Momentum 2022

Accordingly, developing and retaining a “homegrown” workforce of talented and educated workers will be vitally important to the community’s future success and prosperity. Fortunately, Topeka-Shawnee County has many strong educational and training assets and organizations dedicated to improving educational outcomes. Public input revealed a need for better alignment among these various organizations to ensure that they are working cooperatively and collaboratively toward broad community goals.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

1.1 Align the “Talent Pipeline”

1.1.1 Create a “Cradle Through Career” (CTC) collective impact partnership dedicated to raising talent levels in Topeka- Shawnee County

1.1.2 Utilize student-level data to gauge the effectiveness of programs and guide partnership decision-making

1.2 Ensure that All Children are Ready for Kindergarten

1.2.1 Develop a comprehensive approach to preparing Topeka-Shawnee County’s youngest residents for kindergarten

1.3 Prepare Students for College and Careers

1.3.1 Introduce students to college and career opportunities at a young age and develop “career pathways” for students to identify entrance points into promising and in-demand fields

1.3.2 Align new and existing programs to engage at-risk students, dropouts, and parents

1.3.3 Connect businesses with education providers to identify opportunities for new degree programs and curricula that support business growth

1.3.4 Create a community-wide internship initiative to help employers identify emerging talent and to attach young professionals to Topeka-Shawnee County

1.4 Expand Continuing Education and Training Options for Adults

1.4.1 Incentivize adults without college degrees to further their education and gain new skills

1.4.2 Establish a physical center for workforce development and training in East Topeka

Accordingly, developing and retaining a “homegrown” workforce of talented and educated workers will be vitally important to the community’s future success and prosperity. Fortunately, Topeka-Shawnee County has many strong educational and training assets and organizations dedicated to improving educational outcomes. Public input revealed a need for better alignment among these various organizations to ensure that they are working cooperatively and collaboratively toward broad community goals.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

1.1 Align the “Talent Pipeline”

1.1.1 Create a “Cradle Through Career” (CTC) collective impact partnership dedicated to raising talent levels in Topeka- Shawnee County

1.1.2 Utilize student-level data to gauge the effectiveness of programs and guide partnership decision-making

1.2 Ensure that All Children are Ready for Kindergarten

1.2.1 Develop a comprehensive approach to preparing Topeka-Shawnee County’s youngest residents for kindergarten

1.3 Prepare Students for College and Careers

1.3.1 Introduce students to college and career opportunities at a young age and develop “career pathways” for students to identify entrance points into promising and in-demand fields

1.3.2 Align new and existing programs to engage at-risk students, dropouts, and parents

1.3.3 Connect businesses with education providers to identify opportunities for new degree programs and curricula that support business growth

1.3.4 Create a community-wide internship initiative to help employers identify emerging talent and to attach young professionals to Topeka-Shawnee County

1.4 Expand Continuing Education and Training Options for Adults

1.4.1 Incentivize adults without college degrees to further their education and gain new skills

1.4.2 Establish a physical center for workforce development and training in East Topeka

During the public input process, stakeholders expressed excitement about new and potential developments in Downtown Topeka, NOTO, and the Kansas Riverfront – all of which are located close together within the region’s core. Topeka-Shawnee County residents also wish to see a greater diversity of social offerings, recreational opportunities, housing options, and live-work-play environments. Working to enhance the region’s core – and ensuring that these areas are well-connected – can significantly improve the community’s quality of place.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

2.2 Develop a Dynamic Regional Core

2.2.1 Pursue a catalytic mixed-use development in Downtown Topeka

2.2.2 Incentivize the development of new housing and supportive neighborhood retail in Downtown Topeka

2.2.3 Work with partners at the state level to open the Kansas State Capitol on weekends

2.2.4 Advance the NOTO Arts District Master Plan to accelerate the area’s momentum as a vibrant, creative community

2.2.5 Activate the Kansas River as a destination and recreational amenity

2.2.6 Ensure strong multimodal connectivity within and around the community’s core

These activities which form the core of the economic development program that is carried out by GO Topeka, the community’s public-private economic development partnership are aimed at adjusting successful existing programs and ensuring that the community maintains a best-practice approach. Retention and recruitment efforts is part of a holistic approach to economic development and an important complement to new initiatives related to entrepreneurship, quality of place, talent, etc. that are captured elsewhere in this Strategy. Additionally, having the appropriate economic development programming, systems, and staff in place can help ensure that when new opportunities do arise, the community is well-positioned to capitalize on them. 

