt in Wichita, Kansas last week that shows such sweetheart deals can be defeated.
This vote was only the latest reminder about the debate surrounding economic development, growth, and competitiveness both in Kansas and around the country.
On one side are people who feel the best way to foster economic growth is at the direction of elected officials and bureaucrats. On the other, are those who believe that creating a pro-growth environment with lower taxes and regulations is the correct tactic with which to create jobs and prosperity for all.
KPI is hoping to look beyond the issue of the Ambassador hotel in Wichita or Solyndra in D.C., and focus on the larger issues at an upcoming mini-summit on 11 April.
National and Kansas experts will join at the WSU MetroPlex for a half-day of panel discussions and expert presentations. This free event is open to the public and you can register here. We’ll have breakfast and lunch and check out the agenda below.
Eco-Devo Through Economic Competitiveness, April 11, 2012
7:30 to 8:15 am: Registration and breakfast.
8:15 am: Welcome: Dave Trabert, President of Kansas Policy Institute.
8:30 am: Implications of Location Matters: A Comparative Analysis of State Tax Costs on Business: Joe Henchman, Vice President of Legal and State Projects at the Tax Foundation.
9:00 am: Shaping Government to Increase Competitiveness: The Honorable Maurice McTigue, Vice President of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University
9:45 am: Break
10:00 am: Panel Discussion: Different Perspectives on Competitiveness and Development. Panelists include:
Ron Wilson, Director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
Jeremy Hill, Center for Economic Development and Business Research at Wichita State University.
Art Hall, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Center for Applied Economics at the University of Kansas.
The Honorable Maurice McTigue, Vice President of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
Walter Berry, Chair, Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
Nick Jordan, Kansas Secretary of Revenue.
11:45 am: Break
12:00 pm: Lunch served
12:15 pm: A Perspective from Washington: U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo