City officials traveled to Nevada this week to gain insight from the Tesla Gigafactory near Reno ahead of Panasonic opening its plant just outside city limits here.
Mayor Tim Reazin and City Manager Kevyn Gero toured the facility with about 20 other stakeholders Tuesday, and both agreed seeing the culture of the company was a highlight of the trip.
City officials were required to sign NDAs that prohibit them from talking about the inside of the factory, but they said the trip opened their eyes to the potential strengths of a plant coming to the area.
Reazin said about 30% of employees there are bused in because of the distance between Sparks and Reno. Reazin also said the Kansas plant will have more accessibility points to allow for more employees to get to the building without creating traffic through the area.
Focusing on the circle of growth that could expand out to Topeka is something Reazin is discussing with county and state officials as well. Eudora has the potential to grow while keeping a small, hometown atmosphere, he said.
From a public safety and firefighter perspective, Reazin feels much more comfortable with the factory after the visit. Reazin said Panasonic was able to answer all his questions about safety measures and product testing, leaving him feeling confident in the factory’s safeguards.
Gero and Reazin also talked to HR staff who will move to Kansas to work at the new location.
Reazin said he was impressed with the opportunities the plant has for individuals of all educational backgrounds, meaning students don’t have to go away to college and can stay in the area.
“The fact that they’ll hire somebody straight out of high school, and then they’ll help people get their degrees if they want them, is pretty neat,” Reazin said. “So that gives something for our community that we didn’t have.”
De Soto Mayor Rick Walker said the biggest takeaway for him was the culture in the factory and as a company.
“I believe they follow through with their culture that they advertise on their business cards and webpage, that they’re employee focused, they’re safety focused, and they have some very impressive technology,” he said.
Walker said the Reno and Kansas City metropolitan areas are quite a bit different. While Reno’s populace feeds in from relatively one side of the area, De Soto is in the center of a large workforce with the employees potentially coming from all directions around the metro.
Walker said Panasonic learned a lot from the Nevada location and will apply those lessons here. The Kansas plant has the benefit of a large workforce in Johnson County and a stronger transportation network, Walker said.
While the Nevada factory is often called utilitarian looking, the new factory will have more aesthetic appeal, Walker said.
The housing market is a challenge in the De Soto region, not due to Panasonic but the overall difficulty to build affordable starter homes with increased construction costs, he said.
However, Walker is confident the housing demand will not fall on one community and employees will stay where they currently live or live within a reasonable commute.
The city has looked at adding more townhomes and multi-family projects to allow for more starter home options.
“[We’re] also investigating some of the moderate-income housing credits that would allow us to offer incentives to buyers in a middle-income range,” Walker said.
Transportation is always going to be a concern, but Walker said they have a good handle on it with K-10 being the main link.
While the Nevada plant has one main entrance, De Soto will have multiple exits employees can take and construction has already begun on a four-lane road on 103rd Street near the plant. The factory will also have multiple entrances to help accommodate for shift changes and traffic backups.
Gero said it was great to see how community-oriented the company was, and get to talk to Panasonic staff who will be involved in the Kansas location.
“I was really appreciative of Panasonic hosting us in Reno,” Gero said. “They don’t do that many large tours for outside groups very often, but you could tell that the amount of planning and effort they took to make us feel welcome shows their interest in making the Kansas site successful.”
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected]
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