This past weekend, we celebrated Easter with the Hahn family in Topeka. As per usual, we played lots of games, ate some good food, and had great conversations. Makayla was sharing a story about how she used to play the game Twister with her older brothers growing up and how they often would use their body weight to push her out of positions, ultimately kicking her out of the game. One of the nephews, who is about ten years old, asked what Twister was. Which meant we had to bring the classic game out (picture here). We all got reminded that Twister is a lot more fun when you weigh 60 pounds, and your joints don’t hurt on a regular basis. As a result, the kids beat us several times over―we probably should’ve cheated more!

Powering Up Safety

Before heading out for the weekend, I had a chance to hop over to Kalmar Ottawa to learn about a neat partnership with the Ottawa Fire Department (pictures here). As I’ve mentioned in previous letters, Kalmar has begun making EV tractor-trailers here in town. When starting a new venture like this, there’s a lot to think through. One element that might be the most crucial is safety. In a worst-case scenario: What if one of these batteries catches fire? When Ottawa Fire steps onto the scene, they could try to use water like a normal car fire, but lithium-ion batteries are tricky; they don’t burn like a regular car engine would. With that in mind, Kalmar wanted our fire department to be ready. As a result, they donated $3,437 to purchase the F-500 Encapsulator Agent, a cutting-edge solution that rapidly cools and encapsulates fuel sources, cutting off oxygen and stopping the fire more effectively, especially on an electric vehicle. Not only will Kalmar’s facility and staff be safer with this at OFD’s disposal, but really, everyone in our community will be safer as a result!

Kansas Lawmakers Close Out 2025

The 2025 Kansas legislative session flew by this year, with a fast-paced, compacted schedule. Lawmakers wrapped things up just last week during a two-day veto session, which turned out to be action-packed. A big piece of that action revolved around the state budget. When the budget reached Governor Kelly’s desk, it included 156 line items. Of those, 39 were vetoed. Lawmakers chose not to challenge every veto, bundling 15 of them together for an override attempt, which ended up succeeding with 88 votes. The budget accompanies a slew of overrides, leaving 2025 with a record number of vetoes overridden in a single session, a feat largely made possible by the current supermajority in the Legislature.

With the session now officially adjourned for 2025, local residents will have the chance to hear directly from legislators at the upcoming Legislative Coffee on May 3 (info here). It’s a great opportunity to ask questions, hear their take on the session, and get a clearer picture of how and why things panned out the way they did. Join us in person or online at 10am on May 3!

Sharice Davids Hosts Local Business Roundtable

Congressional Representative Sharice Davids convened local business owners for a roundtable discussion in the Chamber’s boardroom this Tuesday (picture here). The conversation touched on topics like tariffs, support programs, tax priorities, and local challenges. This conversation is an ongoing effort for Sharice and her team to stay in tune with what is happening across the 3rd Congressional District. Big thanks to Community Liaison Ben Muiller for helping facilitate this conversation and continuing to be present at our community’s events and meetings. If you have concerns, comments, or need support from Davids’ office, Ben is your go-to guy (contact info here)!

Paving the Way to a Healthier Franklin County

I was out of the office for two days this week as BCBS of Kansas hosted its spring learning session for Pathways to a Healthy KS grantees. I headed to Wichita with five other Franklin County health champions, including Sheila Robertson, who has been the Pathways Coordinator since its inception in 2016, Tiffany Evans at the OMA, Melissa Reed with the City of Ottawa, Phil Bures with the ORC, and Amber Smith with the Ottawa Kansas Farmers Market (pictures here). All of these individuals are running point on one of the packages in this 3rd phase of the grant. The conference allowed keynote speakers, panelists, and breakout sessions to inspire, inform, and educate us all on varying topics. Some of those topics being community engagement, health factors, dos and don’ts, and more. It also allowed technical assistance coordinators to speak face-to-face about next steps, challenges, and give advice for our team to consider. Along with the practical knowledge gained, these are always a good opportunity to take a step back and reflect on what’s yet to come. In this case, a healthier Franklin County community!

