NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Chamber CEO Debra Teufel said they are already getting some interest in the spec building that had Industrial Revenue Bonds approved by the City Council last month.
"We're actually meeting with an industry on Friday that is interested in the building," Teufel said Tuesday. "I just got a call Monday about a company from out of state that might be interested in it and it's giving us something to put out there in the marketplace that we can really use as the hook to get people to look at Hutchinson."
One issue is a really tight labor market in Hutchinson and Reno County right now.
"Unemployment is down to 2.7% for the last number in Reno County," Teufel said. "That's basically full employment. We do have to defend that workforce proposition for every project that we bid on or that we submit our community on. We have to defend that we can find the workers once they come. If you build the building, they will come. Will the workers come with it? That's the million dollar question."
Existing employers are still looking for workers, too.
"I was sitting down with one of our existing employers just on Friday," Teufel said. "They said they would hire 25 people tomorrow if they could find the people. It is this balancing act of, how do we continue to fulfill the needs of existing employers, but continue to grow the economy? The conversation we had and they agreed was that the more robust economic activity we're bringing to the community, the better it is for them, because, if someone's moving here for a job, they're probably bringing a trailing spouse. They may be bringing kids that are going to grow up in our education system and create sticky feet, that we grow the population base."
The hope from the city council when they approved the bonds was that this building would be able to be the first of its kind and that more spaces could be built and filled once the concept is proven to work.