About KARDO

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 as illustrated below share a common tie, for each is funded, in part, by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), US Department of Commerce.   It should be pointed out, however, that membership in KARDO is not limited to EDA affiliates.   Any organization or individual that seeks to define and address the common needs of multiple constituencies and then builds a collaborative network for purposes of planning and development at the sub-state level to address those needs is eligible to join.

Membership map

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

Non-Founding Members

1. Flint Hills Regional Development Organization (FHRPO) – 5 counties, EDA status pending

Non-Voting Associate Members

1. Glacial Hills Resource Conservation & Development Region, Inc. (GHRC) – 6 counties

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

First, economic development districts (EDDs) and regional planning commissions (RPCs) have been operating in Kansas for forty (40) years.  Locally defined, these organizations have been of significant service to their members throughout that period, but over time they have drifted apart from one another in terms of service capacity and/or capability.  Each certainly has a specialty service that underwrites that organization’s operational needs; but, unfortunately, that specialty has sometimes gained dominance at the expense of other services needed in the respective regions.   KARDO founders therefore see a need for a central forum to discuss commonalities in service delivery, as well as to determine how voids in any one region’s service delivery can be addressed.

Second, 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?  Then too, do regional boundaries set real or imagined limits of 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 the design of new methodologies affecting service delivery in a regional context and mindset.   A statewide association of interested parties is one such mechanism.

KARDO consequently presents itself as the forum for centralized discussion on organizational approach in regional planning and development.  It also provides the arena 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 its members have well-defined service areas of their own.   However, these same members are 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 its response to the needs and opportunities facing any one region, community or specific business anywhere within Kansas.