business owners, state and local government agencies, state legislators, small business associations and the U.S. Small Business Administration in Washington, DC.  Bailey has over 20 years experience in local, state, and national government. He also is a small business owner and entrepreneur. Most recently he owned Wendell Bailey Auto Exchange in Willow Springs, MO. He has also owned Wendell Bailey Pontiac, GMC, AMC, Jeep, Renault and the Willow Springs Banner newspaper.

Wendell is the heartland’s own Will Rogers of the Small Business Administration!  He  will give a motivational speech on how and why the small businessman makes America great.  Don’t miss this interesting discussion and the opportunity to network with your LSEDC colleagues.

Please RSVP as soon as possible to Teresa Evans at 816-525-6617.

For the second year in a row, the LSEDC sponsored EJCWC was awarded state funds for technical training, supervisory skills training, and communication skills training. Last year,  the consortium received $ 75,000 in training funds from the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Division of Workforce Development and trained over 600 employees from the eleven member firms! Through cooperative arrangements and the state’s funds,  the training cost per employee was reduced from an average of $ 100 per day to $ 20 per day! The EJCWC is a statewide model for how to leverage local firms’ training needs with state training funds. Many thanks to Metropolitan Community College’s Business and Technology College ( BTC) for applying for the grant on behalf of the consortium. Special thanks go to the BTC’s Andrew Fila and to our mutual consultant Jennifer Yazelle for helping us realize the dream of making the consortium a reality. Consortium members are: Billy Goat Industries, FabTech, Fike Metal Products, Haldex, Nu Tech Industries, Plastic Enterprises, Polytainers, Ruskin Industries, St Gobain-Calmar, Toys R Us, and Unilever. Together , these firms employ over 3,000 people.

With the expansion it will have the capacity to add 26 more injection molding and/or thermoforming machines, increasing its production capacity by 130%.  Completion of the new addition is scheduled for March 2004.

Thank you Polytainers for your huge vote of confidence in Lee’s Summit and our area workforce.

Prospect activity has remained brisk through the summer.  Much of the activity has been from restaurants that are looking at Lee’s Summit now that we have the rooftops to support them.  As we all know, Lee’s Summit has been a leader in housing starts in the metro for quite some time.  Now the businesses to support all these new families are streaming to Lee’s Summit.

Also, speculative office space inventory is growing thanks to Meyer Brothers Construction, Mechanical Breakdown Protection and DL Kirby.  Combined, their buildings represent over 100,000 square feet of new office space in the community…all great additions for Lee’s Summit business expansion.

Your LSEDC, in association with Jackson County government and the Eastern Jackson County Marketing Alliance, has just published “Eastern Jackson County by the Numbers.”  This informative publication takes the successful “Lee’s Summit by the Numbers” format to a new regional level for the purpose of packaging and marketing our region in a way that Johnson County, KS has been doing for quite some time. 

Not surprisingly, the report showcases and quantifies our region’s great demographics, diverse housing market, educated and mobile workforce and more.  Check it out on our website www.leessummit.org/community.html

The Eastern Jackson County Marketing Alliance will host a golf outing on September 24 at Chapel Ridge Golf Course.

Business and government leaders from Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs, Independence, Grandview and Jackson County will pair up with regional brokers and developers who are members of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR).

Registration and breakfast starts at 7:30 a.m.  The first four-man scramble will tee off at 8 a.m.  Breakfast, lunch, prizes and more are planned.

This outing is an opportunity for Lee’s Summit and area leaders to network, boast and answer questions about development opportunities in the region. 

Truman Heartland Foundation has named our own Bud Hertzog their Humanitarian of the Year.  Bud is a great contributor to the LSEDC serving on our Executive Committee and set to be our next Chairman.  The award couldn’t go to a more deserving individual.

As a convenience to our members and readers, the newly published Lee’s Summit Annual Report is on line at www.leessummit.org/pdf/LSEDCAnnualReport2003.pdf.  It showcases our 2002-2003 accomplishments including past chairman David Gale’s emphasis on thinking regionally and acting locally.

The annual report, “Lee’s Summit By The Numbers”, and other publications are great tools for you to share with friends, colleagues, business associates and others wanting to know more about the positive business climate in Lee’s Summit.