28 May Kansas Secretary of Commerce Visit and MIDC Shareholders Meeting May 14
In March of 1959, the McPherson Industrial Development Company was created to promote the industrial development of McPherson. To get things kicked off, the firm had an authorized capitalization of $50,000 with 500 shares of stock at $100 par value a share. It was authorized to “sell, lease, buy, mortgage, build” to encourage industry. Enough shares were purchased by local citizens and businesses to buy agricultural property adjacent to the city to be developed as McPherson’s first Industrial Park. Under this principle, McPherson has developed five additional industrial parks over the years.
MIDC continues this practice of retaining an inventory of property solely for industrial development. We appreciate the foresight McPherson’s leaders had at that time. These individuals used that same foresight when creating the present Board of Public Utilities. Shortly after, BPU struck a long-term purchase power agreement with Kansas Power & Light (Now Evergy). The organization’s goal was to diversify McPherson’s industrial base beyond farming to keep McPherson growing. Today, McPherson with a population just under 14,000, has over 4500 manufacturing jobs, one of the highest median wages in the State, and a thriving industrial base, including several national and multinational companies.
To celebrate McPherson’s 60 years of success, MIDC invited the new Secretary of Commerce, David Toland, and his business recruitment team to do a familiarization tour to better understand McPherson’s industrial footprint, its growth goals, and its competitive advantages. These representatives spent the afternoon on a full industrial tour, including depth visits of two of McPherson’s largest employers, CHS Refinery and Viega.
“McPherson is one of Kansas’ great rural success stories. I was grateful to visit not just because of the industry successes, but because McPherson is where my grandfather was born and raised. I am amazed at what is being done here, especially by places like CHS and Viega,” said Toland.
After the tours, their team provided feedback on their experience in McPherson in front of MIDC shareholders at their annual meeting on May 14th.
Immediately following the annual meeting, MIDC hosted a social for McPherson’s manufacturing leaders and the guests from KDOC. The social provided an opportunity for networking and gave Commerce a chance to hear from McPherson’s diverse and thriving industry leaders on ways the State could better support their growth.