Paul Davis announces plans for economic summits if elected Kansas governor

Democrat Paul Davis announced a plan to convene nine economic summits with industry leaders from around the state in the first six months of his administration if he is elected governor.

Davis released a list of “Economic Sector Champions” who would head up the effort for various industries: oil and gas, energy, military, aviation, agriculture, small business, healthcare, transportation and technology.

For the aviation industry Davis chose Charlie Johnson, the former president and CEO of Wichita-based Cessna Aircraft.

“I’m pleased to introduce the Economic Sector Champions who will work with my administration to bring business leaders and other stakeholders together to grow our economy, sector by sector,” Davis said in a release. “Kansas has a diverse economy and the governor’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ experiment is not working.”

Davis’ policy director, Haley Pollock, said that the sector champions are charged with identifying the unique challenges facing the state’s different industries to come up with solutions.

“They would convene meetings with people who work in those sectors and talk about the challenges that industry is facing, what they need from the state, any hindrances they’re facing from the state – basically how can the state help them grow jobs,” Pollock said.

Pollock said Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax cuts have not addressed the specific needs of the state’s diverse industries. She said Davis and his team recently held a meeting with representatives from the oil and gas industry.

“One of the big problems that they’re having is that the median age in that industry is pretty high, and they’re having a hard time recruiting new workers into the field, and so they need to find a way to train new workers and incentivize people to work in that industry,” Pollock said.

“That’s a challenge facing that industry and those exist in every … economic sector in Kansas,” she said. “What these sector champions will be in charge of is identifying what those issues are and how the state can help address them.”

Pollock said the name “Economic Sector Champion” was coined by former Lt. Gov. John Moore, who serves as one of Davis’ economic advisers.

The Brownback campaign accused Davis of avoiding specifics about his economic plans.

“All we know right now about the Paul Davis economic plan is that he wants to raise taxes 17 percent on the poorest Kansas residents,” said John Milburn, communications director for Brownback’s campaign, referencing Davis' plan to freeze tax rates at 2015 levels to build up the state's cash reserves.

Milburn attended Davis' campaign event in Lenexa in order to observe.

This story was originally published September 18, 2014 at 12:43 PM with the headline "Paul Davis announces plans for economic summits if elected Kansas governor."