Proximity in Perspective

If you spend any amount of time on social media these days, you’ve probably seen a post or two concerning the recent agreement between the City of Ottawa and Lightfield Energy regarding Proximity Park. In a time where information can easily be dispersed, whether factual or not, it’s easy for individuals to get the wrong impression about a multimillion-dollar deal like the potential sale of Proximity Park. In an effort to clear up some possible ambiguity, City Attorney Blaine Finch spoke at length at Wednesday’s City Commission meeting. If you have any interest in learning more about the history, site selection process, agreement with Lightfield Energy, or how this sale will impact Franklin County, I highly recommend you go back and watch the end of this meeting (approximately 58 minutes into the meeting). Blaine did a stellar job of providing a holistic picture of these topics and more (view that here). Below are some quick facts that Blaine shared that I think are important to know and are easy to relay.

When an industry of any size looks at possible locations for a new plant, it incorporates NDAs until the very tail end of the work. This is not to keep community members in the dark, but it allows the industry to look at sites across the US while staying competitive. Along with not letting their competition gain insight or an edge on their operations.
The creation of Proximity Park brought public utilities south of I-35, opening up 1,600 acres of potential land to be developed. This includes Proximity Park’s 300 acres, but the other 1,300 acres have the potential to become residential, commercial, and further industrial.
Many other communities are not selling their land for industry to move into; rather, they’re giving it away for free. The City of Ottawa is not doing that; Lightfield Energy would be purchasing Proximity Park for $5 million.
Many communities give 100% tax abatements for incoming industry; the City of Ottawa did not do that. Our community would receive $10-12 million over the next ten years in property taxes alone.
Proximity Park did cost just over $31 million to build, which was shared between the City of Ottawa and Franklin County Government. The transaction of Proximity Park is not how our community benefits from this deal; rather, once incentives run out after ten years, it’s estimated that Lightfield Energy will contribute $ 7-8 million a year in property taxes alone. This does not include the economic benefit of hundreds of new employees, their contribution to sales tax, and the general patronage they will offer our local businesses.
It’s important to note that Proximity Park has not officially been sold. Much like the contractual period before buying a house, Lightfield Energy had 180 days, starting in December, to perform its due diligence before making a final determination and approving or denying the sale.

It’s good to see that so many people have an interest in Proximity Park, as it affects us all. When there is interest in a topic, it’s because people care. But it’s essential to come to discussions with the mindset of learning and how to move forward together rather than tearing each other down. Thank you Blaine, City Staff, and City Commissioners, for your efforts in communicating with the public on this topic and others. Productive conversations like Wednesday’s City Commission meeting undoubtedly have a positive impact on how we all move forward together.

Katherine Chenault of Payne Financial Strategies

This morning’s Chamber Coffee highlighted the bubbly Payne Financial Strategies Associate, Katherine Chenault (pictures here). This family-run firm has been taking on financial planning for its clients since 1994. Headquartered just west of Ottawa in Lyndon, they focus on holistic financial support for individuals, families, businesses, and more. Katherine shared that her involvement with Payne started as an Intern in college in 2022. She was studying accounting, and though she loved working with numbers, she hated taxes. She dipped her toes into financial planning with Payne Financial Strategies largely due to their company values. They believe they have a legal responsibility to care for their clients, are grounded in faith, are guided by values, and are committed to putting people above profit.

When I met Katherine a year or so ago, her positivity and intentionality in becoming further involved in our community shone through. She is committed to further personal and professional development and has grown exponentially through the last few years in this role. Though she does not have a physical office space in town, she meets people where they are. Whether that’s heading to a coffee shop in town, to your place of residence, or another neutral location. Katherine makes learning, planning, and achieving your financial goals flexible to your schedule and timeline. We’re happy to have Katherine in our community and look forward to seeing her continue to grow!

I hope you have a good Good Friday and a memorable Easter. See you soon!

Ryland Miller

President/CEO

Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce

ryland@ottawakansas.org

785-242-1000