HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Hutchinson/ Reno County Chamber of Commerce announced Thursday that Site Selection Magazine recently released its 2020 Governor’s Cup rankings, where Kansas ranked 10th in the nation in economic development projects per capita. Kansas had the most dramatic jump in economic development success of any state in the country in 2020, according to the Site Selection Magazine.
As part of this ranking, Hutchinson, along with four other Kansas communities, were recognized as one of the top 100 performing “micropolitan” areas in the United States.
“While we know that existing businesses drive the local economy, we also know it takes a diversified approach to be successful,” Debra Teufel, President and CEO of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber said. “This climb in the rankings is a testament to the strength and resilience of our existing companies who continued to grow and invest in 2020 despite a pandemic.”
According to the Governor’s Office, this achievement comes in the wake of sweeping changes to the Kansas Department of Commerce, including a new International division, a fully-staffed Business Recruitment team, a revised In-State Development team and more improvements. It said the shifts for Commerce led to 2020 being one of the state’s most successful capital investment years ever.
The criteria for projects per capita in this ranking include new corporate facility projects like headquarters, manufacturing plants, research and development operations and logistics sites, among others. Retail, government projects, schools, and hospitals are not counted in this ranking criteria.
New facilities and expansions must meet at least one of three criteria to be included:
Involve a capital investment of at least $1 million, create at least 20 new jobs, or add at least 20,000 square feet of new floor area
Hutchinson has two such projects in 2020.