The Kansas Economic Development Alliance (KEDA) was established in 1980 to continue the education for economic development departments throughout the state and advocate on their behalf to legislators.
Great Bend Chamber of Commerce CEO Jan Peters attended the KEDA Fall Conference in late October in Mulvane. Peters left the conference with a survey related to retail in Great Bend put together by Janet Ady with Ady Advantage.
Jan Peters Audio
The Retail Strength Evaluation from Ady Advantage stated Great Bend dropped from third in 2014 to seventh in 2017 for pull factor with sales tax collection per capita. The comparison ranks all cities with a population of 10,000 or more in Kansas. In 2017, Great Bend was outpaced by Garden City and Dodge City.
Great Bend continued to collect sales tax at a rate 27 percent higher per capita than the state average.