Emporia's Future Deserves a Conversation: Exploring Economic Opportunity & Growth

Emporia, KS (10/15/2026) — The future of Emporia will be shaped by the choices we make today.

As our community considers the Flint Hills Digital Campus and other opportunities for economic growth, we believe it is important to keep an open mind, ask good questions, and make decisions based on reliable information.

A project of this size could bring meaningful opportunities to Emporia and Lyon County. If developed as proposed, the Flint Hills Digital Campus could:

• Bring significant private investment into our community.
• Create construction jobs and opportunities for local contractors, tradespeople and suppliers.
• Support local businesses by increasing demand for goods, services, housing, dining, lodging, retail and other community amenities.
• Expand the local tax base, potentially creating additional resources for community priorities and public services.
• Create new employment opportunities in technology, infrastructure, maintenance and other fields.
• Strengthen workforce development partnerships with Emporia State University, Flint Hills Technical College and local schools.
• Help attract additional businesses and investment by positioning Emporia to participate in a growing technology-driven economy.
• Create opportunities for our young people to build careers here rather than having to leave the community to find them.

Opportunities of this scale do not come along often. A moratorium or ban would close the door to potential investment and economic opportunities before our community has fully evaluated them.

The question should not be whether there are concerns. There are. The question should be whether we can address those concerns responsibly while still allowing our community to consider the potential benefits of new investment and growth.

We believe Emporia can do both: protect what makes our community special while remaining open to opportunities that could benefit our entire region.

Emporia's future belongs to all of us. We owe it to our residents, businesses, educational institutions, nonprofits and future generations to ask difficult questions, seek reliable information and consider both the opportunities and the risks before us.

We do not have to have all the answers today.

But we should be willing to have the conversation, and we cannot afford to prematurely close the door on potential opportunities.

Sincerely,

Matthew Baker, Ed.D.
President
Emporia State University

Dr. Caron Daugherty
President
Flint Hills Technical College

Nancy Wells
Board Chair
Newman Regional Health

Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce

Emporia Main Street

Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas

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