Economic development group: We need a leader
- Charlene Sims, Journal staff
- 1 hour ago
- 11 min read
By Charlene Sims
MOUND CITY – Two members of the Linn County Economic Development Committee (EDC) approached the Linn County Commissioners on Monday, Jan. 20, about the commission’s plans to do away with the county’s economic development director position.
The EDC Chair Jennifer Leach-Harlow told the commissioners that after a meeting with other board members including Janell Aust, Russell Pope, Ashley Allen, Kenny Otto and Becky Hegwald, the EDC members directed her come to the commissioners and tell them where the committee stood.
Members on EDC also serve as members on the Linn County ECommunity Board, a non-profit organization that owns land near Casey’s in Pleasanton as well as land next to the La Cygne Industrial Park.
The ECommunity group works with Janet Miller, who is the manager of rural entrepreneurship, for the southeast regions of NetWork Kansas.
“The message that was very clear from all attending was no one was willing to continue the position on the board without a leader,” Leach-Harlow said. “We were asked to fill these positions on a volunteer basis as active people in our community. No one took this opportunity thinking that we would be preparing or updating bylaws, seeking out grants, completing grants, managing land that we own, or managing another long list of items.
“The opportunity to serve our county was to take individual thoughts to the county to help assist the person that you hire to drive economic development. Without that person in place, we feel we are on a plane without a pilot. Linn County Commissioners need to understand that the path that the county is on currently will lead to the loss of ECommunity certification.
“ECommunity relationship has allowed us financial opportunity for our county. The Kansas ECommunity program run through Network Kansas provides low interest financial loans typically $2,500 to $50,000 for local entrepreneur startup expansions or purchases and offers grant support for community-level entrepreneurs. Innovativeness and technical assistance require matching funds from other partners to build local economic ecosystems.
“In collaboration, efforts are made to boost rural development by connecting local needs with statewide resources with applications handled by local ECommunity partners. Linn County has been an ECommunity since 2009.
“During that time, Janet has been able to help or assist with $247,600 in loans. Just to mention a few that took place while she was in this position was Triple T Lodging, Spencer Collision and Blue Dog Winery. By us utilizing those resources, it allows businesses to come to our community that possibly have a loan with someone else, but they just need a gap loan to fill that. I gives them that a extra push. I know those businesses that I just spoke of. I personally have used all of them.
“Also, Network Kansas used a lot of its funds to help host our Youth Entrepreneurial Challenge (YEC) event – which this year will be our fourth event – sending businesses to the Jon Schallert Destination BootCamp, and providing technical assistance to the local businesses.
“In closing, please understand that having an economic development board ECommunity is a waste of our time and yours without a leader. The position did not fail, the individuals that you hired did not fail. It was the misdirection that failed. You asked for a position to be filled and gave them many obstacles and other responsibilities that took place over economic development.”
“I just wanted to follow up on a few things,” said EDC member Janell Aust. “I think Jennifer and the board have made it clear in the information we shared with you this morning. While as a board we are very supportive and passionate about economic development in Linn County, without leadership and a strategic plan to move forward, we’re really not on a path of success at this current time.
“I believe the board would agree that we all accepted this volunteer position with the idea that we would be helping drive new business development for the county while helping existing businesses. While our intentions were good, it has turned into more of a checklist of smaller grants, events, rather than courting new business for the county. Leadership in the past has been saddled with additional responsibilities and the focus of economic development was diluted.
Past directors overloaded with unrelated tasks
“Can the economic development group be successful? Well, I believe so – with the right leadership of someone that has the drive, commitment, and strategic vision and most importantly the support to do their job with focus and clear attainable goals. So what we are asking is, what is the commitment from the county for economic development moving forward?”
Commissioner Jason Hightower agreed with the assessment by Leach-Harlow and Aust.
“I think the point that you’ve made, that economic development has been watered down by other stuff being added to that position,” Hightower said. “I think that rings very true to me, and I don’t think we’ve been accomplishing economic development, and that’s why I don’t feel like we should be hiring a new economic development director at this time.
“I’m in agreement with that too,” said Commissioner Jim Johnson.
