Business Retention and Expansion in Kansas Mid-Size Communities

Abstract

A sample survey of 858 business firms in nine Kansas communities with populations of 10,000 to 100,000 (Coffeyville, Emporia, Garden City, Great Bend, Hays, Hutchinson, Lawrence, McPherson, and Salina) was completed to find determinants of business retention and expansion of existing industries in Kansas. These firms, drawn from sectors constituting the economic base (retail firms and service firms that were entirely local were not included), were surveyed to identify factors that influence the retention and expansion of existing industries in Kansas, to identify the potential of Kansas firms to expand within their communities, to assist the establishment of local retention and expansion efforts, and to distinguish state level issues that influence retention and expansion.