By Megan Moser
A path to economic growth for Manhattan could include proactively approaching investors, opening a regional business research center hiring a development director.
Matt Tarleton, an Atlanta-based consultant specializing in community development spoke Friday at the Regional Growth Summit, which is the new name for the Regional Leaders’ Retreat. The event is organized by the chambers of commerce of Manhattan, Junction City and Wamego.
The Tarleton’s firm, Matt Tarleton LLC, made an economic assessment in June that showed Manhattan was lagging in several areas that indicate economic health.
Manhattan posted 0% job growth, according to the 2024 report, which was well below that of the four peer cities the report used for comparison. For instance, Ames, Iowa, had 10.1% growth, and Columbia, Missouri, was at 8.2%. Morgantown, West Virginia had 7.8% job growth for the same period, and Stillwater, Oklahoma, was at 7.7%.
