A local business man and the chair of the Economic Development Advisory Committee Ben Kitchens has offered his opinion on the decision by the Army to allow single and unaccompanied soldiers to occupy private housing at Fort Riley.

While the Army’s decision to allow single soldiers to live in privatized housing at Ft. Riley is certainly disappointing and could adversely affect the local economy, it should come as no surprise based on what the Army has done at other installations.  The efforts to encourage the Army to get to the end number of housing units sooner than 2021 should continue. 

 

As a community, energy should be directed towards marketing Junction City and Geary County as the place to live, work, shop and play.  The region continues to experience growth so why not market Junction City/Geary County?  These efforts should start with getting the citizens of Junction City and Geary County to believe in their community, talk the talk and walk the walk.  Sometimes, we tend to be our own worst enemies by wallowing in the negatives and not preaching how great our community is.  Once the citizens feel good about themselves, getting the word out with positive marketing follows.

 

Engaging everyone in the process to develop a plan to market our community combined with the efforts of the EDC to maximize our position to create jobs will lead to positive results going forward.   

 

Regards,

 

Ben Kitchens