OTTAWA — Those business and government executives who attended the Franklin County summit talked Wednesday about how to improve the Franklin County work force. Ottawa-Franklin County Economic Development president Blaine Finch said this is the right time to be talking about work-force issues. BNSF and Kansas City developer Allen Group have started building the Logistics Park Kansas City, a proposed giant intermodal cargo and freight and warehouse complex between Gardner and Edgerton. The railroad has told Franklin County economic development officials that the complex will eventually employ 8,700, with a total of 13,000 in the area when it is completely filled, Finch said at the summit. “That’s the kind of growth we could see right up the road,” he said. BNSF told them that developers will be looking for “shovel ready” land with utilities already available and a reliable and well trained work force, he said.
Thursday, May 19, 3 p.m.