Previous economic development directors over the last four years have been Jessica Hightower and Chasity Ware.
Jessica Hightower had to suffer through several attempts by Johnson to fire her after her husband Jason Hightower became commissioner. Despite being under the constant scrutiny of Johnson, the commission assigned her to be assistant public works director and some of her duties included writing request for bids for tires, culverts, and other equipment. She recommended mowing proposals to the commissioners and supervised the mowing activity. She became qualified in purchasing easements for the county.
In her role as economic development director, Jessica Hightower continued many grants that had already been started by the county before her employment but also applied for and administered new grants and wrote requests for proposals (RFP) for many different county projects. She worked on different ways to develop the Pleasanton Industrial Park, wrote RFPs for the airport and other programs.
When she would bring up bringing utilities to the Pleasanton Industrial Park, Johnson and former Commissioner Danny McCullough would sidetrack the discussions on other issues of what she was doing and did not offer support for the project.
She kept the commissioners aware of the balance of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grants funds, the specific requirements of how the money was spent, and worked with former Public Works Administrator Shaun West in overseeing the projects of companies that received ARPA funds.
Jessica Hightower wrote the grant for the Rural Housing Champion program and a Childcare program, receiving both grants and set up committees to oversee these grants. She spent considerable time on both of these programs, attending meetings, researching statistics, setting up a Housing Assessment Tool required by the state, and met with childcare providers in the county to hear their concerns.
She met monthly with the economic development committee and as needed with the airport committee. She also represented the county as a representative at several organizations for the county, including the Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission. She represented the county as a board member on the Southeastern Technical Academy for Rural Students (STARS). She set up a historical society committee at the commissioners request.
As airport manager, she learned and conveyed information about state requirements for airstrips that the commission had previously been unaware of.
Ware became economic development director in late 2024 and was encouraged, mostly by Hamilton, to get a new logo developed for the county and a new website. She was also assigned as supervisor of the Linn County Park and marina and to chair the historical society committee. She also was a representative of the county for several organizations. She was also charged with working with the airport committee and getting the zoning changed for the airport. And she administered and wrote county grants for economic development programs.
Ware’s resignation speech on Aug. 18, 2025, detailed the tasks that Ware was assigned outside of her role as economic development director. Before she resigned the director post, Ware had filed a grievance against Commissioner Hamilton.
“Ali, I’ve raised concerns with you directly only to be met with denial, misrepresentation and dismissive behavior,” Ware said to the commission when she resigned. “You’ve assigned tasks outside of my role, treated me more like a personal assistant than a department head and even resorted to slamming your hand on my desk with the words ‘If you don’t do it (slamming her hand on the podium), then who will?”
Disbanding group complicated
After Hightower’s and Johnson’s replies about not hiring an economic development director at this time, Leach-Harlow answered, “So Janelle and I will proceed in notifying that information to the board that we currently have.
“And then as far as the property and things that community owns, this my first bout with this so I’m not sure what happens to that. I don’t know who that goes to or how that works but we’ll go ahead and finish up our YEC only because we already have that planned unless you would rather we not do that. We’ll go ahead and finish up with that. That’ll be coming up in March.”
Leach-Harlow asked if County Counselor Jacklyn Paletta could help them with dissolving the committee.
Aust added, “We’ll wait for some next steps and directions from you guys.”
“I need information regarding the structure of the organization or both of them, the economic board or the community,” Paletta responded. “Do they have their own EIN (Employer Identification Number)? Do they have their own articles of organization or what? I don’t know what the business structure is, so I am not able to give any type of advice on that at this point.”
“I feel as if the position needs to stay open,” Hamilton said. “I support economic development for Linn County. I do agree that it’s been watered down and we also haven’t been able to give clear direction as far as what we want. However, with ECommunity and EIN and all that, we did talk about that, the checking account, all the things, all that’s dissolving, but that’s not their responsibility.
“They’re saying they’re done. And then I could go into the office, we all could go in the office and look for the things. Chasity could probably find it but that’s not her position any more so that’s our responsibility as the commission, right, to give you all that information.”
Paletta said, “Well, that’s what I’m saying is that if the ECommunity has its own business structure.”