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

3.2 Maintain a Best-Practice Economic Development Program

3.2.1 Continue business retention and expansion (BR&E) activities to ensure that Topeka-Shawnee County’s existing firms remain and thrive in the community

3.2.2 Establish business councils to support Topeka-Shawnee County’s target sectors 

3.2.3 Ensure that Topeka-Shawnee County is actively networked in the KC Animal Health Corridor

3.2.4 Conduct a review of GO Topeka’s economic development marketing program to ensure it aligns with industry best practices

3.3 Pursue Policies that Support Holistic Economic Development

3.3.1 Conduct a review of incentive policies to determine if available offerings are sufficiently flexible to support a broad range of economic development goals.

3.3.2 Work collaboratively with regional partners to ensure that advocacy agendas are aligned with strategic community and economic development needs

Communities with higher levels of community attachment tend to perform better economically, suggesting openness is tied to prosperity. The community must work toward building a more diverse and inclusive culture. Diversity and inclusion are important values that cut across all strategic actions, The community must make specific and intentional efforts to include and engage people of color, immigrants, populations, households with limited English proficiency and other historical under served communities. Aligned with understanding of importance toward building a strong community and encouraging residents to feel a sense of “ownership” of their neighborhoods to improving public health and safety. Working collaboratively to address these issues can have both major positive impact on the lives of individual residents and create a culture of community pride and cohesion that can drastically improve Topeka-Shawnee County’s Self image.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

5.1 Foster and Promote a Diverse and Inclusive Topeka-Shawnee County

5.1.1 Establish a diversity business council to promote a culture of diversity and inclusion

5.1.2 Establish a community-wide program to connect new and existing employee resource groups (ERGs) that promote diversity and inclusion

5.1.3 Promote diversity on boards in Topeka- Shawnee County

5.2 Encourage Healthy, Safe, and Engaged Communities

5.2.1 Create a community-wide volunteer initiative focused on neighborhood improvements and bridging geographic and cultural gaps

5.2.2 Support “social enterprise” startups and small businesses that serve the community

5.2.3 Create an anchor-based community wealth building (CWB) initiative to expand opportunities and build wealth in low-income communities

5.2.4 Adopt a collaborative approach to public safety

5.2.5 Continue to support Heartland Healthy Neighborhoods and other initiatives identified in the Shawnee County Community Needs Assessment

A community’s economic competitiveness is increasingly tied to its ability to retain and attract a skilled and educated workforce, and talented individuals are increasingly drawn to areas that are aesthetically pleasing, have plentiful social offerings, and can provide live-work-play environments. Accordingly, quality of place is now an integral part of a holistic approach to economic development. As revealed through the public input process, Topeka-Shawnee County must make numerous enhancements to its quality of place in order to improve both its internal and external image and become a more competitive market for talent. Doing so will require developing or optimizing a range of programs and initiatives.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

2.1 Optimize Tools and Programs to Improve Quality of Place

2.1.1 Build public support for public-private partnerships and other incentives and investments that enhance quality of place

2.1.2 Create a restaurant development program to expand social offerings

2.1.3 Identify and attract retailers that expand local options and improve quality of life

2.1.4 Create a community-wide loan program to incentivize new and existing homeowners to rehab high-quality housing stock in need of repairs and updates

2.1.5 Expand and pursue options to address blighted properties and ensure responsible ownership

2.1.6 Adopt a collaborative program of highly targeted neighborhood beautification revitalization

2.3 Invest in Infrastructure that Enhances Quality of Place

2.3.1 Continue to invest in infrastructure that enhances mobility and quality of place

2.3.2 Continue to improve gateways into Topeka-Shawnee County, particularly those connecting the community to population centers

The community must be proactive to ensure the strategy’s initiatives and efforts have a positive impact on East Topeka. This will be accomplished through the creation of the East Topeka Council, a sub committee of implementation Committee that will be tasked with promoting effective implementation of strategic initiatives on the community’s East side.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

• Beautification
• Business Development
• Crime and Public Safety
• Infrastructure

High-performing communities around the country are working to grow and expand their entrepreneurial ecosystems. The goal is not to “pick winners and loser” up front but instead create the type of environment that allows individuals to flourish. Topeka-Shawnee County has multiple entrepreneurial success stories, by significantly improving the communities ecosystem.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

3.1 Enhance the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
The following objectives for MOMENTUM 2022 are aligned with Go Topeka Innovation’s strategic goals, They include:

4.1 GT Build a physical infrastructure

4.2. GT Build Regional and national partnerships

4.3 GT Attract Leading Organizations: Industry Assoc. Funds, Gov. Org. Businesses

4.3.3.GT Actively retain organizations that have chosen Topeka as their location by tying them into the overall strategy

5.1 GT Develop and Maintain Programming for Training, Networking and Personal Development

5.2 GT Develop and Maintain a Mentorship Network

5.3 GT Provide Access to Funding and Resource/Services