About Us



The Kansas Association of Regional Development Organizations (KARDO) was initiated in 2008 and solidified in 2010 when it achieved IRS recognition as a 501(c)6 non-profit corporation.   The founding and present membership shown and named below share a common tie, for each is funded in part by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), US Department of Commerce.

 

Economic Development Districts

  1. Great Plains Development, Inc.  (GPDI)                                                   28 county region
  2. MO-KAN Council of Governments                                                               2 county region
  3. Mid-America Regional Council (MARC)                                                       4 county region
  4. North Central Regional Planning Commission (NCRPC)                       12 county region
  5. Northwest Kansas Planning and Development (NWKPD)                    18 county region
  6. South Central Kansas Economic Development District (SCKEDD)     14 county region
  7. Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission (SEKRPC)              12 county region

University Centers

  1. Advanced Manufacturing Institute (AMI) at KSU                               Statewide coverage
  2. Institute for Policy and Social Research (IPSR) at KU                      Statewide coverage

Membership in KARDO, however, is not limited to EDA affiliates, for any organization whose approach is multi-jurisdictional at the sub-state level is eligible to join.

Purpose

The primary purpose of KARDO is to elevate awareness of regional development organizations statewide even as it aids such organizations to better their individual service capability and capacity.  KARDO’s secondary purpose is to refine the concept of “regional development” in Kansas and thereby improve upon its use and deployment wherever community and economic development is concerned.

Why We Formed

We live and work in a system that places great emphasis on bounded administrative regions as the primary means of service delivery.   The approach itself is so ingrained in our psyche that attempts to introduce other regional types or methodologies quickly become confused or frustrated by tradition and policy.  For instance, when one speaks of regional development is it in reference to development “of” a region or development “in” a region?  Do regional boundaries set real or imagined limits impacting service delivery as well as access to resources?  Or, is it something else?  It is thus necessary to create a mechanism that has both the latitude and means of identifying and testing new views of regional development, including creating new methodologies affecting service delivery in a regional context.   A statewide association of interested parties is one such mechanism.

KARDO thus presents itself as a forum in which other regional models can be explored and their impacts measured against traditional methodologies.  As an organization KARDO is not insensitive to the administrative approach, for most of its members have well-defined service areas.   However, these same members are now willing to examine the limitation mapped boundaries suggest by redefining in practice how they go about serving their core constituencies.  This involves a sharing of human assets and the formation of temporal teams whose talent combinations are better suited to address particular issues than any one organization’s staff might otherwise be able to accomplish.

The hoped for outcome is a flexible system that is much more aware of and proactive in response to the needs and opportunities facing a specific business, business cluster or location anywhere within Kansas.