“But we’re not over the ECommunity,” said Hightower.
“If you dissolve it, I think we are,” said Hamilton.
Hamilton questioned why the ECommunity minutes had all of the EDC members names on it.
“They share the same board,” said Hightower.
So, if the ECommunity has its own business structure separate and apart from Linn County then those are two distinct things because, obviously, they’re also a source of funding as well, Paletta said. So monies that they are receiving to then pass out loans seems to demonstrate that they are a separate entity, separate legal entity from Linn County.
Hightower replied, “And that’s what I am saying.”
“If that’s the case, I need to look into the business structure of that before I can make any recommendations for how to handle it,” Paletta said. “Surely there are articles of organization, or their operating plan or any type of memorandum of understanding (MOU) would speak to what would happen if they dissolved. What would happen to any of their assets or any of the liabilities? So that’s what I have to have.
Hamilton said, “We’ll give you everything, and then we’ll put it on the agenda.”
Hightower asked what Janet Miller thought.
“I think she was like the board was,” Leach-Harlow said.
Network Kansas official 'irritated'
“I kind of felt like she was a little irritated at the situation, and the fact that she’s taking care of, I think it was 19 different counties and trying to keep them going, and right now we’re pulling some energy from her just with the assistance that she’s having to give us because we don’t have that person,” Leach added.
Hamilton, who was also at the ECommunity meeting answered, “I felt like she was frustrated and disappointed in that we had a lot of potential. I think she said that that we have potential and we aren’t utilizing it, and then on top of that she mentioned like you guys have mentioned all of the businesses that she had helped and that those services would be taken away. Just a lot of outreach that she did for our county that now we’re just saying dissolve it. We’re done.”
“And it was helpful on smaller grants, whether it was the daycare or securing the sidewalk grant, different things that they helped with too,” Aust added. “I think there was so many other things going on too. It wasn’t that we went out and got a new business or supported them and that was, I think, kind of was one of the things I envisioned in joining it too was having that opportunity.
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“But I’ll speak, like even in the past,” Leach-Harlow said.“I’m talking about three or four years ago when I had come down to do some work with ECommunity and then find that the person that was in that position was out doing road and bridge things. And it’s like why would we be sending this person to do road and bridge and things like that.”
Hamilton said,”That was before my time.”
But Leach-Harlow countered that there was a more recent example during Hamilton’s term when the commission asked Ware to take on management of the Linn County Park and marina when she was supposed to be working on economic development. She also pointed to Hamilton’s appointing Ware to be in charge of revamping the county’s website.
“And it’s just like that person being on 10 different boards,” Leach-Harlow said.
“I mean, I don’t know how many work days there are in a month, but if you’re going to 10 board meetings every month . . . I know at my board meetings, I know at your board meetings because that’s draining within itself.”
There was just no time allowed for the director to have a true focus on going out and courting new businesses. It takes time to build those kind of relationships, and there just wasn’t time in that position to do that.
“I feel like the other side of that is commitment from us on getting utilities and stuff to the land that we have and making it where it is marketable,” Commissioner Hightower said. “We haven’t had that either. We bought land, but we haven’t done anything with it.”
Johnson said, “And that’s on thing that Franklin County did just what you said with theirs, and they’ve got it utility ready. But I don’t know how much business that they have brought to theirs. That would be something we could look at to see, as you know, as a model county that to see how much investment that’s brought to them.”
At that point, Paletta tried to rein in the discussion.
“I am asking for you to table this so that I can look at all of these things,” the attorney said. “It seems a little bit premature to make a motion to dissolve any of these boards today because I need to understand the legal structure of the businessess – if there are any or if they are just offshoots of Linn County.
“So if it’s OK, my recommendation is that we table this. Give me an opportunity to review the legal structures of either, or both, of these economic entities. So that we can come up with a plan for how to move forward – if that ultimately is a motion to dissolve or if that’s something you all need to do within your organization
“It is not something that I can advise on today so I would like two weeks to be able to thoroughly review all of these pieces so that we can make the right legal moves going forward. Especially since these organization, seem to have assets we need to know what’s going to happen to those assets. And I also need to know the extent to which there are any liabilities.”