6 minute read
A Spotlight on De Soto
Chamber of commerce focuses on essential roles and grows with the community.
Article by Pamela Spradlin Mahajan
Photo courtesy De Soto Chamber of Commerce
The De Soto Chamber of Commerce has been integral to the De Soto community for many years. As an organization centered on helping local businesses flourish and enabling business owners to connect, the chamber has an essential role in making the De Soto business community everything it can be.
This particular point in time may be especially crucial, says interim chamber director Shelly Milburn, who took the job because of her deep connection to De Soto. “I stepped into this role … because what happens with our chamber of commerce matters to me,” says Milburn. “My husband and I each own a small business here in town, and our daughter will go to school here, so it matters to us professionally and personally … This just feels like a really important point in our history. There’s a lot of opportunity and we need to respect all of the positives that we have and really harness those and work diligently to incorporate all of the positives of the new things that are happening.”
Some of those new things include the Flint Commerce Center, a 370-acre industrial park at 103rd Street and Edgerton Road, and the 9,000-plus-acre Astra Enterprise Park, home to Panasonic’s electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility. The Panasonic plant is set to open in Spring 2025.
These developments have led to steady residential growth and new businesses coming to De Soto, including healthcare services, restaurants, a vet clinic, and a Pilates studio, among others. In turn, the De Soto Chamber of Commerce is also growing and changing.
“Our group is getting really diverse, not only in size of business but type,” Milburn says. “If a company is coming here and going to have any number of employees—whether that be five or 5,000—the addition of fitness, healthcare, grocery, and convenience is making those locations more attractive to employees and also just a much easier place to live, cutting out the commute for all those services that De Soto residents need in everyday life.”
New De Soto businesses can provide services to residents who would otherwise have to leave the city.
“Anybody who is coming here and opening a business locally has an opportunity to capture a market that is currently commuting to receive that same service,” Milburn says.
Expansive growth can indeed be seen in many areas of De Soto, says board member Andy Jacober. “De Soto is growing, and the chamber is growing with it. We have two new board members. We are hiring a new chamber director this year as well. All of those are really good things,” he says.
Jacober commends current chamber staff member Karen Rodgers for how she gets things done. She “has been a phenomenal behind-the-scenes worker,” he says.
Chamber of commerce member and Alcove Development partner Dustin K. Baker has found the chamber to be an invaluable source of connection with the local business community. “The De Soto Chamber of Commerce has provided an avenue to network among the leaders of the community and develop long-term relationships,” he says.
“As a hometown De Soto Realtor, I’m happy to be a part of the chamber and help with bringing in fresh ideas for the future,” says Sherelle Witt, current chamber chair, Realtor with Weichert Realtors, Welch & Co., and owner of Oasis Nutrition.
The chamber continues to sponsor a variety of events to spotlight and connect the De Soto business community. In addition to golf tournaments, pizza and puzzles events, breakfasts and happy hours, the chamber recently hosted its annual dinner, which garnered the highest showing ever, says Jacober.
What Came Before
That’s not to say De Soto’s business community has not thrived since long before the new headline-grabbing developments. Huhtamaki, Engineered Air and Rehrig Pacific Plastics “are three big companies that have done an awful lot … and will continue to do so going forward,” says Jacober. Other businesses, large and small, have contributed to the growth and strength of the De Soto business community.
“I think the challenge is to not get over-focused,” Milburn says. “I think there’s a lot of focus on what’s happening at Astra Enterprise Park and Panasonic—and those things are great, but the challenge is to make sure that we still are shining a light on all of the businesses that have been in De Soto for a long time and are an important part of our community fabric.”
“It’s easy to attach to the headlines and forget that this has been a great place to live and work for a long time, and all of those players have been faithful and contributed, not only from a business perspective but from a philanthropic perspective, from connection and cooperation with schools and local charitable needs. That’s all been going on here for a long time,” she says.
“De Soto is an amazing place to live with positive growth happening in both residential and commercial. I’m excited that much of the growth is from homegrown investors who live and grew up here. They truly understand the dynamic of this amazing town,” Witt says.
It’s clear that the thousands of acres being developed commercially and the Panasonic electric vehicle battery facility are generating a buzz of excitement and spurring new businesses to emerge. Yet De Soto has always had a lot to offer as a place of business and a place to live, says Milburn.
“The growth is great, but that plant won’t make De Soto great. It will add to what is great here,” Milburn says.
“I think we’re probably the best-kept secret in Johnson County. This has just been such a quiet, almost off-themap place, but that’s why people live here. That’s why they stay—all of the things that were already here are the things that they love.”
For More
De Soto Chamber of Commerce
32905 W. 84th St., P.O. Box 70
De Soto, KS 66018
913-583-1585
